First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Scituate
 | This article or section is in a state of significant expansion or restructuring. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. If this article or section has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. If you are the editor who added this template and you are actively editing, please be sure to replace this template with {{in use}} during the active editing session. Click on the link for template parameters to use.
This article was last edited by Doncram (talk | contribs) 11 years ago. (Update timer) |
First Parish Church of Scituate
1616 founded
built
Scituate, Massachusetts
[1] First Parish, Scituate is over 375 years old. A group of Nonconformists started meeting in London in 1616, led by the Rev. Henry Jacob. He was succeeded by the Rev. John Lothrop, a former rector in the Church of England, in 1624. Discovered worshipping clandestinely in 1632, 42 members of the congregation were arrested and jailed. After two years in jail, Rev. Lothrop was released from jail with the proviso that he leave England forever. With a majority of the members of his congregation, he sailed for New England and arrived in Scituate in September, 1634. A few months later, Rev. Lothrop and about a dozen people gathered together and made a covenant with each other, forming what is now known as the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Scituate. A small log cabin on Meeting House Lane served as the first church. The site is marked today by a monument that lists the early members of the parish, "The Men of Kent," and by gravestones from the 17th century.