Unitarian Universalist Congregations

These earliest Cambridge church records were digitized as part of the Colonial North America project at Harvard. Most of the pre-1831 records in this collection are searchable in Records of the Church of Christ at Cambridge...(1906) which appears below.

Notes on several sermons preached in the 17th century, plus Abiel Holmes' notebook of prayers and sermons around the time of the Unitarian controversy.

The first sermon was preached on Dec. 1, 1833; the second on Dec. 12, 1833

The 1886 Celebration was held jointly by the First Parish (Unitarian) and the Shepard Congregational Society. First Church (Cambridge, Mass.)

A selection of Edward H. Hall's sermons delivered at First Parish in Cambridge.

This transcription of the congregation's earliest surviving records includes records of baptisms, marriages, deaths, admission to covenant and communion, dismissals and church proceedings.

A series of panels originally prepared for an exhibit in the vestibule of the Meeting House of the First Parish in Cambridge c. 1990 (accessed January 31, 2020).

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 7:14

Scripture: Isaiah 59:1; 54:11-14, 17, 7

Content: Sermon on the occasion of the the twentieth anniversary of his settlement as minister of the Cambridgeport Parish / by the Rev. George W. Briggs -- Hymn written for the occasion / by Miss C.F. Orne -- First Church in Cambridgeport -- Reminiscences of the Cambridgeport Parish : an address delivered by a member of the Society, April 6th, 1887 on the twentieth anniversary of the settlement of their pastor, Rev. George W. Briggs, D.D.

Pages 20-30 contain: "Charge," by Hosea Ballou; "Right hand of fellowship," by Benjamin Whittemore; "Address to the society," by Seth Stetson. Last leaf contains: "Hymn. By a member of the Society."

Scripture: Psalm 80:14-15

"Being the First Lord's Day after the Completion of a Century from the Gathering of the Church in that Place, and the Ordination of the First Pastor"

“Also a Sermon on the Frailty of Man by the Late Rev. H.G.O. Phipps Left in Manuscript by the Decseased but Never Preached.”

Note that the library has another collection of his sermons which are not online

Preached April 15, 1900

"Preached November 16, 1924"

“To which are Added the Charge by the Reverend Thomas Prentiss of Medfield and The Right Hand of Fellowship by the Reverend Jabez Chickering of Dedham.”

Includes (pages 33-39): Result of the Ecclesiastical Council convened at Dedham, October 28, 1818, to assist at the ordination of Rev. Alvan Lamson, over the First Parish in Dedham.

Oct. 15, 1898

“Comprising a sketch of his life and character by Samuel Willard, two sermons selected from his manuscripts by a committee appointed by the Parish, and a few paragraphs from other papers.”

September 22, 1858.

"Being the Two Hundred and Fortieth Anniversary of the First Assembling of the Church for Divine Service after its Landing in America"

"Coincident with the Settlement of the Town. Observed March 28 and June 17, 1880"

Sermon by Henry A. Miles -- Address to the people by Thomas Starr King -- Right hand of fellowship by H.F. Harrington

Scripture: Daniel 4:35

“With the Right Hand of Fellowship and Address to the Society”

"Together with some strictures on the result of a late party council, in said town, and general observations: the whole designed to vindicate the rights of the Churches, and to illustrate the subject, and enforce the importance of, Christian discipline"

"With the charge, right hand of fellowship, and address to the people"

"Delivered August 8, 1830"

"An historical discourse on the one hundredth anniversary of the first sermon of Rev. John Murray in that town, delivered in the Independent Christian Church, November 3, 1874: with addresses on the same occasion: notes and appendix"

"Printed for the Franklin County Branch of the National Alliance of Unitarian and Other Christian Women"

Poster calling of a public meeting, vigil, and "an evening of strategy, solidarity, and song" at the All Souls Unitarian Church, Greenfield, Mass., in support of Randy Kehler and Betsy Corner. Photograph taken in June 1994 for events on July 9 and 19.

Pages 39-47 contain: "The Charge by Rev. N. Thayer, D.D." Pages 48-56 contain: "Address to the church and congregation by Rev. Henry Ware, Jr."

Mumford preached in Greenfield 1862-1864 during the Civil War. See pp 71-72.

Includes "Delivery of the Scriptures and charge by the Rev. Sebastian Streeter" and "Right hand of fellowship by the Rev. Thomas Whittemore."

Cover title: Mr. Skinner’s sermon at the installation of Rev. Townsend P. Abell as pastor of the First Universalist Society in Haverhill, Mass.
Most of this sermon was preached again at the Universalist General Convention, in New York, Sept. 1841, and published with the occasional sermon. This version, however, concludes with a charge to Rev. Abell and the last page has the order of exercises at the installation, which includes an original hymn by E.H. Chapin.

"The charge, by the Reverend Mr. Browne, of Cohasset", page 26; "The right hand of fellowship, by the Reverend Mr. Shute, of Hingham", pages 27-28.

"And Removal to the Office of Professor of Divinity in the University at Cambridge; Together, with an Address from the Church on the Occasion and his Answer"

Sermon by Edward Everett Hale -- Charge to the pastor by Henry A. Miles -- Right hand of fellowship by George W. Briggs -- Address to the people by George L. Chaney | Scripture Matthew 7:16

Sermons by John G. Adams and Olympia Brown

"The charge... by Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris, D.D. pastor of the First church in Dorchester": pages 23-26; "Right hand of fellowship by Rev. Convers Francis, pastor of the church in Watertown": pages 27-32.

“On December Nineteenth, Nineteen Hundred One”