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The Trinity Church, formerly the First Congregational Church, is a historic church in
Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, ...
. The present church building, an architecturally distinctive blend of Romanesque and Georgian Revival styling, was built in 1870 for a congregation established in 1820. It 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 1989.


Architecture and history

The church stands on the south side of Main Street ( United States Route 20), one block west of Waltham's Central Square. It is separated from the street by lawn, and stands opposite the
Francis Buttrick Library The Waltham Public Library is the public library of the city of Waltham, Massachusetts. Its main location is in the Francis Buttrick Library, an architecturally significant Georgian Revival building built in 1915, funded by a bequest from Francis ...
. Its main body is oriented north-south, with a gable roof, and a square tower rising at the northeast corner. The main entrance is set at the base of the main block in a segmented-arch opening, and is topped by a tall Palladian window with balcony. The tower corners are pilastered, and the tower includes a belfry stage with round-arch openings before rising to an octagonal spire. The interior is predominantly Georgian Revival in character, the result of extensive interior and exterior alterations in 1925. The building was built in 1870, and originally had Italianate styling, some of which is still evident in its round-arch windows and bracketed gable. First Congregational Church was founded in 1820 as a
Trinitarian The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the Fa ...
congregation called the Trinitarian Congregational Church, brought about in part by schism from the Second Religious Society, which chose
Unitarianism Unitarianism (from Latin ''unitas'' "unity, oneness", from ''unus'' "one") is a nontrinitarian branch of Christian theology. Most other branches of Christianity and the major Churches accept the doctrine of the Trinity which states that there i ...
. Its first church was located at Main and Heard Streets. Growth in the congregation prompted construction of this larger structure in 1870 to a design by
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
-based Thomas Silloway. The schism between the two congregations was healed in 1906, and they were reunited as the First Congregational Church. The church was damaged by fire in 1925, while undergoing the renovations that added its Georgian features. It became a member of 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 approximatel ...
when that body was formed in 1955, but withdrew in 2006 when the congregation "voted to establish itself as an independent, trans-denominational congregation," and changed its name to Trinity Church. Its current pastor is the Rev. J. Howard Cepelak.Trinity Church official website
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See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Waltham, Massachusetts This is a list of properties and historic districts in Waltham, Massachusetts, that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The locations of National Register properties and districts (at least for all showing latitude and longit ...


References


External links

* {{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Churches completed in 1870 19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings United Church of Christ churches in Massachusetts Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Churches in Waltham, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Waltham, Massachusetts