Our History

The experiences of the Pilgrims, who followed their Faith across the sea to create a new world, form a quintessential American narrative
that continues to inspire people throughout the world today.

– Donna Curtin, Ph.D.
Director of the Pilgrim Society & Pilgrim Hall Museum

First Parish Church in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is the birthplace of religious and civic freedom in America.

Envisioned to be a lasting memorial to the Pilgrims, the present 1899 Meetinghouse sits on the site where the Mayflower’s courageous passengers gathered their church nearly 400 years ago at the base of Historic Burial Hill.

With continuous records dating back to 1606 in Scrooby, England, where the Separatists were forced to worship in secret in William Brewster’s manor house, Plymouth’s First Parish is possibly the oldest continuous western spiritual institution in America.

Through its Norman architecture, unaltered Arts & Crafts interior, and unique stained glass windows, the 1899 Meetinghouse celebrates the freedoms established by the Pilgrims—freedoms that continue to draw immigrants to America from around the world: civil and religious liberty; democracy and the rights of the individual; freedom of speech; freedom of the press, and the right to trial by a jury of one’s peers.

In 2014 the Meetinghouse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior due to its historic importance and architectural significance. Like the previous four Pilgrim Meetinghouses, First Parish remains the centerpiece of Plymouth’s historic Town Square.

History of First Parish Meetinghouse

During the Pilgrims’ first winter in Plymouth, described by William Bradford as the “winter of death,” the settlers worshiped in a small wooden structure on Leyden Street, near the harbor. A fort constructed on Burial Hill in 1622 served as a place of worship until the Pilgrims built their first church (a simple square structure) on the north side of Town Square in 1648. (Some sources cite 1637.)

As the congregation grew and the 1648 Meetinghouse fell into disrepair, it was replaced in 1683 by the second Meetinghouse. Set on common land at the highest point in Town Square, it symbolically faced Leyden St. and Plymouth Harbor.

Until 1744 the church and the town were one entity, with the Meetinghouse serving both the religious and civic needs of the town. In 1744, however, the town gave the church the land upon which the second Meetinghouse sat at the base of Historic Burial Hill, and the division between church and “state” was complete. At this time a third church replaced the 1683 structure and remained in use until 1831, when a fourth Meetinghouse, a large gothic wooden church, was constructed.

Following the loss of the fourth Pilgrim church to fire in 1892, the congregation initiated plans for a new meetinghouse that would, in the words of former First Parish minister George N. Marshall and co-writer Arthur B. Whitney, “enshrine the values and faith that have made our nation great.” Such vision became reality thanks to many generous donors throughout America, and the cornerstone was laid in 1896. Completed in 1897, the fifth Pilgrim Meetinghouse was dedicated on Forefathers’ Day, December 21, 1899.

Read more about our history…

Architectural and Arts & Crafts Significance of the Fifth Meetinghouse

The fifth Pilgrim Meetinghouse was designed during a period when the Arts & Crafts Movement was flourishing in Boston. Inspired by the ideas of John Ruskin and William Morris, in addition to the 1888 exhibition held in London by the Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society, a group of Boston architects and craftsmen founded one of America’s earliest societies of Arts & Crafts in June 1897.

Designed in the Romanesque Revival style, the Meetinghouse’s 88’ high Norman-inspired tower and flanking faux buttresses symbolically reflect the type of church the Pilgrims would have been familiar with in England.

In addition to the church’s ten carillon bells, one of which was a gift from the residents of Plymouth, England, the tower also houses the town’s Paul Revere bell, cast in 1801 and recast after being damaged during the 1892 fire that destroyed the fourth Meetinghouse.

The Meetinghouse’s unique stained glass windows celebrate not only the Pilgrim epic, but also Pilgrim values which have become the core values of America.

Many of these unique windows were designed by Edward Peck Sperry of Tiffany Studios and were gifts from Mayflower descendants and societies.

George N. Marshall, former First Parish minister, notes in his essay “The Historical Pilgrim Church and the Modern Witness” that “the Pilgrim faith forecast a number of freedoms which all Americans have come to cherish, and some freedoms not yet fully realized . . . [The Pilgrims] gained freedom and exemplified it at a time when for most people freedom was the idle dream of scholars.”

Flanked by windows titled Civil Liberty and Religious Liberty, the sanctuary’s center chancel window, Signing of the Compact, depicts the signing of what would become one of the most significant documents in American history.

The importance of the three central windows (Civil Liberty, Signing of the Mayflower Compact, and Religious Liberty) is captured by the words of George N. Marshall, who argues that “the Pilgrim tradition is the basis of our democratic culture in America. The Mayflower Compact was the original American instrument of democratic government. The town- meeting concept was established by the Pilgrim Fathers, as was the annual election of officers. They sought to establish religious freedom and safeguard it with civil liberty.”

At the Meetinghouse’s dedication in 1899, Arthur Lord, President of the Pilgrim Society, proclaimed: “To this generation came the duty and the opportunity to erect upon the ruins of the old church, a memorial, simple yet enduring, to the religious life of its founders, the last and best of the great memorials to the Pilgrims at Plymouth . . . Long may it stand, sustaining, elevating and inspiring the life and thought of this community, its portals ever open to the ‘new light yet to come.’ ”

The Future of First Parish

Due to its rich history, religious importance, and architectural and decorative significance, First Parish is a historical and cultural destination for visitors from around the world. Presently, the very existence of the Meetinghouse is threatened due to compromised mortar that has allowed moisture to permeate the façade, dampening the interior walls. In October, 2014 Preservation Massachusetts selected First Parish as one of Massachusetts’ Most Endangered Historic Resources.

“Today’s Church of the First Parish adheres to the unfettered faith of the Pilgrims both in freedom from creed and in the simple ritual of its worship services. There is no theological test of any kind, and all persons who sincerely wish to join the Church are welcome . . . Our aim is to maintain and preserve a free and fearless church, seeking truth wherever it may be found, and striving for an interpretation of religion that shall be in harmony with modern knowledge, and will satisfy the spiritual and intellectual cravings of today’s people” (“A Brief History of the First Church in Plymouth.” 1973.)