The First Parish Church is a historic Unitarian Universalist (formerly Congregationalist) church at Tremont and Depot Streets in Duxbury, Massachusetts. First Parish Church is currently a member congregation of 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 ...

History

The original Duxbury congregation was founded in 1632 by Elder William Brewster as a Christian

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 ...

church with early members coming from the First Parish Church in Plymouth, the oldest church in New England. In the beginning, the church likely met in congregants' homes until the first meeting house was built near what is today known as Miles Standish Burial Ground. The Duxbury congregation became a parish church of Massachusetts' Congregationalist state church. A schism developed at the turn of the 19th century, 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. State churches were officially disaffiliated with the Massachusetts government in 1834. The current church building was constructed in 1840. The building was added to 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 1978.

Images

First parish church in Duxbury MA.JPG, First Parish Church in 2010 First Parish Church marker in Miles Standish Burying ground in Duxbury Massachusetts.JPG, Site of the original First Parish Church meeting house within Myles Standish Burial Ground

References

External links

First Parish of Duxbury official website

of the First Parish Church 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, ...

. Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts Churches completed in 1840 19th-century Unitarian Universalist church buildings 1632 establishments in Plymouth Colony Duxbury, Massachusetts Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts 17th-century Protestant churches Churches in Plymouth County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Plymouth County, Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-church-stub

History

Images

See also

References

External links