The Puritan Third Parish in Roxbury

Ours was the first “church” in Jamaica Plain, founded as a Puritan church before the American Revolution. Our religious society was organized in the colonial town of Roxbury to meet the needs of the growing settlement on the “Pond Plain.” Roxbury at the time extended to the Dedham line, and this new “Third Parish in Roxbury” was carved out of the two existing parishes, Second Parish to the west and the original First Parish to the east, with its church on Fort Hill. Joshua Loring held the lease for part of that property and released a portion for the use of a new meetinghouse. On December 31, 1769, the families that would eventually become the founding members of our congregation met in an unfinished building on the site of our current church.

In colonial Massachusetts (which had been founded as a Puritan theocracy), setting parish boundaries also defined the precinct that became known as the community of Jamaica Plain. Even the Jamaica Plain minutemen who fought in the Revolutionary War are commemorated as the soldiers of the “Third Parish in Roxbury” on the plaque by the monument.

John Eliot

The church building stands on land once owned by Rev. John Eliot (1604-1690), described as the “Apostle to the Indians” by white settler colonists, and a perpetrator of cultural genocide by indigenous scholars. Eliot bequeathed 75 acres to support a school in this area, then called western Roxbury. This bequest came with the requirement to educate all residents, including American Indians and those descended from Africans. (This is now the Eliot School.)

Unitarian Church in Jamaica Plain

Our church was the only church in Jamaica Plain until 1841. During this time, especially during the able pastorate of The Reverend Thomas Gray (who served 50 years), the congregation grew and was not disturbed by the Unitarian controversy that split so many congregations descended from the old Puritan order. By the end of his ministry, The Reverend Gray was referring to his church as “the Unitarian Church in Jamaica Plain.”

Present building erected in 1853

In 1851, upper Roxbury seceded to form the Town of West Roxbury with its downtown in the more populous Jamaica Plain, and in 1853, the wooden church building was replaced by today’s stone church facing Town Hall (Curtis Hall).

First Congregational Society of Jamaica Plain & First Church in Jamaica Plain, Unitarian Universalist

The congregation was large and active for another hundred years, but during the late 1960′s, it dwindled and for 14 years went without a minister. The pulpit was filled by visiting ministers and students. Then a group of younger people started coming, and by 1983 the congregation of a few old-timers and the newcomers were able to bring in The Reverend Terry Burke, who was our minister until June of 2014. Since then we have grown to our current membership of about 110.