First Parish Church in Plymouth is a historic

Unitarian Universalist Unitarian or Unitarianism may refer to: Christian and Christian-derived theologies A Unitarian is a follower of, or a member of an organisation that follows, any of several theologies referred to as Unitarianism: * Unitarianism (1565–present) ...

church at the base of

Burial Hill Burial Hill is a historic cemetery or Graveyard, burying ground on School Street in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Established in the 17th century, it is the burial site of several Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony), Pilgrims, the founding settlers of Plymou ...

on the

town square A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Relat ...

off Leyden Street in

Plymouth, Massachusetts Plymouth ( ; historically also spelled as Plimouth and Plimoth) is a town in and the county seat of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. Located in Greater Boston, the town holds a place of great prominence in American history, folklor ...

. The congregation was founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims in Plymouth. The current building was constructed in 1899.

History

Congregation

The congregation was founded in the English community of

Scrooby Scrooby is a small village on the River Ryton in north Nottinghamshire, England, near Bawtry in South Yorkshire. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 329, in 2011 the count was 315 and by the 2021 census this had fallen furth ...

in 1606 by the Pilgrims, a group of Protestant Christians. After they emigrated to North America in 1620, the

Separatist Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, regional, governmental, or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seekin ...

congregation established a church in Plymouth which became a parish church of Massachusetts' state church, the

Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

. Eventually, a schism developed in 1801, when much of the congregation adopted

Unitarianism Unitarianism () is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian sect of Christianity. Unitarian Christians affirm the wikt:unitary, unitary God in Christianity, nature of God as the singular and unique Creator deity, creator of the universe, believe that ...

along with many of the other state churches in Massachusetts; the Congregationalist dissenters broke away to form the Church of the Pilgrimage. All state churches were disaffiliated with the government by 1834. The congregation is currently affiliated with the

Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalism, Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Ch ...

and has 64 members as of 2016.

Buildings

Originally, the congregation held

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

services on the

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English sailing ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, reac ...

and then at a fort on

from 1621 until 1648. The fort was also used for other colony events including meetings of the

Plymouth General Court The Plymouth General Court (formerly styled, ''The General Court of Plymouth Colony'') was the original State legislature (United States), colonial legislature of the Plymouth colony from 1620 to 1692. The body also sat in judgment of judicial app ...

. In 1648 the first of four church buildings on the town square was constructed. Later churches were built in 1684, 1744, and 1831. Hartwell, Richardson & Driver designed the current Romanesque-style building, completed 1899, which replaced the 1831 wooden Gothic structure.Baker, James. ''A Guide to Historic Plymouth''. Charleston: History, 2008. , . The 1899 building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2014. It has Tiffany

stained glass window Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

s illustrating the Pilgrim story. The sanctuary features carved quarter-sawn oak and is one of the finest examples of hammer beam construction in the United States.

Gallery

File:Burial Hill Fort in Plymouth MA.jpg,

Fort, ca. 1621, housed the original church in Plymouth. From Perkins ''et al.'': ''Handbook of Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts'', Plymouth, Mass., 1902. File:William Harlow House in Plymouth MA.jpg, William Harlow House, built in 1677 in Plymouth, made of timbers from the Burial Hill Fort, (meeting place of First Parish Church). From Perkins ''et al.'': ''Handbook of Old Burial Hill, Plymouth, Massachusetts'', Plymouth, Mass., 1902. File:1683 First Parish Meeting House in Plymouth MA.jpg, 1683 First Parish Meeting House File:1744 First Parish Meeting House in Plymouth MA.jpg, 1744 First Parish Meeting House File:Plymouth Meeting House 1831.JPG, 1831 First Parish Meeting House File:First Parish Church in Plymouth MA.jpg, 1899 First Parish Meeting House File:PlymouthMA TownSq 1910.jpg, First Parish Church in Town Square, ca. 1905 File:First Parish Church in Plymouth Mass.jpg, First Parish is at the rear, while the white church to the right is the Church of the Pilgrimage File:First Parish Church interior in Plymouth Mass.jpg, interior

References

External links

First Parish website

for the First Parish Church in Plymouth are in the Andover-Harvard Theological Library at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...