The followers of Governor John Winthrop who chose to settle at Shawmut (which they soon called Boston) had no sooner begun to make themselves at home, than fear of a French invasion inspired them to scatter. In 1630, Roxbury was one of the towns that resulted.

Business and manufacturing interests soon clustered at the eastern end of Roxbury, near the First Parish Church in Roxbury. (This building is now the location of the Unitarian Universalist Urban Ministry office.) People more attracted to farming moved westward, toward Dedham, living in what came to be variously called the Westerly End, Jamaica End or Spring Street area. After three generations, in 1706 these farmers realized that they needed a meetinghouse closer to hand. The difficulties of maneuvering the rough roads during poor weather caused them to present a petition with forty-five signatories to the General Court requesting creation of another parish in Roxbury. The legislature did not respond to their request.

After five years, the men of Jamaica End had built a meetinghouse. The church they thus established surreptitiously was on Walter Street (then part of the Dedham Road). In April 1711, they sent a “humble address” signed by thirty-two men to the First Parish Church praying for pardon to their “fathers and elder brothers” assembled in town meeting.

... we humbly acknowledge it to be offensive for us to presume so precipitately and rashly to enterprise and prosecute such an important affair without the consent of the General Court, the approbation of our reverend and dear pastor, and the concurrence of our ancient and honorable mother church, and the Town Assembly.

1712: Second parish is gathered

Consequently, Rev. Nehemiah Walter “their reverend and dear” pastor of the First Parish of Roxbury on November 2, 1712, gathered the little church with eighteen members who had been released from the First Parish Church. On November 26, 1712, the Rev. Ebenezer Thayer was called as the first pastor of the Second Church. Their meetinghouse was probably, like most churches of the time, a rude structure, possibly with a thatched roof; a cemetery lay just to the north and the parsonage to the south at the junction of Walter and South Streets.

Finally in 1733, twenty-one years after the church was established, the Massachusetts General Court legally formed the Second Parish of Roxbury. This act incorporated as a separate precinct the Second Parish in Roxbury, “for the maintenance of public worship and a church ministry.” All the occupants of this newly formed parish were to pay their taxes to the new Second Parish of Roxbury. That same year the mother parish refused to give assistance to maintain a minister or to repair the meetinghouse, indicating that the mother parish had been providing some assistance until this time. It seems that during the preceding twenty-one years, members of the Second Parish had supported their new church by voluntary means while continuing to pay taxes to the First Parish of Roxbury.

Most early churches of Massachusetts were composed of two distinct organizations, a Parish and a Church. The geographical boundaries of a Parish were determined by the General Court, the common name for the state legislature. This Parish was composed of all the adult, white male citizens within its boundaries and was responsible for the support of public worship. According to the colonial laws, public worship was required of all. The Parish had the power of public taxation for the maintenance of the Church. All the early settlers were automatically members of the Parish and were taxed for the maintenance of worship regardless of their personal beliefs. And for nearly 100 years, there were no other religious bodies in the Westerly End of Roxbury.

The Church, on the other hand, was a voluntary, inner body composed of those who had acknowledged a religious conversion or Christian experience. Partaking of sacraments was restricted to these men. The duties of the Church were for religious and doctrinal issues. These churchmen were responsible for disciplining members or even excommunicating them.

The Third Church of Roxbury in Jamaica Plain was established in 1769. Being rather close to the Walter Street meetinghouse, some members of the Second Parish left to join the new church. They thought it was proper to take the silver which they had donated to the Second Parish. This request, however, was denied. Additionally there was dispute over the parish boundaries. Resolving the problem of church silver, the Second Parish agreed to pay the Third Church ?15, 6s, 6d or about $600. This Third Church of Roxbury is known today as the First Congregational Society of Jamaica Plain.

1712: Second parish is gathered

After sixty years of being patched and mended, the Second Parish’s meetinghouse clearly needed to be replaced. In 1766 it had been voted to build a new building, but nothing was done at that time. Finally in 1769, the old building was torn down and its lumber used in constructing the new meetinghouse on the corner of Centre, South and Church Streets. (The building sat where the current Holy Name Catholic Church’s parish house sits.) The meetinghouse was completed in 1773. Taken from the old church, the sounding board behind the pulpit was repainted and re-used. It was from this venerable pulpit that in 1776 the Declaration of Independence was read to the populace. The original, square and unadorned meetinghouse was, by 1821, redesigned and had acquired a steeple, thereby taking on the look of the quintessential New England church.

The old cemetery, still visible from Walter Street, was used until the Church Street meetinghouse was built. Its regular function as a burial ground for the Second Parish ended when the new meetinghouse was built. When Walter Street was widened in 1903, remains were found which were said to have been soldiers killed in the Revolution. Their remains were reinterred. A commemorative marker was erected on the site by the Sons of the American Revolution “honoring the men who died at the hospital in Jamaica Plain” (housed in the Loring-Green House). The Continental Army had apparently utilized the convenient burial ground near the Dedham Road (now Walter Street). During the battle of Dorchester Heights and the accompanying Siege of Boston, the Dedham Road was the lifeline of the Army, connecting them with their supplies in Dedham.

Shift from Calvinism to Unitarianism

Theologically the earliest members of the Second Parish of Roxbury were Puritans and Calvinists. However, during the long ministry of John Bradford from 1780 to 1825, the congregation shifted to Unitarian beliefs with little or no controversy. The congregation adopted a more optimistic view of the nature and destiny of humankind and in 1832, a new and simpler covenant was created. They did not formally adopt the Unitarian name; nowhere in the old records is a denominational name or sectarian reference referred to.

Eight members, however, did withdraw in protest to the new covenant. They helped to form the South Evangelical Church in 1836. This congregation later changed the church’s name to the West Roxbury Congregational Church. Their building at the corner of Centre and Mt. Vernon Streets burned down in the 1970’s. After sharing space with the Stratford Street Baptist Church, in 1977 the two churches merged to form the Stratford Street United Church.

The ministry of Theodore Parker

The parishioners of the Second Church were eager to entertain new interpretations and ideas. They found a kindred spirit when Theodore Parker was ordained as their new minister on June 21, 1837. He was newly graduated from Harvard Divinity School and newly wed to Lydia Cabot. Their home was located on what is now St. Theresa Avenue. The parish was not a wealthy community and paid Parker only $600 per year, but for him its location near Boston and Cambridge allowed him good access to Harvard friends and colleagues, lectures and libraries. As an accomplished scholar, these considerations were essential for him. His parishioners grew to love him and supported him even as he was becoming an ardent social reformer and Transcendentalist. Parker wrote to his brother, “I preach abundant heresies, and they all go down, for the listeners don’t know how heretical they are. I preach the worst of things, Transcendentalism, the grand heresy itself, none calling me to account therefore.”

Although this comment to his brother sounds as if Parker had a low regard for his parishioners, this was not the case. Parker was very happy in this community and his parishioners loved and respected him. In his biography he writes:

I soon became well acquainted with all in the little parish, where I found some men of rare enlightenment, some truly generous and noble souls. I knew the character of all and the thoughts of such as had them…The simple life of the farmers, mechanics and milkmen about me, of its own accord, turned into a sort of poetry and reappeared in [my] sermons, as the green woods, not far off, looked in at the windows of the meetinghouse.

Parker’s ministry was a labor of love and for many the high point in the life of this church. His earnest goodness and belief in the responsibility of Christians for the betterment of the world earned him a warm place in the hearts of his West Roxbury parishioners. His good friends George and Sophia Ripley, the founders of Brook Farm, and other Brook Farmers frequently attended “Parker’s church” as it came to be known. During his ministry in West Roxbury, he began exploring many of the ideas which led to his social activism in later years.

A church member, Mr. Louis Arnold, recollected, “Theodore Parker was the Pastor when I first went to Church. He had a kindly way, a very pleasant voice and always sociable. His popularity soon spread beyond his little congregation until the Church was full to overflowing every Sunday.”

A group of influential men calling themselves, Friends of Parker approached him in 1845. They had formed themselves into a congregation, the 28th Congregational Society, so that the people of Boston could “hear Parker speak.” There was no meetinghouse, and hiring a hall on Sundays proved to be difficult. Finally, the Melodeon, a music hall on Washington Street, was secured. For a year, Parker preached there in the morning and at the West Roxbury church in the afternoons. After a year, it became impossible for him to continue because of the demands of the two congregations. He resigned from the First Church West Roxbury in February 1846. It was with sadness, but earnest good wishes, that they said good-bye to him.

Parker also began lecturing on the lyceum circuit. The lyceum movement of the mid-19th Century, contributed significantly to the education of the adults in America. It provided for the dissemination of many important ideas in the period prior to the Civil War. Parker’s messages about abolitionism, democracy, public education, theology and politics were heard by people from New England to the Midwest. Abraham Lincoln’s law partner, William Herndon was a “Parkerite” and passed copies of Parker’s sermons and lectures to Lincoln. Parker’s definition of democracy, “government of the people, by the people, for the people” influenced Lincoln.

The church at mid-nineteenth century: unrest and fire

Meanwhile, life went on in West Roxbury. In 1854, the town seceded from Roxbury in an attempt to maintain its rural nature. The church’s name was changed at that time by an Act of the Legislature to the First Parish of West Roxbury. When West Roxbury was annexed by Boston in 1873, that name remained in place—until 1962.

With the changes in the surrounding areas in the later years of the 19th Century, discontent grew within the congregation. The number of people attending and supporting the church dwindled. Half the financial support of the church came from people who had left the area, but “retained enough interest to pay their pew rent.” A contingent of members felt the decrease in membership was due to the church’s location in the farmland between the growing suburbs of Roslindale and West Roxbury. They wanted to move closer to the busy center of West Roxbury, citing the decline in members and claiming it made sense to move. A second group of members and the minister were opposed to leaving the meetinghouse because of the peaceful rural surroundings and its connection to Theodore Parker and his ministry here. Yet another group was dissatisfied with their minister of 20 years, Rev. Augustus Haskell.

Fires have played an important role in the history of the church. In 1882, a fire at a member’s home destroyed most of the records from the early years of the church. Then on January 22, 1890, at 2:30 am, a fire badly damaged the meetinghouse of the First Parish of West Roxbury. On the next day, The Boston Herald reported that the fire had been “confined to the front portion of the edifice.” The chancel and pulpit were unaffected, but all the new cushions, carpets, books, etc. were ruined by water. The fire did not touch the organ in the gallery, but it was nevertheless ruined by water used to extinguish the flames. The Boston Herald story goes on to say, “When the firemen entered the cellar they found a huge woodpile in flames, and it is now thought that the fire was of incendiary origin.”

At this time of unrest in the congregation, the fire was a crushing blow. There was controversy as to whether the old church should be repaired with the $2605 that the insurance companies allowed or should it be moved to a new site in the middle of town. Those who wanted to maintain the church building had it evaluated for repair and moving. A builder assessed its condition and stated that it was not possible to safely move it. Sadly, the old church stood abandoned and empty until 1914 when it was finally razed and the property sold.

During this time, it was discovered that the church did not actually own the building! The pew owners actually owned the pews and therefore there was no clear title to enable the church to sell the land. In a 1912 handwritten, but unsigned recollection, the following anecdote was recorded:

... Thus the church property was directly owned by the pew owners. People bought pews as they bought real estate. The problem then was how to acquire a title that would enable them to legally sell the church property. The method followed by the advice of counsel was to levy a tax on all the pews, which could legally be done. The people agreed not to pay the taxes, and the pews were bid in an auction for the benefit of the church, thus securing the title beyond dispute, before they attempted to build a new church.

Roslindale church splits from First Parish; new meetinghouse is built, quickly outgrown

Rev. Haskell, who had resigned in 1889 due to ill health, with others who wished to “gather together the liberal element,” formed the Unitarian Society in Roslindale. They met in public halls for two years until the decision was made to build. Their meetinghouse was located on South Street between Walter Street and the railroad station. The Roslindale Church building still stands and currently houses a Greek Orthodox congregation.

The remainder of the First Parish congregation moved to the center of West Roxbury. They took with them the First Parish name, the old communion silver, and the Theodore Parker traditions. For the morning services, they met at first in the hall of the Highland Club located on the corner of Corey and Centre Streets, directly opposite the current site of the church. In the afternoons they either met at the Methodist Chapel or on the grounds of the old church.

The new meetinghouse, designed by a member of the parish, Frank Alden, a partner in the well-known and well-regarded architectural firm of Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, was built facing Corey Street. The corner stone was laid on October 14, 1891. In their new location, the congregation thrived and this building was quickly outgrown.

1900: Current meetinghouse is built

The plan for the second meetinghouse began in 1899. The building was to be placed on the Corey Street corner, facing Centre Street. It was designed by Henry M. Seaver, the son of congregation members. He had been a draftsman in the office of Longfellow, Alden & Harlow and was a student at M. I. T. when he planned this building. He later became a well-regarded architect especially in the western portion of Massachusetts.

A covered walkway tied the two buildings together, the older building serving as the Parish House for the community. A number of furnishings from the abandoned Church Street building were incorporated into both the Centre and Corey Streets buildings: Theodore Parker’s pulpit continues to be used, an 1802 clock continues to time the services, and the G. H. Holbrook bell is rung each Sunday. Pew doors, recovered from the old church pews, were used to provide wainscotting for two rooms in the 1890 building and woodwork in various areas of the 1900 sanctuary building.

According to Henry Seaver’s notes, Dedham granite which had been used in constructing the 1890 building was “no longer being commercially quarried” when the sanctuary was being planned. The notes continue, “an old overgrown, disused quarry, east of the road between Dedham and Westwood, was opened and enough stone was gotten out for the new building.” This building, the current sanctuary, was dedicated in 1900.

In 1891, Adolph Robert Kraus completed a bronze statue of Theodore Parker. It had been built by public subscription and offered to the City of Boston for erection on the Public Garden. The Boston Arts Commission turned it down claiming it was not a good likeness. Many believed it was rejected because of the animosity toward Parker which had lingered after his death. (For more about Theodore Parker, follow this link.) For twenty years the statue suffered from neglect, spending much of that time in the courtyard of a storage warehouse company. The statue was finally given to the congregation in 1902 and placed in the churchyard where it remains today. Sadly, the pedestal for the statue was laid on the day of Adolph Robert Kraus’ death in 1901. Kraus, a much acclaimed sculptor, suffered a breakdown and was receiving treatment at the Danvers Insane Hospital prior to his death.

1960: West Roxbury and Roslindale churches merge; struggle to survive

Until the 1950s, both the West Roxbury and Roslindale Unitarian congregations flourished. With outward migration to the suburbs from both communities, their congregations dwindled and aged. Their buildings suffered from neglect and each congregation struggled to survive. Kenneth MacLean who had been Roslindale’s student minister until his graduation in 1960 was called to conduct a shared ministry with the congregations. Soon after, the furnace in the Roslindale church failed and needed extensive work. This event made it clear to both congregations that they could only survive if they merged. The West Roxbury church was the logical site for the combined congregations because of the better condition of its buildings and its superior location in the center of West Roxbury on a main street. In 1962, the churches officially joined and adopted the name of Theodore Parker Unitarian Church. Interestingly, this name changed required an act of the legislature.

Even after the merger, the Theodore Parker Church continued to struggle through the 1970s. At a meeting of the church members on June 9, 1976, their plight was made clear. The membership had to vote on whether to sell the church buildings to one of three prospects: two other churches wanting to buy the building or Meadville Lombard Theological School. The latter’s offer was to look after the buildings and the congregation until the numbers dwindled to six. At that point they would sell the buildings and take the statue of Theodore Parker to their campus in Chicago. Meadville Lombard’s interest in the Theodore Parker Church stemmed from their commitment to liberal religious education and their esteem for Theodore Parker and his contributions to liberal religious theology.

The congregation courageously voted to refuse all the offers by a vote of eighteen to six. With the sale of the parsonage on Emmonsdale Road, they determined that there was enough money to keep going for about a year and a half. The Standing Committee was to review the status of the church every six months thereafter. They struggled on, just barely surviving.

1980s: Partnership with First Parish Weston revitalizes the church

In the 1980s, first Rev. Richard Kimball, and then Rev. Robert Haney, agreed to provide Sunday services to the tiny congregation—fewer than twenty congregants. An energized cadre of young adults fueled a slow increase in the number of people attending and joining the church. In 1987, at the request of the Mass Bay District of the Unitarian Universalist Association, the Weston Unitarian Universalist Church partnered with the Theodore Parker Church. They offered financial support and the labor of members who rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to paint, plant and fix up the buildings and grounds. The Weston Church also shared its ministerial interns with the church during these critical years of growth. One of those interns, Marianne Powers, in 1991 wrote, “[Theodore Parker Church] has survived and grown due to the persistence, love, and support of parishioners in West Roxbury and Weston who have shared a vision of liberal religious community, and who have been willing to put their minds, their backs, and their hearts and souls into it.” In 1990 The Mass Bay District presented Theodore Parker Church with “The Church of the Year” award.

The Boston Landmarks Commission in 1985 gave historic landmark status to the Theodore Parker Unitarian Church. The church is the only historic building in West Roxbury. This designation was granted due to the church’s important role in the history of the West Roxbury community, the significance of the architects who designed both the buildings, and the splendor of its seven Tiffany windows.

1990s-present: Growth, diversity, and more inclusive theology

The Theodore Parker Church had been slowly moving away from its Christian identity toward a more liberal and inclusive theology when in 1993, in response to an all-member canvass, the Christian cross was removed from the chancel wall. As the congregation continues to grow and encompasses a wider diversity of people from other religions and spiritual practices, this decision proved crucial as more people in the Parkway area look for a diverse, liberal, welcoming community.

Katherine H. Andrews in 1926 quoted Mrs. B. M. Sparhawk’s 1891 annual report stating that it could have been written in her day. Today in 2010, I attest to her words’ continuing truth:

We have worked long and hard…and can but feel gratified with the result, but let us not feel that our work is finished. It has, in reality, just begun. During the year to come let each and all of us join in forwarding that true social sprit which is the essence of all Church life and make these rooms, which are entrusted to us, truly a Church home.

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This history was prepared by Julie McVay, March 18, 2010. Over the years the church has collected numerous partial histories, newspaper articles, and recollections. Among these were histories written by ministers: Robert Haney, Gordon Gibson, Kenneth MacLean, Harold Arnold, John H. Applebee, Ebenezer Thayer. In addition a number of parishioners have also contributed informal recollections and histories. Some of these have dates and names associated with them; others are anonymous and may also be undated. The information included here reflects, to the best of the author’s ability, a factual account derived from the documents which reside at the Theodore Parker UU Church in West Roxbury, MA.

Due to Theodore Parker’s fame, a number of historians have written about him and about the Theodore Parker Church. These biographies are widely available in libraries and via the internet. None have been knowingly quoted in this piece.