The United Congregational Church (also called First Congregational Church, Second Congregational Church and Newport Congregational Church) is a historic former church building in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. The congregation was formerly affiliated with the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

(UCC). Built in 1857, the church 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 2012, in recognition for the unique interior decorations executed in 1880–81 by

John La Farge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge made stained glass ...

History

The congregation was gathered as Newport's First Congregational Church in 1695 by Rev. Nathaniel Clap, a

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

graduate who ministered to the Newport congregation until his death in 1745. The Second Congregational Church of Newport started another congregation in 1735, but the two later reunited. The congregation was active during the American Revolution and both churches' meeting houses were used as barracks and hospitals by the British and French troops in Newport. Dr. Samuel Hopkins was the minister of the church in the late eighteenth century. As of 2009, the church was pastored by the Reverends Mary Beth Hayes and Nan L. Baker. The church has since closed, and the has undergone renovation to become an events center.

Building

The current building is a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

structure, designed by Joseph C. Wells of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and completed in 1857. It is a basically rectangular building, built out of Connecticut brownstone, with two ornately decorated towers. In the 1880s the congregation retained the artist

John LaFarge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge made stained glass ...

to redecorate its interior. LaFarge had recently completed work on Trinity Church, Boston, and sought to provide a more elaborate interior than he was able to in Boston. He produced twenty stained glass windows and a series of murals, which represent the only fully integrated ecclesiastical interior he produced. The church was listed on 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 1971, and designated a

in 2012.

References

External links

* * {{National Register of Historic Places Romanesque Revival architecture in Rhode Island Romanesque Revival church buildings in the United States United Church of Christ churches in Rhode Island Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Rhode Island Churches completed in 1857 19th-century United Church of Christ church buildings Churches in Newport, Rhode Island 1695 establishments in Rhode Island Historic American Buildings Survey in Rhode Island National Historic Landmarks in Rhode Island National Register of Historic Places in Newport, Rhode Island Historic district contributing properties in Rhode Island Congregational churches in Rhode Island

History

Building

See also

References

Further reading

External links