King's Chapel is an American independent

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

unitarian congregation affiliated with 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 ...

that is "unitarian Christian in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

in worship, and

congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...

in governance." It is housed in what was for a time after the Revolution called the "Stone Chapel", an 18th-century structure at the corner of

Tremont Street Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts. Tremont Street begins at Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of ...

and School Street in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts. The chapel building, completed in 1754, is one of the finest designs of the noted colonial architect Peter Harrison, and was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1960 for its architectural significance. The congregation has worshipped according to a Unitarian version of the ''Book of Common Prayer'' since 1785, currently in its ninth edition. Despite its name, the adjacent King's Chapel Burying Ground is not affiliated with the chapel or any other church; it pre-dates the present church by over a century.

History

The King's Chapel congregation was founded by Royal Governor

Sir Edmund Andros Sir Edmund Andros (6 December 1637 – 24 February 1714; also spelled ''Edmond'') was an English colonial administrator in British America. He was the governor of the Dominion of New England during most of its three-year existence. At other ...

in 1686 as the first Anglican Church in colonial

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

during the reign of

King James II James II and VII (14 October 1633 – 16 September 1701) was King of England and Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685, until he was deposed in the 1688 Glori ...

. The original King's Chapel was a wooden church built in 1688 at the corner of Tremont and School Streets, where the church stands today. It was situated on the public burying ground, now King's Chapel Burying Ground, because no resident would sell land for a church that was not Congregationalist (at the time, the Congregational church was the official religion of Massachusetts). In 1749, construction began on the current stone structure, which was designed by Peter Harrison and completed in 1754. The stone church was built around the wooden church. When the stone church was complete, the wooden church was disassembled and removed through the windows of the new church. The wood was then shipped to

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia Lunenburg () is a port town on the South Shore (Nova Scotia), South Shore of Nova Scotia, Canada. Founded in 1753, the town was one of the first British attempts to settle Protestants in Nova Scotia. Historically, Lunenburg's economy relied o ...

, where it was used to construct St. John's Anglican Church. That church was destroyed by fire on Halloween night, 2001. It has since been rebuilt. Originally, there were plans to add a steeple, although funding shortfalls prevented this from happening. During the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, the chapel sat vacant and was referred to as the "Stone Chapel". The Loyalist families left for

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

and England, and those who remained reopened the church in 1782. It became Unitarian under the ministry of James Freeman, who revised the 1662 English edition of the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...

'' along Unitarian lines in 1785. Although Freeman still considered King's Chapel to be

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

, the Episcopal Church's first bishop

Samuel Seabury Samuel Seabury (November 30, 1729February 25, 1796) was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He was a leading Loyalis ...

refused to ordain him. The church still follows its own Anglican-style hybrid

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. It is a member congregation of the

Interior

Inside, the church is characterized by wooden columns with Corinthian capitals that were hand-carved by William Burbeck and his apprentices in 1758. The pulpit and inscribed wooden panels behind the altar are older than the present chapel; the pulpit dates to the early 18th century and the altar panels to the late 17th century. Both were originally part of the wooden chapel that predated the present stone building. Seating in the chapel provided in

box pew A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries. History in England Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in c ...

s, most of which were originally owned by the member families who paid pew rent and decorated the pews to their personal tastes. Additional seating was provided in balconies on either side of the nave, level with the organ loft and choir benches. The current uniform appearance of the pews dates from the 1920s. Pew No. 30 is the Governor's Pew, originally reserved for

Jonathan Belcher Jonathan Belcher (8 January 1681/8231 August 1757) was a merchant, politician, and slave trader from colonial Massachusetts who served as both governor of Massachusetts Bay and governor of New Hampshire from 1730 to 1741 and governor of New ...

, then Royal Governor of Massachusetts. Belcher's son, Jonathan Jr., was wed in the chapel in 1756. On October 27, 1789, the Governor's Pew was occupied by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. Music has long been an important part of King's Chapel, which acquired its first organ in 1713, bequeathed to the congregation by Puritan minister Thomas Brattle. Other organs that followed were built by Richard Bridge, Hook & Hastings, and Simmons & Willcox. The fifth organ installed in the chapel was a large 1909 E.M. Skinner organ. It had been a gift from Frank E. Peabody in memory of his deceased son Everett. The present organ, the sixth installed in King's Chapel, was built by C.B. Fisk in 1964. It is decorated with miters and carvings from the Bridge organ of 1756, and it is slightly below average in size compared with most mid-1900s European chapel organs. For forty-two years starting in 1958, the eminent American composer Daniel Pinkham was the organist and music director at King's Chapel. He was succeeded by Heinrich Christensen. The King's Chapel bell, cast in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, was hung in 1772. In 1814 it cracked, was recast by

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

and Sons, and was rehung. It is the largest bell cast by the Revere foundry, and the last one cast during Paul Revere's lifetime. It has been rung at services ever since. Within King's Chapel is a monument to Samuel Vassall, brother of the colonist William Vassall, a patentee of the

Massachusetts Bay Company Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to it ...

, and an early deputy of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

. Samuel Vassall of London was also named a member of the Company in its 1629 royal charter but never sailed for

, instead remaining in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to tend to business affairs; his brother William frequently clashed with

John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1588 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and a leading figure in the founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led the fir ...

, and eventually removed himself to

Scituate, Massachusetts Scituate () is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 19,063 at the 2020 census. History The Wampanoag and their neighbors inhabited the ar ...

. The monument to Vassall, London merchant, mentions his resistance to King Charles's taxes imposed on

Tonnage and Poundage Tonnage and poundage were English duties and taxes first levied in Edward II's reign on every tun (cask) of imported wine, which came mostly from Spain and Portugal, and on every pound weight of merchandise exported or imported. Traditionally t ...

, especially as Parliament had refused the King's request for a lifetime extension. Vassall subsequently represented the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

as a Member of Parliament (1640–1641), which restored some of Vassall's estate. Later Vassalls in Massachusetts, including William Vassall for whom

Vassalboro, Maine Vassalboro (originally Vassalborough) is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,520 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Vassalboro includes the villages of Riverside, Getchell's Corner, North Vassalboro, ...

was named, were

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

and fled to England during 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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Ministers

* Robert Ratcliff, rector 1686–1689 * Samuel Myles, rector 1689–1728 (d. 1728) * Roger Price, rector 1729–1746 * Henry Caner, rector 1747–1776 * James Freeman, rector 1787–1836 (d.1836) * Samuel Cary, minister 1809–1815 (d.1815) * F.W.P. Greenwood, minister 1824–1843 (d. 1843) * Ephraim Peabody, minister 1845–1856 (d. 1856) * ''no regular minister'' 1856–1861 * Henry Wilder Foote, minister 1861–1889 (d. 1889) * ''no regular minister'' 1889–1895 * Howard Nicholson Brown, minister 1895–1921 * Harold Edwin Balme Speight, minister 1921–1927 * John Carroll Perkins, minister in charge 1927–1931, minister 1931–1933 (guardian of Emily Hale) * Palfrey Perkins, minister 1933–1953 * Joseph Barth, minister 1953–1965 (d. 1988) * ''no regular minister'' 1965–1967 * Carl R. Scovel, senior minister 1967–1999 * Charles C. Forman, affiliate minister 1980–1998 (d. 1998) * Matthew M. McNaught, interim minister 1999–2001 * Earl K. Holt, minister 2001–2009 * Dianne E. Arakawa, interim minister 2009–2013 * Joy Fallon, minister 2013–present

Gallery

File:King's Chapel at Tremont Street and School Street, Boston, Mass. - DPLA - 2c1cc36667ddb5c0a10c3391c97bec06.jpg, King's Chapel at Tremont Street and School Street, Boston, Mass., June 1920. Leon Abdalian Collection. File:King's Chapel aerial 2024.jpg, Aerial view, 2024 File:Kings Chapel 02 - Boston, MA.jpg, Kings Chapel Organ, 2015 File:Kings Chapel 04 - Boston, MA.jpg, Boston Subway ventilation shaft in the Kings Chapel Burying Ground

References

External links

* * Th
Boston Athenaeum
"houses the King’s Chapel Collection of mostly 17th century theological works"

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