The Arlington Street Church is a
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
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chri ...
across from the
Public Garden in
Boston, Massachusetts. Because of its geographic prominence and the notable ministers who have served the congregation, the church is considered to be among the most historically important in
American Unitarianism and
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism (UU) is a liberal religion characterized by a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists assert no creed, but instead are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth, guided by ...
. Completed in 1861, it was designed by
Arthur Gilman
Arthur Delevan Gilman (November 5, 1821, Newburyport, Massachusetts – July 11, 1882, Syracuse, New York) was an American architect, designer of many Boston neighborhoods, and member of the American Institute of Architects.
Life and career
Gi ...
and
Gridley James Fox Bryant
Gridley James Fox Bryant (August 29, 1816 – June 8, 1899), often referred to as G. J. F. Bryant, was a Boston architect, builder, and industrial engineer whose designs "dominated the profession of architecture in ostonand New England." ...
to resemble
James Gibbs' St. Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the medie ...
in London.
The main sanctuary space has 16 large-scale
stained-glass windows installed by
Tiffany Studios
Tiffany may refer to:
People
* Tiffany (given name), list of people with this name
* Tiffany (surname), list of people with this surname
Known mononymously as "Tiffany":
* Tiffany Darwish, (born 1971), an American singer, songwriter, actress know ...
from 1899 to 1930.
On May 17, 2004, the Arlington Street Church was the site of the first state-sanctioned
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
in the United States.
History of the congregation
The congregation was founded in 1729 as the "Church of the
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
Strangers"
and became independent in 1787, incorporating under a
congregational model of polity. Until the Back Bay location was completed, the congregation was located in the
Federal Street Church
The Federal Street Church (established 1729) was a congregational Unitarian church in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized in 1727, the originally Presbyterian congregation changed in 1786 to "Congregationalism", then adopted the liberal theology of i ...
in downtown Boston, where
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
, the first major American Unitarian minister, preached from 1803 to 1842.
Two future presidents of the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
—
Samuel Eliot
Samuel Eliot (December 22, 1821 – September 14, 1898) was an American historian, educator, and statesman of Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut.
Biography
Eliot was born in Boston, the son of William Havard Eliot (1796 - 18 ...
and
Dana Greeley—served the church during its first hundred years in the Arlington Street building. In 1935, the
Second Universalist Church of Boston
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
merged its assets with Arlington Street Church. In so doing, Arlington Street Church inherited the thinking of two great liberal theologians: Channing, called "the father of American Unitarianism," and
Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou D.D. (April 30, 1771 – June 7, 1852) was an American Universalist clergyman and theological writer.
Originally a Baptist, he converted to Universalism in 1789. He preached in a number of towns in Vermont, New Hampshire, and ...
, called "the father of American Universalism." In 1942, the
Church of the Disciples united with Arlington Street Church.
In the 1960s, the congregation became active in the
Civil Rights Movement
The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
.
James Reeb
James Joseph Reeb (January 1, 1927 – March 11, 1965) was an American Unitarian Universalist minister, pastor, and activist during the civil rights movement in Washington, D.C. and Boston, Massachusetts. While participating in the Selma to ...
, a minister active in the congregation, was murdered during a march in
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, in the Black Belt region of south central Alabama and extending to the west. Located on the banks of the Alabama River, the city has a population of 17,971 as of the 2020 census. Abo ...
.
Under the ministry of Jack Mendelsohn, the church became a center for protests against the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
In the 1980s, the church led
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...
awareness programs and support for the homeless.
In 2004, Reverend Kim K. Crawford Harvie officiated the first legal state-sanctioned
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
in the United States.
Arlington Street church building
As the population of Boston grew and land became scarce,
landfilled areas were created in the North End, South End, and finally the Back Bay during the 1850s. When the area around Federal Street became commercial, the congregation voted to move to newly filled land in the
Back Bay
Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...
neighborhood. Arlington Street Church was the first public building to be constructed there.
The building was begun in 1859, and dedicated in 1861 as the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...
loomed. Designed by
Arthur Gilman
Arthur Delevan Gilman (November 5, 1821, Newburyport, Massachusetts – July 11, 1882, Syracuse, New York) was an American architect, designer of many Boston neighborhoods, and member of the American Institute of Architects.
Life and career
Gi ...
and
Gridley James Fox Bryant
Gridley James Fox Bryant (August 29, 1816 – June 8, 1899), often referred to as G. J. F. Bryant, was a Boston architect, builder, and industrial engineer whose designs "dominated the profession of architecture in ostonand New England." ...
, architects for the
Old Boston City Hall, its exterior was inspired by
St. Martin-in-the-Fields
St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the medie ...
,
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
The building is supported by 999 wooden pilings driven into the mud of Back Bay, and
brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material.
Type ...
ashlar
Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...
for its exterior was quarried in New Jersey.
The bell tower stands 190 feet (58 meters) tall and contains a set of 16 bells, each with a Biblical inscription.
It is one of only four sets in the city of Boston still rung by hand.
The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1973
and designated a
Boston Landmark
A Boston Landmark is a designation by the Boston Landmarks Commission for historic buildings and sites throughout the city of Boston based on the grounds that it has historical, social, cultural, architectural or aesthetic significance to New Engla ...
by the
Boston Landmarks Commission The Boston Landmarks Commission (BLC) is the historic preservation agency for the City of Boston. The commission was created by state legislation i1975
History
Urban renewal in the United States started with the Housing Act of 1949, part of Presid ...
in 1978.
Landscaping for the church was designed by
Mabel Keyes Babcock.
Interior
The sanctuary, with its
Corinthian column
The Corinthian order ( Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...
s and graceful rounded arches, was modeled after the
Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato
The Basilica della Santissima Annunziata del Vastato is the Catholic cathedral of Genoa, northern Italy; its decoration employed the major baroque studios and artists in Genoa in the 17th century.
It is named ''Vastato'' because the area where it ...
in Genoa, Italy.
The panels on either side of the choir loft, containing the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
and the
Lord’s Prayer
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the G ...
, were brought from the Federal Street Church, as was Dr.
William Ellery Channing
William Ellery Channing (April 7, 1780 – October 2, 1842) was the foremost Unitarian preacher in the United States in the early nineteenth century and, along with Andrews Norton (1786–1853), one of Unitarianism's leading theologians. Channi ...
’s pulpit, which stands in the Hunnewell Chapel.
The
box pew
A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
History in England
Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...
s, made of chestnut with black walnut rails, were at one time deeded to members of the congregation. Enclosing each pew signified that they were privately owned, and also kept cold drafts from blowing in from the aisles during the winter season.
Originally, all of the sanctuary windows were glazed with clear glass. In 1898, the congregation voted to start installation of memorial
stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
windows created by the studios of
Louis C. Tiffany
Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...
, and commissioned a set of designs for all 20 windows.
The last of 16 Tiffany windows was installed in 1930, just before the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
dried up available funds.
By the time the economic crisis had eased, Tiffany Studios had been liquidated (in 1937), and new Tiffany windows were unobtainable.
The Tiffany windows were designed by Frederick Wilson (1858–1932), Tiffany's chief designer for ecclesiastical windows.
He made extensive use of Tiffany's special glassmaking technologies, including confetti glass, iridescent glass, 3D-textured "drapery glass", pastel colors for "painting in glass", and the trademark opalescent “Favrile” glass.
There are as many as six or seven layers of glass in a Tiffany window, producing visual textures that would otherwise have to be painted in.
Only some fine details impractical to produce in glass were hand-painted, in permanent enamel.
The Arlington Street Church holds the complete set of Wilson's original watercolor design drawings for all the windows.
The windows on the lower level feature incidents from the early life of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
, while the windows for the galleries on the upper level feature his
Beatitudes
The Beatitudes are sayings attributed to Jesus, and in particular eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, and four in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mi ...
, or blessings.
Each window has a border of decorative
acanthus-leaf scrolls, echoing the capitals of the Corinthian columns of the sanctuary.
Full-color images of all the Tiffany windows can be seen at the Arlington Street Tiffany Education Center website.
After vandalism destroyed a memorial dedication pane in the 1970s,
plexiglas
Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) belongs to a group of materials called engineering plastics. It is a transparent thermoplastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and brands Crylux, Plexiglas, Acrylite ...
sheets were installed on the exterior side of the Tiffany windows for protection. Over time, the plastic discolored to a bluish tinge and transmitted less light, as an accumulated film of dirt also clouded the stained glass. In the 21st century, the plastic sheets have been replaced, and the glass has been cleaned to restore its original beauty. In 2015, $120,000 in funds was raised to begin restoration of the Tiffany windows.
, night-time lighting is being installed, so that the Tiffany windows can be viewed from outside the building.
After a 50-year period when the Tiffany windows were only viewed by the congregation, the church is now open to the general public from 10 to 3 daily from mid-May through the end of October, except Sunday and when special events are scheduled.
Guided tours and self-guided tours (with optional smartphone audio) are available, as well as group tours by prearrangement.
The
Aeolian-Skinner
Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts was an American builder of a large number of pipe organs from its inception as the Skinner Organ Company in 1901 until its closure in 1972. Key figures were Ernest M. Skinner (1866–1 ...
organ was installed in 1955–1957.
Since the Aeolian-Skinner Company was shut down in the 1970s, the organ is regarded as an irreplaceable historic instrument from the 20th century.
Most of the main floor is wheelchair accessible.
The fully accessible
Arlington station on the
MBTA
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network i ...
Green Line is immediately adjacent to the church., at the corner of
Boylston Street
Boylston Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in the city of Boston, Massachusetts. The street begins in Boston's Chinatown neighborhood, forms the southern border of the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common, runs through Back Bay, and e ...
and Arlington Street.
Governance and association
Arlington Street Church is a member congregation of the
Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both ...
, a denomination created in 1961 by the consolidation of the
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association (AUA) was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it consolidated with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Uni ...
and the
Universalist Church of America
The Universalist Church of America (UCA) was originally a Christian Universalist religious denomination in the United States (plus affiliated churches in other parts of the world). Known from 1866 as the Universalist General Convention, the nam ...
.
The denomination is organized on the basis of congregational church government. Each congregation is self-governing, deciding on its form of worship, professional and lay leadership, programs, and business. Congregations are members of the Unitarian Universalist Association and are united by a statement of Purposes and Principles. Each congregation elects delegates to a yearly General Assembly where the congregational delegates vote on matters of denominational importance and on resolutions of social witness. Congregations are served by programs provided by the Association at the continental and regional levels.
Preservation and restoration of the church building and its Tiffany windows are supported by The Foundation for the Preservation of 20 Arlington Street Inc, a separate, non-sectarian
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of ...
charity.
In 2017, the Tiffany Windows Education Center at Arlington Street Church opened its doors to the public, offering guided tours of the church and the Tiffany windows.
Gallery
Image:ArlingtonStChurch byJPSoule Boston.png, Arlington St. Church, 19th-century photo by John P. Soule
John Payson Soule (1828–1904) was a photographer and publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, and Seattle, Washington.
Biography
He was born in Phillips, Maine on October 19, 1828. His younger brother, William Stinson Soule, also became a photogr ...
Image:Aeolian-Skinner.jpg, Æolian-Skinner pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...
Image:Arlington Street Church Steeple.jpg, Steeple
In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religi ...
, viewed through autumn foliage
Autumn leaf color is a phenomenon that affects the normal green leaves of many deciduous trees and shrubs by which they take on, during a few weeks in the autumn season, various shades of yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown. The phenomenon i ...
of the Public Garden
File:USA-Boston-Arlington Street Church0.jpg, Arlington Street Church, 2013
See also
*
Church of the Covenant (Boston)
The Church of the Covenant is a historic church at 67 Newbury Street in the Back Bay, Boston, Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A National Historic Landmark, it was built in 1865-1867 by the Central Congregational church, Congreg ...
– nearby Boston church with a Tiffany-designed interior
*
Federal Street Church (Boston)
The Federal Street Church (established 1729) was a congregational Unitarian church in Boston, Massachusetts. Organized in 1727, the originally Presbyterian congregation changed in 1786 to "Congregationalism", then adopted the liberal theology of i ...
*
References
External links
Arlington Street Church official websiteThe historical records ofan
correspondence and collected resources on social and religious movements kept bythe Arlington Street Church are in the Harvard Divinity School 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 academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...
in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
.
* City of Boston
Boston Landmarks CommissionArlington Street Church Study Report
{{Authority control
Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Churches completed in 1861
19th-century Unitarian Universalist church buildings
Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts
Churches in Boston
Religious organizations established in the 1720s
National Register of Historic Places in Boston
Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts
1729 establishments in Massachusetts
Landmarks in Back Bay, Boston