United First Parish Church Quincy, Massachusetts

Freedom, Friendship, And Faith; A Noble Heritage Through 350 Years

By the Rev. SHELDON W. BENNETT, Ph.D.

On the scale of geological time, 350 years is but a brief moment. But in terms of human history, such a span truly stretches the imagination, one-third of a millennium. If the beginnings of the Hebrew Bible are taken at around 15001200 B.C., then United First Parish Church has lived as a congregation for over one-tenth the entire period of Western religious thought.

In the year 1639, Galileo was still studying the heavens, while wars of religious persecution were raging throughout Europe. In England, Charles I was still on the throne; his execution, civil war, and Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth still lay ten years ahead. Here in New England, although the Pilgrims had landed at Plymouth nineteen years before and the Puritans in Boston nine, the land was yet largely uncharted wilderness with only a few scattered villages. A new age and a new spirit were coming to life.

The world is now, of course, a very different place than it was in 1639, and so is the City of Quincy. Since this church was founded, empires and kings have fallen and new republics born. Theologies have come and gone, the Calvinism of the first Puritans giving way to a more open, liberal religion. The spirit of enlightenment and science have come to fashion a new world. Here in Quincy, a sparcely populated colonial settlement has become a modern American city. Originally an English community of Puritan faith, Quincy today embraces a great diversity of national origins and religious beliefs, including most recently new residents from China, Viet Nam and Cambodia.

Throughout this great sweep of events, the congregation of this historic church has endured, growing in its thought, and addressing the spirit and challenge of each age. For three and one-half centuries, its members have worshiped, enjoyed friendship, and inspired and reminded one another of those true values that this church has long nurtured and cherished.

Once as a dinner guest in London in 1785, John Adams explained his opinions of the teaching of the church back home in Braintree (now Quincy) -- "The virtues and talents of the people are there formed; their temperance, patience, fortitude, prudence and justice; as well as their sagacity, knowledge, judgement, taste, skill, ingenuity, dexterity and industry."

Such a list attests to the wide scope of issues and subjects included within the regular life of the church. Certainly, this was a practical view of religion, interpreting Christian faith in light of classical ideals and with clear emphasis on character and service. The memorial tablet to John and Abigail at the front of the great, domed sanctuary of the present meeting house concludes with these words -

Pilgrim, From Lives thus spent thy earthly Duties learn; 
From Fancy's Dreams to active Virtue turn; 
Let Freedom, Friendship, Faith, thy Soul engage, 
And serve like them thy Country and thy Age.

The Right Hand Of Fellowship, 1639

As was the Puritan custom of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, each of the eight publicly confessed their sins to one another, made profession of their faith, were consecrated by a prayer, and so entered into solemn covenant sealed by giving to one another the right hand of fellowship. The actual words of that original covenant are antique, lengthy, and laden with heavy Calvinist language. In brief, these founding eight jointly pledged themselves to God and to one another as a church "...to worship the Lord in Spirit and Truth, and to walk in brotherly love and the duties thereof according to the will of the Gospel, to the edification of the body of each member therein."

The orthodox language of the covenant masks, perhaps even deliberately, the underlying spirit of freedom that has marked this congregation from its very beginning, The covenant assembly of 1639 establishing the present church was not the first religious gathering of the community at "The Mount." Three years before, in 1636, the Rev. John Wheelwright had been ordained by the Boston Church to serve as minister to the growing settlement at Mount Wollaston, or "Woolistone" as it was sometimes spelled. This early 1636 gathering did not form an independent church, but was in effect a branch of the Boston Church. It was known as the "Chappel of Ease," not because the pews were any less hard, nor the sermons less lengthy, but because it spared those settlers the arduous ten mile journey to Boston each Sunday for the required worship.

The people were still members of the Boston Church and would attend there for communion and other special occasions. Many, including the Hutchinsons and Coddingtons, had permanent residences in Boston as well as their farms and homes at "The Mount." John Wheelwright proved not to be the typical orthodox Puritan preacher. He was of an independent and free mind. He preached forcefully and eloquently for the freedom of thought and the right of individual conscience in questions of religion, each person to think for themselves.

This was the Puritan spirit at its best, independent, inquiring, and free from dogmatic authority. Around Wheelwright gathered people belonging to the liberal faction of the Boston Church, including such names as William Coddington, Sir Henry Vane (then Governor), and his own sister-in-law Anne Hutchinson.

Anne Hutchinson is one of the great women in American history. Bold, intelligent, and outspoken, she was at first a follower of the liberal John Cotton. The Rev. Cotton served as the first teacher of Boston Church together with the Rev. John Wilson, the first Pastor of that church and leader of the orthodox faction. (The early Puritan churches often had two ministers, Pastor and Teacher, Pastor being the senior office.) She began to hold women's meetings in her home at which the women discussed issues of the day and even criticized the Sunday sermons.

These meetings became immensely popular, and men, too, began to attend. She boldly expounded on religious questions herself as if preaching. Hutchinson, too, argued for rights of individual conscience and freedom of thought and expression. For her, religion was not abstract theory, but direct, empowering experience. "I think the soul to be nothing but light," she said; "it is in direct communion with God, it is united with the Holy Ghost."

People came to her for spiritual guidance, and her meetings grew in size. Feeling her own power and, unlike her hero John Cotton, oblivious to the political reality, she began to challenge publicly the theology, the authority, and even the spiritual authenticity of the orthodox clergy of the colony. She went so far as to stand up and walk out whenever Pastor Wilson rose to speak.

Then, in January of 1637, John Wheelwright preached a sermon that precipitated the crisis. Fearing the danger of social disorder, the General Court examined Wheelwright and finally, after many months of political turmoil, found him guilty of sedition and contempt. In November, 1637, John Wheelwright was banished from the colony. He departed northwards in mid-winter and there with other voluntary exiles established the settlement at Exeter, New Hampshire, where he was joined in the spring by his family.

Likewise during the same period, Anne Hutchinson was tried by the General Court and also before the Boston Church. For holding meetings against orders, she was banished from the colony "as being a woman not fit for our society"; and for her original religious views, she was cruelly excommunicated from the church. As she walked out of the church, she was accompanied by her friend Mary Dyer, who in later years would be hanged on Boston Common as a Quaker. Anne Hutchinson and her family, along with the Coddingtons and other friends departed for Rhode Island, where William Coddington served as first Governor.

Meanwhile, Sir Henry Vane, a supporter of Wheelwright and also outspoken for toleration and freedom of speech, had been defeated as Governor by John Winthrop and, in disgust, returned to England, where he eventually joined with Oliver Cromwell's revolution and, finally, executed under Charles II. These were brave and courageous people who lived and suffered for freedom of speech and rights of conscience in those early days.

Not all the supporters of Wheelwright and Hutchinson were actually banished, though many were under various sanctions. Many remained in the settlement at The Mount and brought to this present church their liberal spirit, though now tempered at least somewhat by political realism. The Rev. Tompson, newly arrived from England and possessing "a kindly and charitable spirit," had not been caught up in the passions of the previous conflict and so could act as a peacemaker. His tombstone in the Hancock cemetery attests to the high esteem in which he was held:

HERE LYES BURIED YE
BODY OF YE REVEREND
MR WILLIAM TOMPSON 
YE FIRST PASTOR OF
BRAINTRY CHURCH WHO
DECEASED DECEMBER YE 10
1666 AETATIS SUE 68
HE WAS A LEARNED SOLID SOUND DIVINE,
WHOS NAME & FAME IN BOATH ENGLAND DID
SHINE

Church And Town Were One

For the next fifty years, until the early beginnings of Christ Church Episcopal, this church remained the only church for this entire region and was known simply as "Ye Church of Braintry" or "Brantry" or "Brantrey;" there were several spellings. Like its sister churches in Massachusetts Bay Colony, it was Puritan in faith and congregational in its form of governance. Each church was free and independent.

Though as a church of the so-called "Standing Order," Brantrey Church would maintain relations with neighboring churches "that they may both stand together and flourish the one being helpful unto the other."

Until as late as the 1833 Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution, this church, like all the churches of the Standing Order, was supported by public taxation! All inhabitants of the Township were automatically members of the Parish, a territorial entity, and were required by law to support the church financially, even though they may not be actual members of the church.

The minister had two roles. Of course, he was minister to the church itself. But the minister also had a public role. He was considered by law to be a "public teacher of piety, religion and morality," these values being deemed essential for the social welfare. Thus, as a public teacher, the minister was to be supported by the entire community. Moreover, the church building was also used for town meetings and was called "the meeting house."

Until as late as 1824 in Quincy, church and town affairs were one, and even here they were not totally separated until 1833. Warrants for annual town meetings included such important items as the salary of the minister, the upkeep of the meeting house, the selection of hymnbooks, maintaining order during Sunday services, as well as such town concerns as repairing bridges and dealing with stray cattle.

As the population of Old Braintree grew, a second church was established in the southern part and the town was divided in 1708 into two precincts. This church, now of the North Precinct, came to be known as First Parish Church. Then in 1792, the North Precinct of Old Braintree incorporated separately as the Town of Quincy, and this church became the Quincy Church.

By now there were two churches in Quincy, First Parish and Christ Church Espicopal. The problem of taxation had been solved amicably under the leadership of the Rev. John Hancock and Col. John Quincy of this church. Hancock, who has special distinction as father of the famous patriot by the same name, writes that prior to Ebenezer Miller's installation as the first minister to Christ Church in 1727, members of that congregation were welcome to the communion of First Parish.

Hancock further writes that, "This parish, upon Mr. Miller's coming, reimbursed to the declared members of the Church of England their proportion of the charge of my settlement, and generously excused them from any further payments towards my support." This practice continued until the final separation of church and state in Massachusetts in 1833. It was even followed during a time after the American Revolution when Christ Church was without a minister.

Unlike many towns, where the issue of taxation became a most bitter controversy as new denominations formed churches, the members of First Parish on this matter demonstrated the spirit of friendship that has been a common thread of this church. As a further example of this church's historic friendship and respect for diversity of belief, this church also welcomed the Catholics when they sought to establish their faith in Quincy.

As early as 1826, President John Quincy Adams had welcomed to the Adams' home the Rev. Father Pendergast, perhaps the first Catholic priest to visit Quincy. Adams then introduced the priest to Mr. John Kirk, an Irishman in the employ of the Adamses, and Mr. Kirk quickly spread the news throughout the town. The next morning the first Mass was celebrated. Then, when St. Mary's, the town's first Catholic parish was being organized, this church invited catechism classes to be held in the First Parish meeting house.

Not only had this church welcomed the first Catholics to Quincy, but when help was needed in 1852 to finish construction of the first building of St. John the Baptist Church, members of this church, led by Charles Francis Adams, participated in a community wide fund raising drive. This friendship has been returned in many ways. When this church was raising funds in 1964 to rebuild the bell tower, Richard Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, made a generous donation saying, "It is fitting and proper, therefore, for me to reciprocate your generosity."

Finally, on April 12, 1824, by public vote, the affairs of church and town were finally separated in Quincy, and First Parish was incorporated as a distinct religious body, with the official name "The Congregational Society in Quincy." It is interesting to note that, freed of the responsibility to support the minister and church building, the town budget for the following fiscal year dropped sharply from $4200 to $2800. The minister's salary alone had been $750, the third largest town expense after the school and the poor house; town government was a simpler business in those days.

Three Meeting Houses And The Stone Temple

Early records of 1641 refer to "the meeting house over the old bridge." When the Boston to Plymouth Highway was laid out in 1648, the "Brantry meeting house" was a well known and established landmark and would certainly have been the home of this church. It is known to have stood on the rise of land just south of Town Brook on what is now Hancock Street at about Cliveden Street, lying about a half mile south of the present building in Quincy Square. Indeed, the Plymouth highway was to divide and pass on each side of the meeting house. Perhaps it was constructed of stone that it could not easily be moved.

On the basis of a weather vane marked 1666 and preserved by the Adams family, it is believed that a second and more substantial meeting house was built at about that date at the same site as the earlier "Brantr~ meetinghouse." This house is known to have been built of stone and is thus referred to as the Old Stone Meeting House. It is believed to have been about 35 feet square and provided with some sort of platform and bell above the roof. The Old Stone Meeting House served the church and town for over sixty years until it fell into disrepair. No doubt it had also become too small for the growing community.

A new meeting house was then built in 1732 during the ministry of the Rev. John Hancock. This third building, a simple, though handsome, wooden structure now known as the Hancock Meeting House, was located on the training field north of Town Brook and towards the ten mile marker. It stood on the same site and immediately adjacent to the present building. The Hancock Meeting House, enlarged in 1805, served both the church and town for nearly one hundred years until the present building was dedicated in 1828.

It was in this third meeting house of the church that the Rev. John Hancock, as his records report, baptized "John, son of John Adams, Oct. 26, 1735," and "John Hancock, my son, Jan. 16, 1736-7" (these dates are old style; eleven days need to be added). The Rev. Hancock could hardly have imagined then that the babies he was baptizing would become forty years later two of the greatest leaders forging a new nation, the patriots John Adams and John Hancock.

Following the Rev. Hancock's untimely death in 1744, his son, then seven, after first living with grandparents at last was adopted by his uncle, a wealthy merchant in Boston. But for John Adams, the congregation of this church was his spiritual home for his entire life. He was baptized in the Hancock Meeting House, and from that place he was buried ninety one years later in 1826. The Rev. Peter Whitney preached the memorial sermon on the text from 1st Chronicles, "He died in a good old age, full of days and honor."

John Adams, first Vice President and second President of the United States, died on the fourth of July, 1826, exactly to the very day the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, by which he had pledged mutually with others "our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." His good friend of later years and co-signer Thomas Jefferson died the same day, Adams and Jefferson each paying tribute to the other among their last words. What a remarkable span of history was witnessed from within those walls of that wood meeting house!

Despite its enlargement, by the 1820's the Hancock Meeting House was no longer able to serve the needs of the growing town, and the church members began to make plans for a larger building. John Adams was especially interested. In 1822, he deeded to the Town of Quincy two parcels of land, some 220 acres, the income from which was to accrue and go towards "the completing and furnishing of a Temple to be built of stone, to be taken from the premises, for the Public Worship of God, and the public instruction in religion and morality, for the use of the Congregational Society in said town."

Adams further provided that, after the completion of the "Stone Temple," the income would then go towards the support of a school for the teaching of Greek, Latin, other languages, and arts and sciences. Thus, the Adams Academy was established, which operated from 1872 to 1907 as a college preparatory school for boys. The former Adams Academy building, incidentally, stands directly upon the site of the former parsonage of the Rev. John Hancock. The fund is today known as the Adams Temple and School Fund, and the income now goes by order of the probate court to the Woodward School for Girls.

Construction of "The Stone Temple," the present and fourth meeting house of the church, was not begun until 1827 and then dedicated on November 12, 1828, two years after the death of John Adams in 1826. The congregation had selected Alexander Parris, a prominent Boston architect and former associate of Charles Bulfinch, to design the church building. Parris is also known for the design of the Quincy Market buildings in Boston. Parris's final design respected Adams's wish that it be built of stone, and it also reflected Adams's thoughts that the building embody a classical spirit.

But "The Stone Temple" was far more than just the ideas and generosity of one man. While the income from Adams's gift of land certainly was of great help, in fact it contributed only about ten percent of the $30,489 cost of construction. The great majority of funds came from the congregation as a whole through the subscription of pews and the pledge of donations. Approval of the final design was decided by the entire congregation and thus reflects a shared consciousness expressing the spirit of the age and honoring a tradition that had been developing for nearly two centuries.

It is arresting to consider that at the time "The Stone Temple" was built, seating over six hundred, the entire population of Quincy numbered only about 2000. What bold vision these people had. What a thrill it must have been to enter Quincy through rural woods, orchards and fields to come upon this magnificent structure standing there by itself on a field at the center of what was only a village.

An original and early example of American Greek Revival Style, "The Stone Temple" is a remarkable blending of a classical Greek temple and a traditional New England meeting house. The portico of plain Doric columns and pediment are ancient Athens. The great clock and bell tower topped by a gilded dome and weather vane, the tall windows with clear glass, the great pulpit at center front, the pews with their doors, and the straight lines of the balcony are New England. By way of footnote, both the clock and bell themselves are property of the City, being "the town clock" and "the town bell." The centerpiece is the magnificent domed and coffered plaster ceiling. With a sixteen-fold, radiating symmetry, it gracefully and sublimely spans the seventy foot square sanctuary. At the center is a great flower unfolding as a lotus blossom, perhaps as an organic symbol for life and a sign of enlightenment. The effect is to create a sanctuary of quiet dignity and refined simplicity. The imagination is neither restricted nor defined by explicit symbols, but is encouraged to expand and contemplate in reverent stillness. This fourth meeting house is a unique masterpiece.

The building is also a tribute to the then rapidly developing granite industry for which Quincy became famous. The stone for the building itself came, as he had provided, from the land John Adams had deeded. Due to their size, however, the four great, monolithic columns had to come from a different place, Rattlesnake Quarry, but this was also a Quincy quarry.

It is wonderful to imagine the great teams of oxen and men, the timbers and the cables, the shouting and the sweating that must have taken place to quarry, turn, haul, and erect those great stones, each weighing 25 tons. Three were erected on one day; the fourth had to wait until the next morning.

At the time of construction, John Quincy Adams made arrangements with the congregation to build a simple, fourteen foot square stone crypt within the church below the entrance. Two sarcophagi were made of granite and the remains of his parents, John and Abigail, were transferred from the Hancock Cemetery and then placed in their tombs. Following the deaths of John Quincy Adams and his wife, Louisa Catherine, their son Charles Francis Adams made similar arrangements. In 1852, the crypt was enlarged and the remains of John Quincy and Louisa Catherine were placed in similar tombs.

These four tombs, of hard, Quincy granite inscribed on top with only their names, stand in fitting memorial to the practical dignity and the plain nobility of these four great Americans. "The Stone Temple is thus not only the home of a historic congregation, it is also a national shrine and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1971. (Contrary to popular opinion, this church receives no funds from any government source and depends solely on the dedication and generosity of its membership, friends, neighbors, both present and past.) the lifetime religious home of two Presidents, father and son, and their final resting place, United First Parish Church as "Church of the Presidents" is truly a most important part of the American heritage.

Service And Friendship

As much as the church honors its patriots and statesmen, the Quincys, Hancock, and the Adamses, the church remembers, too, the names of the many families who steadily and faithfully through the centuries worked to establish the early settlement and build this modern city -- names including Brackett, Bass, Savil, Baxter, Beale, Spear, Billings, Cranch, Fenno, Greenleaf, Keating, Curtis, Tufts, Faxon, Crane, Whitney, Pray, Webb, Newcomb, Veasie, Glover, and many others.

Since Quincy became a city, the church has furnished nine of its mayors, including the city's first mayor, Charles H. Porter, and most recently Thomas S. Burgin, who served as mayor for two different periods for a total of nine years.

This church throughout its history has placed high value on learning and education. First Parish Church has had a long standing connection with Harvard College, itself founded the same year, 1636, that the Rev. John Wheelwright gathered the Chappel of Ease. Two of its presidents, Leonard Hoar (1672-1675) and Josiah Quincy (1829-1845), came from this church. Beginning with Moses Fiske, the church's ministers were Harvard trained for over two hundred years running without a break, as is its present minister.

This commitment to education showed itself also in John Adams's Academy. Reference, too, was made earlier to the Woodward School. The Woodward School had been founded by Dr. Ebenezer Woodward, Quincy's first physician, husband to Mary Greenleaf, both members of this church. In fact, Dr. Woodward, by his will in 1869, had modeled the school after the terms and provisions made by John Adams in establishing the Adams Academy.

He further provided that the senior pastor of "The Stone Temple" shall be the chairman of the school's Board of Supervisors in perpetuity, a provision that continues to this day. The Woodward School, opened in 1894, continues to provide a non-sectarian, independent, liberal arts college preparatory education for girls from grades six to twelve and offers a relatively low cost and valuable educational alternative.

Not only of its builders, patriots, and statesmen, but the church is especially proud, too, of its women. As Abigail wrote John on March 31, 1776;

"I long to hear that you have declared an independency - and by the way in the new Code of Laws I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticular care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation."

Not only Anne Hutchinson and Abigail Adams, but in every generation women of the church have been vigorous leaders for social justice, civil rights, education, and social service in the community. In current times, women members have served to help found and direct such organizations as DOVE (Domestic Violence Ended), the Quincy Symphony, a Boston area chapter of Great Books, and local chapters of Amnesty International, and NOW (National Organization of Women). They also serve in support of such social service agencies as the Protestant Social Service Bureau. The United Quincy Alliance continues actively, holding regular luncheon meetings, educational programs, and undertaking special projects.

When it was the First Church of Old Braintree, its members worked to build a town, a state, and indeed a nation. Today, as the United First Parish Church (Unitarian) in Quincy, its members are also devoting themselves to the cause of building a more just and peaceful world.

This interest in peace is not new. For example, in 1849, the Christmas Carol "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" was sung for the first time ever, here in this church at the Sunday School Christmas celebration. The hymn had been written at the request of the Rev. William Parsons Lunt, then minister, by his colleague in Weston, the Rev. Edmund Hamilton Sears. Contrary to most Victorian carols of the day, it was to stress the social message of Christmas, "Peace on earth, goodwill to men."

In the 1940's, church members worked to organize and direct the United Nations Council of the South Shore, which continues today as an educational forum on international political concerns. Members are also active towards the same goal of world peace through such organizations as Beyond War, SANE/Freeze, and the World Federation Association.

Not only by pulbic office, but the people of this church have been active in community service as an expression of their faith. Only a very few such acts ever receive public recognition, nor is that their purpose. But by way of example, William T. Flavin, a current member and church historian, recounts this anecdote about William C. Edwards, a former church member and the City Historian. While Mr. Edwards was on duty in France during World War 1, he would take his leave time to locate the cemeteries where Quincy men were killed in action might be buried and then write letters back home to their relatives describing the area and the grave site.

United First Parish Church has always been a welcoming church. It has already been said how this church, from its very beginning, has welcomed people of all faiths to the community. During World War 11, the church welcomed servicemen who were stationed at nearby bases. The church operated a recreation center in its basement where servicemen could come to relax, play games, eat pizza, and enjoy friendship. The canteen was open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. As one soldier reported, "This place is 100 percent OK!" Today, the church welcomes the Phoenix Group, an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous, which meets weekdays at noon, five days a week.

The Spirit Of Freedom

The Rev. Hancock's sermons of the early eighteenth century show little evidence of any oppressive Calvinist doctrine about "we poor unworthy creatures." Upon the Rev. Hancock's death came the Rev. Lemuel Briant in 1745, a young man o~ twenty-four, who was to resign only a few years later in 1753 due to failing health and soon to die at an earl~ age. Yet in his brief years he had a remarkable impact.

On account of Briant's brilliance and audacity, John Adams as a young man had been much impressed. Briant did away with the catechism for the teaching of children and encouraged direct reading of the Bible. He preferred to preach positively on moral virtue, stressing character, rather than dwell negatively on damnation. He stressed rights of conscience and the use of independent and personal judgement in the interpretation of scripture. He rejected such interpretation that might be offensive to human reason.

For such ideas, radical for the day, he was challenged by the neighboring clergy. A council was held, but Briant chose not to honor it by his presence. This church, by its Congregational form of governance, held its own council; Col. John Quincy (Abigail Adams' maternal grandfather and after whom the city was named) presided. After deliberation, this church then proclaimed itself in support of Mr. Briant and "his free and impartial examination into all the articles of our Holy Religion, so that all may judge even of themselves what is right." Such ideas anticipated William Ellery Channing's historic 1819 Baltimore sermon "Unitarian Christianity" by some seventy years. Indeed, they remind of those of John Wheelwright a century before.

It was for such ideas as these that John Adams wrote in 1815, in response to a pamphlet titled American Unitarianism, "Sixty-five years ago my own minister, the Rev. Lemuel Briant,..., and perhaps equal to all, if not above all, the Rev. Mr. Gay of Hingham, were Unitarians." Thus, this church claims itself Unitarian since 1750, in spirit if not in actual name. Unlike so many churches, First Parish Church was spared the tumult of the so-called Unitarian controversy that swept New England Congregational churches in the early 1800's, which opposed orthodox and liberals in bitter dispute. This church had gone through it in 1637!

But the church did not get around to including the term Unitarian in its formal name until the twentieth century. At its 300th anniversary in 1939, the congregation continued to refer to itself simply as the "The First Church in Quincy," or "First Parish Church." This desire not to define itself in narrow sectarian terms has been the tradition of First Parish for 350 years.

Such a tolerant, open spirit once caused John Adams to impatiently remark, "Ask me not whether I am Catholic or Protestant, Calvinist or Arminian. As far as they are Christian I wish to be a fellow-disciple with them all." If John Adams were living today, with little doubt his list would include Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Jews. As long as they held faith in freedom and friendship, he would no doubt wish to include himself in the larger congregation of all those who hold as basic values human worth and dignity.

While the tradition of the church has been that of freedom of thought and rights of individual conscience, the pews themselves were not always so free. For centuries the practice had been for the majority of members to own their pews. As has been already noted, the major portion of the cost of building the present "Stone Temple" was financed through the subscription of pews. Title to a pew was almost as a tangible stock certificate in the church society, and it could be bought, sold, and even assessed an annual pew rental.

For example, pew No. 54 is particularly memorable in that it was the pew of John Quincy Adams and his family, while pews 55 and 56 belonged to the Quincys. The pew rental system continued until as late as 1937! Following a congregational vote that year, a sign was then posted outside announcing, "Welcome - All Pews Are Free." As to freedom within the spiritual realm, the church has always been certain. As to the material realm, it took a little longer!

Finally in 1958, historic First Parish Church merged with the Wollaston Unitarian Society to become the present "United First Parish Church (Unitarian) in Quincy." The Wollaston Unitarian Society had been more recently established in 1888, as described more fully in the accompanying article by Dorothy Wrigley. The Wollaston society had built its own handsome building of stone at 157 Beale Street, which is now the home of St. Catherine Greek Orthodox Church. The Wollaston membership brought to First Parish a lively spirit of fellowship and an interest in science and world religions that continues to enrich and enlarge the historic tradition of First Parish.

Today, "United First Parish Church (Unitarian) in Quincy," as the church officially is known, is affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association. This association of independent congregations represents the merger in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association (est. 1825) and the Universalist Church of America (est. 1793). The member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association today affirm principles that First Parish has held in effect for 350 years - the right of conscience and belief for each individual, freedom in religious thought, democratic process in church government, and the essential worth and dignity of every person. These serve as the ground and guide for faith.

The roots of United First Parish Church are deep within the the Judeo-Christian tradition. Today, the congregation of this church strives to express a religious vision that is broadened and enriched by the insights and wisdom of the world religions, modern science, and literature, as these are tested by reason and confirmed by direct personal experience. In 1639, the members of this congregation sought to walk with each other in brotherly love and sisterly communion for the building of a new and free land. Today, we seek to help build a new world."

In 1639, there was but one church. When the present meeting house was built in 1828 there were still only two churches, First Church and Christ Church Episcopal. Then in the next decades a profusion of churches were quickly established reflecting the growing diversity of traditions; Universalists, Evangelical Congregationalists, Methodists, Catholics, Baptists, Presbyterians, Jews, Muslims, and now peoples from Asia.

Today, while still the first church in Quincy, this congregation includes men and women of many different religious backgrounds who seek to join with peoples of all faiths for the building of a more just, peaceful, and beautiful world in the century now ahead. Regardless of the personal theologies or world views of individual members, this church will ever hold fast the values of freedom, friendship, and faith as the common thread that make "the venerable fabric."