The First Parish in Cambridge
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First Parish in Cambridge 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, located in Harvard Square 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 ...
. It is a Welcoming Congregation and a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association. The church is notable for its almost 400-year history, which includes pivotal roles in the development of the early Massachusetts government, the creation of
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
, and the refinement of current liberal religious thought.


Site history

The original First Parish, called at the time the first Meeting House, was built near the corner of Dunster and Mount Auburn streets in 1632. The Meeting House's first minister,
Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...
, stayed only a handful of years; he and most of his flock moved to
Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
to escape religious persecution in 1636. Reverend Thomas Shepard, a significant leader of the great
Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
migration to New England at the time, gathered a new church, the First Church in Cambridge, on February 1, 1636. One year later, Reverend Shepard used his influence with the
General Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...
to move
Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
to Newtowne (later called Cambridge), a short distance away from his newly established church, so that the Harvard college students might "benefit from proximity" to his evangelical preaching. The Harvard College Yard became the site for the second Meeting House, built in 1652, and the third, in 1706, and the fourth, 1756, all located in the corner now occupied by the college's Lehman Hall. In 1833, the congregation built the fifth and final Meeting House, which stands adjacent to present-day Harvard Yard. Harvard College held its annual commencement ceremonies therein for the next forty years. Five Harvard College presidents—Everett, Sparks, Walker, Felton, Hill, and Eliot—began their inaugural terms there as well. The Parish House was built in 1902, and the interior of the Meeting House remodeled in 1914. The Crothers chapel was dedicated in 1941.


Governmental role

In the century following the founding of the Town of Cambridge in 1630, the whole community transacted the parish affairs through town meetings. Said another way, the townspeople were responsible for governing the area and for providing financial support for the Meeting House and the ministry. In 1733, the First Parish in Cambridge moved away from its close governmental role and separately organized itself as a territorial parish. Within the town (which was considered a "parish" after 1733), the church was a relatively small, covenanted body of those admitted to full communion. Such costs as the maintenance of the meeting house and the salary of the town's "public teacher of piety, religion, and morality" (who was also the minister of the church) were met by regular assessments on all persons domiciled within the territorial limits of the parish (unless exempted because they were supporting either
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
or Episcopal worship). The power of the parish to assess the inhabitants for ecclesiastical purposes was abolished in Massachusetts in 1833. Since then, the parish has been a poll parish, rather than a territorial parish.


Evolution of church doctrine

Throughout the 17th century, Reverend Shepard and his successors preached a
Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
doctrine. In the 18th century, the ministers moved the theology in a more liberal direction. Specifically, Reverend
William Brattle Major-General William Brattle (April 18, 1706 – October 25, 1776) was an American politician, lawyer, cleric, physician and military officer who served as the Attorney General of Massachusetts from 1736 to 1738. Brattle is best known for h ...
and Reverend Nathaniel Appleton amended their Calvinist preaching to encourage "free inquiry", and they held a tolerant and catholic spirit towards those who differed on doctrinal matters. Appleton's successor, Timothy Hilliard, was Arminian rather than Calvinistic in theology. The division between Calvinists and Arminians, which appeared in many churches of the Standing Order in the 18th century, reached a time of crisis in the period from 1805 to 1830. The minister of the Cambridge church at that time was the Reverend
Abiel Holmes Abiel Holmes (December 24, 1763 – June 4, 1837) was an American Congregational clergyman and historian. He was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Biography Holmes was born in Woodstock, Conn ...
, the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes. Reverend Holmes held to orthodox doctrinal views, but he remained on friendly terms with the liberal or Arminian party for three decades after his installation in 1792. In 1826, however, he decided to break off relations with the liberals, specifically abolishing pulpit exchanges with the liberal or Unitarian ministers. After vainly attempting to persuade Reverend Holmes to return to his earlier, more inclusive practices, the Parish voted to dismiss him as its public teacher of religion and morality. By 1829, most of the Parish became Unitarian. Dr. Holmes and the more conservative members of his flock departed and founded the Shepard
Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...
Society. In 1899, it was agreed that the church associated with that society should be called the First Church in Cambridge (Congregational), now part 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 ...
, and this church, the First Parish in Cambridge (Unitarian) ow Unitarian Universalist The Reverend William Newell, the church's first avowedly Unitarian minister, led the congregation from 1830 to 1868. His immediate successor, Francis Greenwood Peabody, would become a leader of the Social Gospel movement. The fourteenth minister, Reverend Dr.
Samuel McChord Crothers Samuel McChord Crothers (June 7, 1857–November 1927) was an American Unitarian minister with The First Parish in Cambridge. He was a popular essayist.Editorial (November 13, 1927). Dr. Crothers As Essayist. ''New York Times''Eliot, Frederick M ...
, an eloquent preacher and widely read essayist, managed to attract a following from both the University and the Old Cambridge communities. In 1837, Transcendentalist
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
delivered his now famous "American Scholar" address—referred to by Oliver Wendell Holmes as America's "Intellectual Declaration of Independence"—at the First Parish Church.


Present membership

Since its founding, the town of Cambridge has changed greatly. Instead of being a rural community, separated from Boston by an hour's travel time, the town has become an urban center in its own right. The Cambridge church is to all intents and purposes a downtown church. Its membership fluctuates, as urban communities do, and its composition varies. The current church leadership, however, is committed to maintaining the witness of liberal religion, in keeping with the struggles of earlier generations.


Notable personages

* Thomas Hooker established the first Meeting House in 1633. * The
General Court of Massachusetts The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, w ...
banished
Anne Hutchinson Anne Hutchinson (née Marbury; July 1591 – August 1643) was a Puritan spiritual advisor, religious reformer, and an important participant in the Antinomian Controversy which shook the infant Massachusetts Bay Colony from 1636 to 1638. Her ...
from Massachusetts during sessions held in the first Meeting House in 1637. *
Benjamin Kent Benjamin Kent (1708–1788) was Massachusetts Attorney General (1776–1777) and then acting Attorney General during much of Robert Treat Paine's tenure (1777–1785). He was appointed seven successive terms. Prior to the American Revolution, Ken ...
was baptized in 1708 * U.S. President
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 ...
worshiped in the fourth Meeting House in 1775. * Edward Everett received the General
Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
with an address of welcome in 1825. *
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
gave his
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...
oration on "
The American Scholar "The American Scholar" was a speech given by Ralph Waldo Emerson on August 31, 1837, to the Phi Beta Kappa Society of Harvard College at the First Parish in Cambridge in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was invited to speak in recognition of his gro ...
" in 1837.


Ministers of First Parish in Cambridge

*1633–1636
Thomas Hooker Thomas Hooker (July 5, 1586 – July 7, 1647) was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding spea ...
*1633–1636
Samuel Stone Samuel Stone (July 18, 1602 – 20 July 1663) was a Puritan minister and co-founder of Hartford, Connecticut. Biography Stone was born in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England. The name of the town is pronounced "Hartford". ...
*1636–1649 Thomas Shepard *1649–1650
Henry Dunster Henry Dunster (November 26, 1609 (baptized) – February 27, 1658/59) was an Anglo-American Puritan clergyman and the first president of Harvard College. Brackney says Dunster was "an important precursor" of the Baptist denomination in America, ...
(interim) *1650–1668 Jonathan Mitchel *1671–1681 Urian Oakes *1682–1692 Nathaniel Gookin, son of Maj.-Gen.
Daniel Gookin Major-General Danyell “Daniel” Gookin (1612 – 19 March 1687) was a Munster colonist, settler of Virginia and Massachusetts, and a writer on the subject of American Indians. Early life He was born, perhaps in County Cork, Ireland, in the ...
*1696–1717 William Brattle *1717–1784 Nathaniel Appleton *1783–1790 Timothy Hilliard *1792–1829
Abiel Holmes Abiel Holmes (December 24, 1763 – June 4, 1837) was an American Congregational clergyman and historian. He was the father of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. and grandfather of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Biography Holmes was born in Woodstock, Conn ...
*1830–1868 William Newell *1874–1879 Francis G. Peabody *1882–1893 Edward H. Hall, a first cousin of Miss
Mary Lee Ware Mary Lee Ware, (Jan. 7, 1858 – Jan. 9, 1937) daughter of Elizabeth Cabot (Lee) Ware and Charles Eliot Ware, was born to a wealthy Bostonian family and, with her mother, was the principal sponsor of the Harvard Museum of Natural History's famou ...
*1894–1927 Samuel M. Crothers *1928–1934 Ralph E. Bailey *1935–1944 Leslie T. Pennington *1945–1958 Wilburn B. Miller *1959–1977 Ralph N. Helverson *1978–1987 Edwin A. Lane *1989–2006 Thomas J. S. Mikelson *1997–2007 Jory Agate *2008–2015 Fred Small *2010–2014 Lilia Cuervo *2017–2022 Adam Lawrence Dyer


Multiculturalism and social justice

In 1967, First Parish founded the speakers series ''Cambridge Forum'', which began radio broadcasts in 1970. First Parish in Cambridge is deeply committed to becoming a multiracial, multicultural, justice-making congregation through engagement both within and outside its walls. The Tuesday Meals program provides hospitality and a meal once a week to anyone in need of nourishment. An active Social Justice Council includes task forces dedicated to
environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement to address the unfair exposure of poor and marginalized communities to harms from hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses.Schlosberg, David. (2007) ''Defining Environmental Justic ...
and
immigration 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, a ...
. In 2011, the congregation's
rainbow flag A rainbow flag is a multicolored flag consisting of the colors of the rainbow. The designs differ, but many of the colors are based on the spectral colors of the visible light spectrum. The LGBT flag introduced in 1978 is the most recogniz ...
was stolen and rededicated two weeks later. In 2013, First Parish in Cambridge voted unanimously to divest its holdings in fossil fuel stocks over the next five years. In 2015, the congregation approved a proposal by Y2Y Harvard Square, a program of the
Phillips Brooks House Association Phillips may refer to: Businesses Energy * Chevron Phillips Chemical, American petrochemical firm jointly owned by Chevron Corporation and Phillips 66. * ConocoPhillips, American energy company * Phillips 66, American energy company * Philli ...
, to convert Stebbins Auditorium into a young adult homeless shelter that would also house Youth on Fire, the
LGBTQ ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is ...
-friendly youth service center, on weekdays.


References


Sources


Cambridge, Massachusetts. First Parish in Cambridge. Records, 1658-1993, Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School


External links


First Parish in Cambridge official site"Opening the Doors to Diversity"
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
News Video: Religion and Spirituality in a Changing Society
Harvard Square Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:First Parish in Cambridge Unitarian Universalist churches in Massachusetts Churches in Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard Square