The land on which our church stands originally belonged to the Nipmuck People, allied with the Agawam and the Wampanoag Peoples. By the 16th century, more than 100,000 Indigenous people called this their home. By the 16th century, plagues and warfare had decimated 90 percent of their population. We acknowledge and grieve the atrocities of this history.
Our parish has been on this land now for more than 290 years. More than ten generations of people have attended our church, and 44 ministers have preached from its pulpits. Though our current buildings are relatively new, our tradition is long.
The “Church of Christ”, located at the north end of Harvard’s town common — the site of our present church building — held its first service in 1773. The town was scarcely more than a subsistence farming community in the countryside, only recently carved from the wilderness. This first meeting house served both as the church and as town hall.
By 1773 the town’s population had grown to the point that the first meeting house was no longer adequate. In October 1774, the second meeting house was ready for occupancy. In 1786 the townspeople built a steeple for the building and raised money for a bell.
A more conservative Trinitarian minority withdrew from the original parish — which had become increasingly liberal and Unitarian in theology – and formed what became The Congregational Church of Harvard. They built their church on Still River Road, across the common from the original meetinghouse.
In 1824, the church formally began managing its own affairs separately from the town government, part of the broader movement toward separation of church and state in Massachusetts.
By 1840, the second meeting house had fallen into such disrepair that the congregation was forced to replace it.
The third meeting house had a short life. In 1875 a fire had destroyed the building, though the bell and some of the other contents were saved. The congregation began rebuilding immediately.
In 1909, the church was incorporated as the “First Congregational Unitarian Church of Harvard”.
In 1960, on land behind the former parsonage, the congregation built the Fellowship Building on Elm Street.
Nationally, Unitarians and Universalists merged two separate religions to become Unitarian Universalism.
On December 13th, 1964, after a Sunday service, the fourth meeting house burned to the ground. For three years, while construction was proceeding on the present church building, the congregation met in the Fellowship Building.
Nationally, Unitarians and Universalists merged two separate religions to become Unitarian Universalism.
Our present Fellowship Building was completed.
Photos courtesy of the Harvard Historical Society.
