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OUR PILGRIMAGE |
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Organized November 2, 1862
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| On the evening of November 2, 1862, during the troubled days of the Civil War, sixteen persons met at the home of the Rev. Edmund Squire in Dorchester, Massachusetts and united themselves together into what they described as "an unsectarian Church of Jesus Christ." This humble beginning has grown into what we now know as Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church. |
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Rev Henry Martyn Dexter, the second minister of what is now known as Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church, was a Congregational luminary of the latter half of the nineteenth century. In addition to authoring a clergy response to the Missouri compromise and serving as the librarian of the Congregational Library in Boston, Massachusetts, Rev. Dexter translated the oldest Christian hymn whose author is known, Shepherd of Tender Youth. |
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After much discussion as to whether this new congregation should unite with the Methodist or Congregational churches, the Church was received into the fellowship of Orthodox Congregational Churches on July 21, 1867. On April 17, 1871, this church became known as "The Cottage Street Congregational Church." At this time, the congregation had forty-six members and rented space from the Dorchester Atheneum. On November 10, 1877, the name of Pilgrim Church was adopted. |
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From 1877 until 1890, Pilgrim Church was located on Stoughton Street.
It was on October 18, 1885, that the Chrtistian Endeavor Society of Pilgrim Church was organized with thirty members and one associate. |
| On April 6, 1886, Pilgrim Church "Had our first sociable and supper in the Baptist Vestry [Stoughton Street Baptist Church, being the Second Baptist Church in Dorchester (building designed by Stephen C. Earle, the architect of the current home of Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church)]] about eighty present." The first church fair was held in 1888, with admission for "children under twelve, 5 cents." |
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On February 26, 1890, Pilgrim Church was incorporated under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In July of 1890, the foundations were laid on Columbia Road for the New Pilgrim Church, which was designed by Stephen Earle of Worcester, Massachusetts. However, the congregation was still meeting on Stoughton Street, regarding which the Rev. Wiliam Hervey Allbright said "when he first saw the church he thought some enterprising Yankee had discovered Noah's Ark and put it up at Upham's Corner." The first portion of the new meetinghouse was completed in December of the same year. On the 28th day of that same month the Congregation and the children of the Sunday School marchesd in line from the Stoughton Street location to the new chapel (the northeastern portion or right hand side of the building that now stands at 540 Columbia Road.) |
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The first Worship Service at the new building, a Service of Communion, was held on January 1, 1891. It seems that the complete Communion Service from the 1890's (six goblets, six bread plates, pouring tankard, and what appears to be either a baptismal font or lavabo) is still in the possession of Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church. Portions of this Service are seen in the photograph to the left. |
| It was during this time that The Rev. Dr. Allbright himself planted the ivy which for over a century covered the meetinghouse's walls. Also in this era The Rev. Dr. Hallowell of Northamptonshire, England, sent the stained glass window of Ruth and Naomi which is still in the original chapel at 540 Columbia Road. |
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On May 3, 1893, a very rainy day, the cornerstone of the auditorium (left side of the building) was laid. The first Service of Worship was held in the auditorium on October 8, 1893. By the end of the nineteenth century, the church had completed the auditorium (main sanctuary.) A significant element in the "Auditorium" (currently used, primarily, as a homeless shelter for unaccompanied, male adults) was, and still is (though inoperable at this time), George Hutching's Opus 404. |
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Also in the 1890's, it was recognized that there was the need for a Congregational ministry closer to the Savin Hill area of Dorchester. As a result, on February 1, 1893, the Romsey Street Congregational Church was opened. After the changes in society in the 1920's, it was decided in 1930 that the Romsey Church would re-unite with Pilgrim Church. They brought with them three memorial stained glass windows which, regretably, were destroyed by a fire in 1970 which ravaged the main sanctuary. A fourth stained glass window, of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, is dedicate to Linwood Wilson (1906-1930) who died in a swimming accident. |
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IT WAS IN 1926 THAT PILGRIM CHURCH OBTAINED, FOR USE AS A PARSONAGE, A HOUSE AT THE TOP OF THE HILL ON BELLEVUE STREET IN DORCHESTER. |
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| On Sunday, May 14, 1961, Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church voted to join the United Church of Christ (a denomination formed by a merger of National organizations of the Congregational Churches {whose first national organization was formed in 1871} and the Evangelical and Reformed Church {a merger of two historically German churches}.) While the United Church of Christ traces its organization back to 1957, it did not become a full reality until July 4, 1961, at the General Synod in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
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In 1963, a dynamic and inovative camping program began at Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church. Known as Camp Pilgrim," it was often described as being the "camp that has no boundaries. Over time, it grew to involve 250 children a week in day, caravan, and resident camp activities. |
One evening in October, 1970, a fire broke out in the attic above the main sanctuary. While the fire itself was confined above the ceiling, water and smoke caused immense damage. Afterwards, it was decided that worship would return to the original chapel of 1890 while the sanctuary would be rebuilt as a multi-purpose fellowship hall. |
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| On Sunday, October 15, 2006 a new chapter began in the life of Pilgrim Church. Building on the tradition begun in 1862 as an "unsectarian Church of our Lord Jesus Christ" it was decided to blend our 11:00 Sunday Worship service with that of Iglesia el Mesias (a Spanish-speaking congregation of the Pentecostal tradition.) While this experiment was short-lived, as Iglesia el Mesias has dispersed, the influence continues. |
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Pilgrim Trinitarian |
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