History

Our History

Milestones

Ministers

Milestones

• 1616 – The Rev. Henry Jacob gathers the first Independent Church (non-Anglican) in the Southwark borough of London
• 1624 – The Rev. John Lothrop succeeds Rev. Jacob
• 1632 – Lothrop and others arrested for illegal worship.
• 1634 - Lothrop and some members of his congregation leave England and arrive in Boston.
• January 8, 1634 – Lothrop and twelve others covenant and gather the First Church of Christ in Scituate
• January 18, 1634 – Lothrop is called as the first minister of the Scituate Church
• August, 1636 – First meetinghouse erected on Meetinghouse Lane.
• 1639 – Lothrop and some members of the Scituate church leave and found the town of Barnstable
• 1641 – The Rev. Charles Chauncy is called as minister
• 1642 – Dispute within the church leads to the formation of the Second Parish of Scituate
• 1654 – Rev. Chauncy leaves Scituate to become the second President of Harvard College. He is replaced by the Rev. Henry Dunster, Harvard’s first President.
• 1682 – Second meetinghouse built on site of first.
• 1708 – Third meetinghouse built on same site.
• 1724 – The Rev. Shearjashub Bourn is called as minister. He serves thirty-seven years, the second longest ministry in the church’s history.
• 1737 - A new meetinghouse is built in a new location, moving from Meetinghouse Lane to what is now known as Lawson Common.
• 1774 – The “Old Sloop” Church opens for worship on the site of the present church. It is named “Old Sloop” because it acts as a landmark for ships looking for Scituate Harbor.
• 1792 – The Rev. Nehemiah Thomas is called as minister. He serves thrity-nine years, the church’s longest ministry. During his service, the growing split between orthodox and liberal factions increases.
• April 29, 1825 – The orthodox faction leave First Parish and form the First Trinitarian Congregational Church in Scituate. First Parish becomes a Unitarian church.
• 1831- The Rev. Edmund Q. Sewall is called as minister of First Parish. In the early 1840s, his daughter, Ellen, is courted by both Henry David Thoreau and his brother, John. She eventually marries Rev. Joseph Osgood of First Parish in Cohasset.
• 1872 - The Rev. Nicholas P. Gilman is called as minister. Later Gilman leaves the ministry, becomes a professor of economics and becomes an advocate for profit sharing and employees’ economic rights.
• 1875 – The Rev. Sheldon C. Clark is called as minister. He later leaves the ministry and becomes a gold prospector in Colorado, Texas and Mexico.
• July 4, 1879 - The 105-year old “Old Sloop” church burns to the ground. Firecrackers lit by boys are the cause.
• May 18, 1881 – The present church building is dedicated.
• 1914 - The Rev. Henry W. Pinkham, an ardent pacifist, is called as minister.
• 1917-1919 – Two members of First Parish are killed in World War I.
• 1961 – First Parish becomes a Unitarian Universalist Church as the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merge.
• 1992 – The Rev. Richard Stower, present minister of First Parish, is called.
• September 18, 2008 – The Rev. William Sinkford, President of the Unitarian Universalist Association and descendents of the Rev. John Lothrop mark the 375th anniversary of Rev. Lothrop’s arrival in Boston.