First Parish in Concord

Origins & buildings: First Parish was gathered in 1636 in Cambridge; ministers Peter Bulkeley and John Jones installed 1637. The congregation moved to Concord, where four successive meetinghouses were built,the fourth (1900–01) replacing one that burned down in 1900, built to reproduce the original as closely as possible. Later additions: church school/chapel (1955), kitchen renovation (1974), accessibility and classroom upgrades (1984/85).

Ministers: An unbroken line from Peter Bulkeley (1636) through the current minister, Jennifer Beth Johnson (2024–present); notable names include William Emerson (Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grandfather), Ezra Ripley (63-year tenure, 1778–1841), and Dana McLean Greeley, who later became the first president of the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Theological shifts and splits: The church evolved from Congregational Calvinism toward Unitarianism under Ripley. Breakaway groups formed Concord’s Trinitarian Congregational Church (1826) and, earlier, a separate congregation under Daniel Bliss. In 1961, the American Unitarian Association merged with the Universalist Church of America; First Parish has been Unitarian Universalist since.

Civic role: The meetinghouse hosted Provincial Congress meetings (1774–75) and relocated Harvard College classes (1775–76) during the Revolutionary War. Parish business was handled through Concord’s town meeting until the Parish formally separated from municipal government in 1855/56.

Governance: Today it’s run by membership at an annual meeting and administered by the Governing Board, with the Trustees of Parish Donations managing funds and real estate. The Women’s Parish Association, founded 1881, has long maintained the meetinghouse.

Notable holdings/records: Thoreau’s 1841 resignation letter and Emerson’s 1865 membership affirmation; a Thoreau-surveyed woodlot map (1851); other properties including the Wright Tavern and the Stow House (former parsonage).