The First Church of Christ, Wethersfield, is an

American Colonial Era The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the Revolutionary War. In the ...

church in the Old Wethersfield Historic District of

Wethersfield, Connecticut Wethersfield is a town located in Hartford County, Connecticut. It is located immediately south of Hartford along the Connecticut River. Its population was 27,298 at the time of the 2020 census. Many records from colonial times spell the name ...

. The congregation was founded in 1635, and the present Georgian style brick meetinghouse was built in 1761–1764 with its distinctive white steeple. The church cemetery also dates from the 1600s. The interior of the meetinghouse was built as a crosswise room (''Querkirche''), altered considerably in 1838 and 1882, and returned to the original layout in 1971–1973. Wethersfield, First Church of Christ

According to a plaque at the tower entrance door,

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

attended church there on May 20, 1781, during a conference with Count de Rochambeau at the nearby Joseph Webb House to plan the conclusion of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

visited Wethersfield resident and envoy to France

Silas Deane Silas Deane (September 23, 1789) was an American merchant, politician, and diplomat, and a supporter of American independence. Deane served as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he signed the Continental Association, and then became the ...

in 1774 and wrote in his diary: “We went up the steeple of Wethersfield meeting-house, from whence is the most grand and beautiful prospect in the world, at least that I ever saw.” The church and its Austin organ hosted the first eighteen years of the Albert Schweitzer Organ Festival USA. This competition for young organists has been held annually since 1998 in the

Hartford Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

area, and was co-founded by First Church music minister David Spicer. The congregation was affiliated with the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

from 1961 through 2004 when the congregation overwhelmingly voted to break away citing theological and social differences, including gay marriage.

References

External links

* 1630s establishments in Connecticut Churches completed in 1761 Churches in Hartford County, Connecticut United Church of Christ churches in Connecticut Wethersfield, Connecticut {{Connecticut-NRHP-stub