Some of the oldest churches in Eastern Massachusetts still have active congregations

Several churches in Eastern Massachusetts are among the oldest in the country. Their histories reflect a time when religion played a significant role in how communities — and even laws — were developed. Until 1833, the Congregational Church was the established church of Massachusetts.

“Congregationalists were nervous about an Anglican church being established in town and possibly leading to changes in the Massachusetts Charter,” said Frances Nilsson, parish historian at St. Michael’s Church in Marblehead, “and around 1729 there was some controversy with another church about how and when Christmas should be celebrated.”

Despite occasional disagreements among different denominations, these old churches — many still being used as places of worship — proved to be pillars of their communities.

Many of the churches are now Universalist Unitarian.

What follows is a look at some of New England’s oldest churches:

First Parish Church of Plymouth

12 Church St., Plymouth

The origins of this church date to 1606 in England, when the congregation was founded. In 1620, several members of the congregation sailed on the Mayflower to the New World and established a church in Plymouth, at the base of Burial Hill on the town square off Leyden Street. The church was pivotal in the early years of the new country. The church divided in 1801 when much of the congregation adopted Unitarianism. The current church building was constructed in 1899. A small congregation continues to worship there. 

For more information, visit firstparishplymouth.org.

First Parish in Cambridge

3 Church St., Cambridge

This church, now a Unitarian Universalist church, was influential in the shaping of early government in Massachusetts. The original First Parish was known as the first Meeting House and stood near the corner of Dunster and Mount Auburn streets in 1632. Rev. Thomas Shepard, who became the church’s minister in 1636, used his influence with the General Court of Massachusetts to move Harvard College to "Newtowne" — later Cambridge — near his church, so that students could get close proximity to his evangelical preaching. 

For more information, visit firstparishcambridge.org.

First Church in Salem, Unitarian Universalist

316 Essex St., Salem

The congregation at this church, built about 1635, - the current building was constructed in 1836 - claims to be among the oldest continuing Protestant churches in North America, and the first to be governed by congregational policy — a central feature of Unitarian Universalism.  A stained-glass window was commissioned by Grace Parker for her late husband, George Swinnerton Parker (1866-1952) of Parker Brothers fame.

For more information, visit firstchurchinsalem.org.

United First Parish Church

1306 Hancock St., Quincy

A Puritan congregationalist church when first established in 1639 as the parish church in Quincy, the church became Unitarian in the mid-18^th century and Unitarian Universalist in the 20^th century. The current building was constructed in 1828. 

Designated a National Historic Landmark, the church had a close association with the Adams family — the family funded the church’s construction and American presidents John Adams, John Quincy Adams and their wives, Abigail and Louisa Catherine are each buried in a crypt beneath the church. Pew Number 54 was used by John Quincy Adams and his family and is marked with a plaque.

The church's original bell was cast by Paul Revere but was melted down and recast, as it was not loud enough to serve as a fire alarm.

For more information, visit ufpc.org.

First Church of Danvers

41 Centre St., Danvers

Though the building that stands on this site today was built in 1980, the church was established in 1672 when the area was still a part of Salem and known as "Salem Village." Residents wanted their own meeting house rather than having to travel to Salem, and so over several years a new meeting house was built at what is now the intersection of Forest and Hobart streets. That building was the site of most of the examination of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. 

In 1701, a new church — the second meeting house — was built at the current Centre Street site. Fourteen years after the witch trials, Ann Putnam Jr. stood in her pew in this new church as Rev. Joseph Green read her apology to the Salem Village congregation for her role for being the primary accuser during the witch trials. She wished to join the church and was required to have a conversion experience and profession of faith.

For more information, visit ucc.org.

First Parish Hingham (also known as Old Ship Church)

14 Main St., Hingham

The Meeting House, a National Historic Landmark, has stood on Main Street since 1681. It is the only remaining 17^th-century Puritan meeting house in the U.S.

The church is now Unitarian Universalist. 

For more information, visit oldshipchurch.org.

St. Michael’s Church

26 Pleasant St., Marblehead

Many founders of St. Michael’s Church, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, were ship captains.  According to Nilsson, the church was named by one of its great benefactors, Francis Nicholson, who served as lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, along with other governor posts in New England, Virginia, South Carolina and Nova Scotia. 

“When the church was founded in 1714, the oldest church in town was the First Congregational Church and taxes went to just that church,” Nilsson said. “St. Michael’s parishioners had to petition to get their taxes to go to their minister.”

Anglicans from other communities, such as Salem, came to St. Michael’s to worship, as there was no Anglican church in Salem. A few leaders of the church were loyalists who fled Massachusetts during the American Revolution, but two were able to return.

“We’ve been lucky to have very good rectors, and women and men of the parish who loved the church and who have done so much for the church,” Nilsson said. “Some rectors have even had family connections to the church. It’s been interesting to see how the church has survived all these years in town.”

St. Michael's also has one of Paul Revere's last bells cast and hung in 1819 before his death, Nilsson said.

For more information, visit stmichaels1714.org.