First Parish Hingham, better know as Old Ship Church, is a vibrant Unitarian Universalist congregation that dates back to its Puritan roots from 1635. Our home, Old Ship Meeting House, was built in 1681 and is the only remaining Puritan Meeting House from the 17th century in the United States. It is recognized as a National Historic Landmark, for its unique architectural and historic significance.

In 1635, forty Puritan families from Hingham, England, incorporated Hingham, Massachusetts as the 12th town in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. They colonized land that had been home to members of the Massachusett tribe, part of the great Algonquin nation, for 8000 years. Hingham’s boundaries included the town of Cohasset, until it separated in 1770.

As Calvinists, Puritans believed that an elect few were chosen by God to go to Heaven after death, and a person’s piety would be a sign that they were among the elect. At that time, there was no separation of church and state. Only Puritan men were able to hold office and vote, and attendance at worship services was mandatory. The Meeting House served as the central place of gathering – for civic meetings during the week and for worship on Sundays. Puritans believed that the Church consisted of the people within, not the building that housed them.

Old Ship’s first Minister, Peter Hobart, baptized native Americans, Africans and others into the Puritan faith. He served from 1635 until he died in 1680. In 1681, the congregation voted to build the meeting house we still use today. Rev. John Norton served as the next minister for 30 years, as the town’s population and wealth rapidly expanded.

In 1727 Ebenezer Gay became the minister of Old Ship Church, at the age 21. Over the course of his 69 years as minister, his influence extended across the Colony as a leading proponent of the Enlightenment movement, which rejected the Calvinist concept of the elect by suggesting that people could affect their ultimate destiny by doing good works here on earth. They emphasized the importance of education and service to others. This more liberal philosophy contradicted the fundamentalist theology promoted by the Great Awakening in the middle 1700s. Ultimately it would lead to what we now know as Unitarianism, with a theology based in the concept of one God.

Old Ship Church remained an influential congregation throughout the 18th century. Rev. John Norton’s great-granddaughter was Abigail Adams. Such prominent citizens as Sarah Derby, who founded the nation’s third coeducational public school, and General Benjamin Lincoln, who received the sword of surrender at Yorktown and served as President George Washington’s Secretary of War, worshipped there. Rev. Henry Ware, minister from 1787 – 1804, left Old Ship to help found Harvard Divinity School. The schism between Hingham’s Old Guard Federalists and the newer States Rights advocates led to New North Church splitting from Old Ship in 1806. We can imagine the debates that took place within these walls, as local citizens developed the concepts that would lead to the American Revolution, the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

As other denominations became established in Massachusetts, most towns’ First Parishes remained Unitarian. Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts in 1787. Many Unitarians joined the Transcendentalist movement in the 1800s, and worked for civil rights, labor laws and women’s suffrage. Rev. Joseph Richardson, Old Ship’s minister (and a states rights advocate) from 1804 – 1868, also served two terms as a Democrat in the U.S. Congress. Unitarians nation-wide have served as leaders in community affairs, even as its numbers are small relative to other denominations. Unitarianism merged with Universalism, which believes that all people will be welcomed into Heaven, in 1967.

Old Ship Church welcomes people from all faiths, and remains committed to liberal values of justice, equity and compassion, centered in love. We became recognized by the Unitarian Universalist Association as a Welcoming Congregation for LGBTQ+ people in the 1990s, and a Green Sanctuary Congregation in 2002. We continue to partner with the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee and the UU Urban Ministry, as well as local organizations working with underserved populations across our region. We offer Life Learning opportunities to people of all ages, both Old Ship members and friends. We are in a time of transition after the recent retirement of Rev. Ken Read-Brown, who served as beloved minister for 35 years. Old Ship Church plans to continue its active ministry well into the future!