Park Street Church, founded in 1804, is a historic and active

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

congregational

megachurch A megachurch is a church with an unusually large membership that also offers a variety of educational and social activities, usually Protestant or Evangelical. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as any Protestant C ...

Downtown Boston Downtown Boston is the central business district of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. The city of Boston was founded in 1630. The largest of the city's commercial districts, Downtown is the location of many corporate or regional headquarters; ...

, Massachusetts. The Park Street Church is a member of the

Conservative Congregational Christian Conference The Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC or 4Cs) is an evangelical Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. It is a member of ...

. Typical attendance averages over 2,000 people across all Sunday services. Church membership records are private, but the congregation has over 1,200 members. The church is located at 1 Park Street, at the corner of Tremont Street.

History

Park Street Church is a stop on Boston's Freedom Trail. The founding of the church is dated to 1804 when the "Religious Improvement Society" began weekly meetings with lectures and prayer. The society organized the church on February 27, 1809. Twenty-six local people, mostly former members of the Old South Meeting House, wanted to create a church with orthodox Trinitarian theology. The church's cornerstone was laid on May 1, 1809, and construction was completed by the end of the year, under the guidance of Peter Banner (architect), Benajah Young (chief mason) and

Solomon Willard Solomon Willard (June 26, 1783 – February 27, 1861) was a carver and builder in Massachusetts who is remembered primarily for designing and overseeing the Bunker Hill Monument, the first monumental obelisk erected in the United States. Back ...

(woodcarver). Banner took inspiration from several early pattern books, and his design is reminiscent of a London church by

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 church ...

. Park Street church's steeple rises to , and remains a landmark visible from several Boston neighborhoods. The church was the tallest building in the United States from 1810 to 1828. For much of the early 19th century, it was the first landmark travelers saw when approaching Boston. The church is next to the historic

Granary Burying Ground The Granary Burying Ground in Massachusetts is the city of Boston's third-oldest cemetery, founded in 1660 and located on Tremont Street. It is the final resting place for many notable Revolutionary War-era patriots, including Paul Revere, th ...

and was site of

granary A granary is a storehouse or room in a barn for threshed grain or animal feed. Ancient or primitive granaries are most often made of pottery. Granaries are often built above the ground to keep the stored food away from mice and other animals ...

building for which the burial grounds was named. The first worship service was held on January 10, 1810. The church became known as "Brimstone Corner", in part because of the fervent missionary character of its preaching, and in part because of the storage of gunpowder during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...

. Park Street Church has a strong tradition of missions,

doctrine, and application of

Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...

social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common problems in present-day society and ones that many people strive to solve. It is often the consequence of factors extending beyond an individual's cont ...

s, as well as a notable list of firsts.

Edward Dorr Griffin Edward Dorr Griffin (6 January 1770 – 8 November 1837) was a Christian minister and an American educator who served as President of Williams College from 1821 to 1836 and served as the first pastor of Park Street Church from 1811 to 1815. Water ...

(1770–1837) served as the first pastor of the Park Street Church and preached a famous series of Sunday evening sermons attacking the New Divinity. In 1816, Park Street Church joined with Old South Church to form the

City Mission Society The City Mission Society, is a social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referr ...

, a social service society to serve Boston's urban poor. 2017 Park Street Church steeple

In 1826, Edward Beecher, the brother of

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel '' Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the har ...

and son of Lyman Beecher, a notable

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

, became pastor of the church. On July 4, 1829,

William Lloyd Garrison William Lloyd Garrison (December , 1805 – May 24, 1879) was a prominent American Christian, abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer. He is best known for his widely read antislavery newspaper '' The Liberator'', which he fo ...

delivered his Address to the Colonization Society at Park Street, making his first major public statement against

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. From 1829–1831,

Lowell Mason Lowell Mason (January 8, 1792 – August 11, 1872) was an American music director and banker who was a leading figure in 19th-century American church music. Lowell composed over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His best-known ...

, a notable Christian composer, served as choirmaster and organist. The church hosted the debut of "

My Country, 'Tis of Thee "America (My Country, 'Tis of Thee)" is an American patriotic song, the lyrics of which were written by Samuel Francis Smith. The song served as one of the ''de facto'' national anthems of the United States (along with songs like "Hail, Columb ...

", also known as "America", by Samuel Francis Smith on July 4, 1831. Park Street also played a role in founding the first "Homeland" or American Mission to the Sandwich Islands (now

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

), where that church still stands; the

Handel and Haydn Society The Handel and Haydn Society is an American chorus and period instrument orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. Known colloquially as 'H+H', the organization has been in continual performance since its founding in 1815, the longest-serving suc ...

started there.

Benjamin E. Bates Benjamin Edward Bates IV (; July 12, 1808 – January 14, 1878) was an American rail industrialist, textile tycoon and philanthropist. He was the wealthiest person in Maine from 1850 to 1878, and is considered to have introduced both the Efficienc ...

, an industrialist who founded

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in Maine in 1855, was a Sunday school teacher and active attendant of Park Street in the mid-19th century. In 1857–58, evangelist

Charles Finney Charles Grandison Finney (August 29, 1792 – August 16, 1875) was an American Presbyterian minister and leader in the Second Great Awakening in the United States. He has been called the "Father of Old Revivalism." Finney rejected much of tr ...

led a revival at Park Street which led the pastor,

Andrew Leete Stone Andrew Leete Stone (November 25, 1815 January 16, 1892) was an author, Civil War chaplain, and pastor of Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Stone was born in Oxford, Connecticut, in 1815 and graduated from Yale College in 1837. O ...

, to experience a spiritual awakening. Gleason Archer, a prominent inerrantist theologian was the assistant pastor of Park Street from 1945 to 1948, and his father,

Suffolk University Suffolk University is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. With 7,560 students (includes all campuses, 7,379 at the Boston location alone), it is the eighth-largest university in metropolitan Boston. It was founded as a la ...

founder Gleason Archer Sr., served as president of the Park Street Men's Club in the 1920s. In 1949,

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American evangelist and an ordained Southern Baptist minister who became well known internationally in the late 1940s. He was a prominent evangelical Christi ...

's first transcontinental mid-century crusade began at Park Street. Harold J. Ockenga, notable theologian and co-architect of the (Neo-)Evangelical movement was the senior pastor from 1936 to 1969, and during this time co-founded Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary with

, co-founded

Fuller Theological Seminary Fuller Theological Seminary is an interdenominational Evangelical Christian seminary in Pasadena, California, with regional campuses in the western United States. It is egalitarian in nature. Fuller consistently has a student body that compr ...

, the

National Association of Evangelicals The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) is an association of evangelical denominations, organizations, schools, churches and individuals, member of the World Evangelical Alliance. The association represents more than 45,000 local churches ...

, War Relief (which later became

World Relief World Relief (officially, World Relief Corporation of National Association of Evangelicals) is an Evangelical Christian humanitarian nongovernmental organization, the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals and a leading refug ...

), and the Christian publication ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evan ...

''. In 1974, the church built a Church Ministries Building at 1 Park Street beside the main edifice. Designed in a

modernist Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

architectural style by Stahl/Bennett Associates with a concrete structure, window-walls and purplish brick facing, the building is described by the Boston Preservation Alliance as follows: "The Church Ministries Building Addition to Park Street Church breaks dramatically with its surroundings in style, while relating coherently to it in materials. The building rises with large panes of glass stretching across its narrow facade and handsome red brick covering the rest of the building. The ground floor is glass and looks out to the Granary Burial Ground beyond the building to the rear". In the 1990s, the church purchased the 2 and 3 Park Street buildings from

Houghton-Mifflin Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (; HMH) is an American publisher of textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers and adults. The company is based in the Boston Fina ...

Today

The church still holds to its Statement of Faith adopted by the church in 1877 and readopted in 2003. After 200 years, the church is still engaged in current social issues. For example, Park Street Church helped launch a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in Hyde Park,

Boston Trinity Academy Boston Trinity Academy (BTA) is a private Christian school in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It currently enrolls roughly 230 students in grades 6–12. History In 2002, Boston Trinity Academy was founded by a group of Boston-area busine ...

, in 2002, to help address the educational needs of

inner-city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists someti ...

Boston (more than 70% of its students are on scholarship and more than 50% are minorities); it hosts many English as a Second Language classes during the week; it has and supports ministries for the

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

, such as Boston Rescue Mission and Park Street's Starlight Ministry and Thursday Evening Outreach; it partners with

crisis pregnancy centers A crisis pregnancy center (CPC), sometimes called a pregnancy resource center (PRC) or a pro-life pregnancy center, is a type of nonprofit organization established by anti-abortion groups primarily to persuade pregnant women against having an a ...

Daybreak Pregnancy Resource Center and A Woman's Concern; it provides

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

classes for

international student International students, or foreign students, are students who undertake all or part of their tertiary education in a country other than their own and move to that country for the purpose of studying. In 2019, there were over 6 million internati ...

s and

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

s. There are many affinity groups including ministries for young adults, college students, international students and scholars, children and teens, as well as introductory classes on Christianity and various adult education classes. There is also a ministry called Alive in Christ, an affiliate of Hope for Wholeness. Park Street is an international congregation, with members from more than 60 countries. The church attracts many regular worshipers from among the

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-le ...

graduate student Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and s ...

s, and faculty at Boston-area universities. Park Street believes strongly in education integrated with faith, so it is associated with Park Street Kids, Park Street School, and

, as well as partnering with

Campus Crusade for Christ Cru (until 2011 known as Campus Crusade for Christ—informally "Campus Crusade" or simply "crusade"—or CCC) is an interdenominational Christian parachurch organization. It was founded in 1951 at the University of California, Los Angeles by ...

and

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA is an inter-denominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. InterVarsity is a charter member of the Internat ...

for undergraduate and graduate ministries, and a long-time partnership with Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Boston Mayor Menino announced February 27, 2009, as Park Street Day in honor of its bicentennial.

Senior ministers (1811–present)

* Edward D. Griffin 1811–1815 * Sereno E. Dwight 1817–1826 * Edward Beecher 1826–1830 * Joel H. Linsley 1832–1835 * Silas Aiken 1837–1848 *

1849–1866 * William H.H. Murray 1868–1874 * John L. Withrow 1876–1887; 1898–1907 * David Gregg 1887–1890 *

Isaac J. Lansing Isaac J. Lansing (1846–1920) was the president of Clark Atlanta University from 1874 to 1876, and the pastor at Park Street Church in Boston, Massachusetts from 1893 to 1897. Isaac Lansing was born in 1846 in Watervliet, New York. He grad ...

1893–1897 * Arcturus Z. Conrad 1905–1937 * Harold J. Ockenga 1936–1969 * Paul E. Toms 1969–1989 * David C. Fisher 1989–1995 *Pablo Polischuk (''Interim'') 1995–1997 *

Gordon P. Hugenberger Gordon Paul Hugenberger (born October 6, 1948) was the senior pastor at historic Park Street Church, in Boston, Massachusetts (1997–2017). He announced on June 5, 2016 that he would leave that position by the end of June, 2017. He was born in W ...

1997–2017 * Phil Thorne (''Interim'') 2017–2019 * Mark L. Booker 2020–

Images

File:Edward Griffin Boston.png, Edward Griffin, minister 1811–1815 File:1850 MasonicTemple BirdsEyeView Boston byJohnBachmann.png, Overview of Common, with Park St. Church (left), across from the Masonic Temple on Tremont St., 1850 File:Park Street Church, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg, 19th century File:Park Street Church2 Boston 19thc.jpg, Park St. Church, 19th century File:HamiltonPlace Boston1885.png, Hamilton Place, with Park St. Church in distance, c. 1885 File:Boston ca1890.png, c. 1890 File:Park Street Church at Park Street and Tremont Street - DPLA - f71afe9e4d4569821772325ac3cb857c.jpg, Park Street Church, 1920 File:Streetcars diverted around Park Street station construction, 1896.png, Subway construction, 1896 File:Arturus Conrad Boston.png, Arturus Conrad, minister 1903–1937 File:1909 deacons ParkStChurch Boston.png, Deacons, 1909 File:TremontSt Boston 1915.png, Tremont St. and Park St. Church, 1915 File:Park Street Church Mount Auburn lot.jpg, Park Street Church lot at

Mount Auburn Cemetery Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural cemetery, rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts, Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middl ...

, 2008 photo

References

External links