First Parish Church of Dorchester

First Parish Dorchester is a Unitarian Universalist church in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Emigrants from Dorchester, Dorset and the southwest of England founded the town of Dorchester March 30, 1630 and established the church in 1631.

The first church building was a crude log cabin thatched with grass. As well as the church, the Puritans founded the first elementary school supported by public money in the New World. They held the first town meeting at the church, which determined policy through open and frequent discussion. The congregation's fifth building burned in February 1896, and the current building was completed in 1897.

As of spring 2015, First Parish completed the third of five phases in a $7 million restoration project, which began November 2006. The most recent phase included accessibility improvements, exterior repairs and painting, and steeple restoration. Future work will include renovation and office reorganization in the parish hall, and a significant footprint expansion to provide much-needed community, classroom, and activity space.

The church played a strong role as the hub of political and social life in Dorchester. The original Puritan congregation is still remembered for establishing the country's first tax-supported, free public school in 1636. The first four meetinghouses acted as Dorchester’s town hall. The fifth building, built in 1816, was the host to many social justice leaders, such as William Lloyd Garrison and Theodore Parker, because of First Parish's long-standing pastor, the Reverend Nathaniel Hall, who was dedicated to the abolitionist cause. In the 1880s, the work of First Parish’s minister, Christopher R. Eliot, and the Fields Corner Congregational Church’s minister, the Reverend T.J. Volentine, inspired First Parish members and friends to organize the Fields Corner Industrial School for local children, which evolved into Dorchester House, a multi-service health center.

Today, First Parish is an important resource for Dorchester’s Vietnamese, African-American, Caribbean, Irish, Latino, Haitian, and Cape Verdean residents. The staff collaborates with educators, health-care providers and other local groups to alleviate hunger, violence, racism, and other effects of poverty.

In its 383-year history, many people have come through First Parish and made an enduring impact on their communities.

First Parish ministers and their periods of tenure were:
Rev. Arthur R. Lavoie (2005 – 2015)
Rev. Victor H. Carpenter (interim, 2003 – 2005)
Rev. David W. Thompson (interim, 2001 – 2002)
Rev. Shuma Chakravarty (1998 – 2000)
Rev. Kenneth R. Warren (interim, 1996 – 1998)
Rev. Elizabeth Ruth Curtiss (1994 – 1996)
Rev. David W. Thompson (interim, 1991 – 1994)
Rev. James Kenneth Allen (1954 – 1991)
Rev. Robert MacPherson (1951 – 1954)
Rev. David Bruce Parker (1950)
Rev. Robert Arthur Storer (1937 – 1950)
Rev. Lyman Vincent Rutledge (1921 – 1927)
Rev. Adelbert Lathrop Hudson (1921 – 1938)
Rev. Harry Foster Burns (1918 – 1921)
Rev. Roger S. Forbes (1908 – 1917)
Rev. Eugene R. Shippen (1894 – 1907)
Rev. Christopher R. Eliot (1882 – 1893)
Rev. Samuel J. Barrows (1876 – 1880)
Rev. Nathaniel Hall (1835 – 1875)
Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris (1793 – 1836)
Rev. Moses Everett (1774 – 1793)
Rev. Jonathan Bowman (1729 – 1773)
Rev. John Danforth (1682 – 1730)
Rev. Josiah Flint (1671 – 1680)
Rev. Richard Mather (1636 – 1669)
Rev. John Maverick (1630 – 1635)
Rev. John Wareham (1630 – 1635)

Notable historic lay leaders include:
Caroline S. Callendar, co-founder of the Fields Corner Industrial School (later known as Dorchester House)
Abigail Adams Eliot, nursery school movement pioneer
Emily A. Fifield, second woman elected to the School Committee

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