The Second Church was a congregation active during 1649–1970, which occupied a number of locations around
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. It was first a
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 ...
, and then beginning in 1802, a
Unitarian church. In 1970, it merged with Boston's
First Church.
Its locations in Boston included
North Square
''North Square'' is a British television drama series written and created by Peter Moffat, and broadcast by Channel 4 from 18 October to 20 December 2000. Starring an ensemble cast, including Phil Davis, Rupert Penry-Jones, Helen McCrory an ...
,
Hanover Street,
Copley Square
Copley Square is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. The square is named for painter John Singleton Copley. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Squ ...
, and the
Fenway
Fenway Park is a ballpark located in Boston, Massachusetts, less than one mile from Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home field of Major League Baseball's (MLB) Boston Red Sox. While the stadium was built in 1912, it was substantia ...
. Its ministers included
Michael Powell
Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company Powell and Pressburger, The Archers, they together wrote, produced ...
,
Increase Mather
Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...
,
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...
, and
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
.
History
First Church in Boston
First Church in Boston is a Unitarian Universalist Church (originally Congregationalist) founded in 1630 by John Winthrop's original Puritan settlement in Boston, Massachusetts. The current building, located on 66 Marlborough Street in the Ba ...
was founded in 1630 by
John Winthrop
John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...
's original Puritan settlement.
Second Church, also known as the "Church of the Mathers", was founded in 1649 when Boston's population spread to the
North End and justified an additional congregation sited closer to those individuals' homes. From 1664 to 1741, its clergy consisted of
Increase Mather
Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...
,
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...
, and Samuel Mather.
Both churches were, later in their histories, examples of the westward movement of Boston churches from the crowded, older downtown area to the newer, more fashionable
Back Bay
Back Bay is an officially recognized Neighborhoods in Boston, neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on Land reclamation, reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the ...
. This area was developed for residential use after lowlands were filled in during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Following a disastrous fire at First Church's building in 1968, First Church and Second Church merged in 1970 and constructed a new building at 66 Marlborough Street, which was completed in 1972.
Buildings
Through its long history, the Second Church had some eight church buildings successively, located in various parts of Boston:
[Chandler Robbins]
A history of the Second Church
or Old North, in Boston: to which is added a History of the New Brick Church. Boston: John Wilson & Son, 1852
*
North Square
''North Square'' is a British television drama series written and created by Peter Moffat, and broadcast by Channel 4 from 18 October to 20 December 2000. Starring an ensemble cast, including Phil Davis, Rupert Penry-Jones, Helen McCrory an ...
(1649–1776). The original building was destroyed by fire in 1676; a replacement was built in 1677. The newer "Old North Meeting House" was destroyed by the British army in 1776.
*
Hanover Street (1779–1849). In 1779, the Second Church merged with the New Brick Church, and moved into the New Brick's building on Hanover Street. In 1845, a new building replaced the old.
* Bedford Street (1854–1872)
*
Copley Square
Copley Square is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. The square is named for painter John Singleton Copley. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Squ ...
(1874–1914), on Boylston Street, between Dartmouth and Clarendon. Building designed by
N.J. Bradlee, in the gothic revival style.
[Walter Muir Whitehill. The Making of an Architectural Masterpiece: The Boston Public Library. American Art Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Autumn, 1970).]
* 874
Beacon Street
Beacon Street is a major east–west street in Boston, Massachusetts, and its western suburbs of Brookline, Massachusetts, Brookline and Newton, Massachusetts, Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, includ ...
, at
Park Drive (1914–1970). Building designed by
Ralph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram (December 16, 1863 – September 22, 1942) was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partn ...
. 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 ...
as
Second Church in Boston; now home to Ruggles Baptist Church.
Gallery
File:Old North Church1.jpg, Old North Meeting House (built 1677), in North Square
File:NewBrickChurch Bowen PictureOfBoston 1838.png, New Brick Church, Hanover Street, c. 1838
File:2ndChurch AudubonCircle Boston.png, Second Church, Audubon Circle, Beacon Street, c. 1916
File:Ruggles Baptist Church - Boston, MA - DSC03056.JPG, The present-day Ruggles Baptist Church
The Second Church in Boston (also known as the Ruggles Baptist Church) is a historic church building at 874 Beacon Street in Boston, Massachusetts. It was built in 1914 in Colonial Revival style to designs by the firm of architect Ralph Adams ...
building, used by the Second Church congregation during 1914–1970
Ministers
;17th–18th centuries
*
John Mayo (minister 1655–1673)
*
Increase Mather
Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...
(minister 1664–1723)
*
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather (; February 12, 1663 – February 13, 1728) was a Puritan clergyman and author in colonial New England, who wrote extensively on theological, historical, and scientific subjects. After being educated at Harvard College, he join ...
(minister 1685–1728)
* Joshua Gee (minister 1723–1748)
* Samuel Mather (minister 1732–1741)
* Samuel Checkley Jr. (minister 1747–1768)
*
John Lathrop (minister 1768–1816)
;19th century
*
Henry Ware Jr. (minister 1817–1830)
*
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, minister, abolitionism, abolitionist, and poet who led the Transcendentalism, Transcendentalist movement of th ...
(junior minister 1829–1832)
* Chandler Robbins (1810–1882; minister 1833–1874)
* Robert Laird Collier (minister 1876–1878)
* Edward Augustus Horton (minister 1880–1892)
* Thomas Van Ness (minister 1893–1913)
;20th century
* Samuel Raymond Maxwell (minister 1914–1919)
* Eugene Rodman Shippen (minister 1920–1929)
* Dudley Hays Ferrell (minister 1931–1932)
* DuBois LeFevre (minister 1933–1940)
* Walton E. Cole (minister 1941–1945)
* G. Ernest Lynch Jr. (minister 1947–1949)
* Clayton Brooks Hale (minister 1950–1957)
* John Nicholls Booth (minister 1958–1964)
* John K. Hammon (minister 1964–1970)
Gallery
File:Increase Mather.jpg, Increase Mather
File:Cotton Mather.jpg, Cotton Mather
File:Portrait of Reverend John Lathrop (1740-1816), Pastor of Old North Church, Boston.jpg , John Lathrop
File:Reverend Henry Ware, Jr.jpg, Henry Ware Jr.
File:ChandlerRobbins Boston.png, Chandler Robbins
References
Further reading
''The Second Church in Boston: commemorative services held on the completion of two hundred and fifty years since its foundation, 1649–1899'' Boston: The Society, 1900.
External links
* {{cite web , url=https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/3f463d228 , website=Digital Commonwealth , title=Second Church in Boston, Copley Sq. , access-date=June 17, 2022 Photograph taken between 1874 and 1914.
1649 establishments in the Massachusetts Bay Colony
1970 disestablishments in Massachusetts
History of Boston
Churches in Boston
North End, Boston
Copley Square