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ABOUT THE CONGREGATION


WE ARE BOSTON’S OLDEST EPISCOPAL CHURCH:
SHINING BEACONS OF JUSTICE, LOVE AND LIGHT FOR 300 YEARS



 

God’s people of diverse backgrounds find a home with us as we embrace our
founding call to be a “House of Prayer for all people.” Our congregation numbers
about 150 parishioners, reflecting the makeup of downtown Boston with young
professionals, a sizeable LGBTQ+ community, and families with young children. We
welcome college students from across the world, members of the U.S. Coast Guard
stationed in the North End, empty nesters, and retirees. Parishioners live
throughout the Boston area – neighbors in the North End and Beacon Hill, many
commuting from the suburbs, and some coming from as far as New Hampshire. Our
online community joining us for worship includes family and friends who live
across the country and world.

The Old North community is committed to Gospel principles of justice and
service, striving to make a positive impact in our neighborhood, city, and the
world. We are dedicated to learning from our history in order to be a more
faithful, inclusive, and loving community, nourished and sustained by scripture,
sacraments, music, fellowship, and outreach beyond our walls.

We are not just a museum or historic site. We are an active community of
Christians who cherish the stories and legends of our extraordinary past while
living fully in the present.

The Right Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop of Massachusetts, is the ex-officio rector
of the Old North Church, a reflection of our unique status as an historic
mission and national shrine. The bishop is represented by our vicar, the Rev.
Dr. Matthew Cadwell (who acts vicariously for the bishop and oversees our
worship, ministries, and programs).

Our congregation is governed by the vestry of Christ Church in the City of
Boston, elected lay leaders who meet monthly to oversee the operations and
ministry of the church. One of the original parishes of the Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts, (est. 1784), Old North was reclassified as a mission congregation
in 1939, a status we maintain in recognition of our vocation as a national
landmark. Together with other Episcopal churches, Old North is part of the
worldwide Anglican Communion.

We warmly invite you to join us in our life together, whether you are visiting
Boston for a brief time or looking for a permanent church home. Married or
single, gay, straight, transgender,  young or old, whatever your race, color,
background, religious questions, doubts, or concerns, you are welcome at the Old
North Church, a House of Prayer for all people.

Contact Us


OPEN AND WELCOME TO ALL

The congregation and clergy of Christ Church-Old North strive to keep faithful
to the mission of openness and welcome proclaimed by Timothy Cutler in his
inaugural sermon on the text from Isaiah, “My House shall be called a House of
Prayer for all people.”

Our 10am Sunday summer service schedule begins July 14, continuing through Labor
Day weekend. Please click here to register, or contact the church office via
email:  congregation@oldnorth.com. 11am services resume on September 8.

Join us for live-stream worship any Sunday beginning at 10am. All services are
recorded and may be seen at any time on our YouTube Channel.

Worship With Us


OLD NORTH IS A NATIONAL SHRINE

A place of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. When
sexton Robert Newman and vestryman John Pulling shone two lanterns from the
steeple on April 18, 1775, they signaled the birth of the American nation and
the beginnings of the freedom which we have long cherished and still strive to
proclaim. Nearly a century later, in 1861, Boston poet Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow used the story of the lanterns and Paul Revere’s ride to rally his
fellow Northerners to persevere in the fight against slavery. With the
publication of “Paul Revere’s Ride,” Christ Church-Old North Church became an
internationally known symbol of freedom from all forms of tyranny and
oppression.

To citizens of the nation and the world, our church is a shrine to liberty. For
our congregation, the church is a place of prayer, service, and love, the
gathering place of our diverse faith community. We invite you to join us in our
life together as we celebrate 300  years of worship, ministry, and outreach. You
are welcome here.


HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATION



Built in 1723, Christ Church in the City of Boston, better known as “the Old
North Church,” is both the oldest church building and the oldest Episcopal
congregation in Boston. Although established as a Puritan city, Boston’s
colonial Anglican community outgrew the first Church of England parish (King’s
Chapel, est. 1688), necessitating a second church in the North End of the city.
Local master builders followed sketches of London churches designed by Sir
Christopher Wren and raised the building in six months. The soaring steeple that
shaped American history was added in 1740.

The first rector was the Rev. Dr. Timothy Cutler, a Congregationalist minister
and rector (president) of Yale College until his conversion to Anglicanism.
After returning from London for ordination in the Church of England, he preached
the inaugural sermon on the Isaiah text, “My house shall be called a House of
Prayer for all people.” Early congregants reflected all social strata, including
wealthy colonists, ship captains, farmers, artisans, enslaved and free African
Americans. Over 100 enslaved and free Africans were baptized, married, and
buried at Christ Church in the 18th century.

Charles Wesley, co-founder of Methodism, preached at Christ Church over
successive Sundays in 1736 (the only extant church in which he preached during
his 1735-1736 trip to North America). In 1750, Paul Revere, then 15 years old,
joined the guild of bell ringers – the second signatory on the charter – soon
becoming familiar with the tower he would make famous.

Prior to the Revolution, those who would become Patriots worshiped alongside
Gen. Thomas Gage, royal military governor, and Maj. John Pitcairn of the royal
marines. The Rev. Mather Byles, Jr., Loyalist second rector, resigned on April
18, 1775. That night parishioners Robert Newman and John Pulling shone two
signal lights from the steeple, alerting Patriots of the king’s troops advancing
toward Lexington by water. The first Revolutionary battles were fought the next
day. Thereafter, the church was closed until 1778 when the Rev. Stephen C.
Lewis, a British army chaplain, swore allegiance to the United States and became
third rector.

In 1779 the vestry voted “that the Rev. Mr. Lewis be desired to prepare a proper
form of Prayer for the Congress of the United States, for the several States,
and for their success in the present important Contest, to be used Daily in the
Church.” Prayer Book references to the king were covered and prayers for the
Continental Congress added. After the Revolution, Christ Church joined the new
Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.

The Rev. Dr. Asa Eaton led the church from 1805-1829 through a period of
tremendous growth, including establishment of the first Sunday school in Boston
and a Presidential visit by James Monroe in 1817. But being situated in an
increasingly poor immigrant neighborhood led to financial struggles. Evidence of
challenging circumstances was the “Fragment Society,” in which parish women
sewed clothing for poor children to wear to Sunday school and returned by Monday
morning for use the next weekend.

Christ Church’s vestry welcomed the first woman into its ranks in 1911—Miss
Matilda Bibbey, a teacher in the heavily immigrant community of the North End.
She served as the sole vestrywoman into the 1920s.

The church undertook a major renovation in 1912, attempting an authentic
colonial appearance with the reinstallation of box pews, wineglass pulpit, and
white color scheme. The renovation was overseen by Bishop William Lawrence, who
personally undertook the necessary fundraising. Former President Theodore
Roosevelt attended the reopening service.

As the neighborhood welcomed new waves of immigrants, the congregation responded
by building a chapel to serve Italian Waldensians, a Protestant community
predating the Reformation. The St. Francis Chapel, built in 1918 and decorated
in Italianate style, served this congregation into the 1950s. Once no longer
needed for worship space, the chapel was transformed into the Old North Gift
Shop, in support of the increasing number of tourists.

Old North became a mission of the Diocese of Massachusetts in 1939, due to low
membership and  financial hardship during the Great Depression, with the bishop
of Massachusetts holding the title of rector and a vicar overseeing regular
ministries. The Rev. Francis Ellsworth Webster, rector since 1930, served as the
first vicar until his death in 1941. The church became an increasingly popular
tourist site into the 20th century, even as successive vicars and congregational
leaders sought to find ways to minister in the neighborhood.

The Rev. Dr. Robert Golledge, vicar from 1971 to 1996, led the church during the
nation’s Bicentennial celebrations, inviting President Gerald Ford to speak on
April 18, 1975 – the 200th anniversary of the hanging of the lanterns – and
overseeing the visit of Queen Elizabeth II in July 1976. He spoke forcefully to
church and city on racism and desegregation, serving on Mayor Kevin White’s
bi-racial committee on violence and hostility.

The Old North Foundation was established in 1991 as a separate non-profit,
managing the historic site programs and building preservation. Its skilled staff
share the story of the Old North Church with the nation and world.

In 1997 the Rev. Stephen Ayres was appointed vicar and eventually as Executive
Director of the Old North Foundation, overseeing an expansion of educational
programs and building restoration.  Recent research revealed that some early
parishioners had been slave ship captains, leading to a renewed emphasis on
racial justice and the need for further study as we seek to embody the liberty
and freedom that make Old North well known.

The Rev. Dr. Matthew P. Cadwell joined Old North as the church’s seventh vicar
in 2020. We celebrate our 300th anniversary in 2023 embracing the call to shine
beacons of light, justice, and love in our city and world. We are committed
growing in membership and diversity, ever expanding our understanding of freedom
to include all of God’s people in each new age.

Support the Old North Church Congregation


MEMBERSHIP

Becoming a member of the Episcopal Congregation of Old North Church is easy.

 * Start by joining us in our life of worship, because our life together as the
   Body of Christ is centered, nourished and grounded in our worship.
 * Participate in the mission and ministry of Old North Church, because Christ
   calls us to join in the mission of God in our church, in the community, and
   in the wider world.
 * And when you are ready, we invite you to:
   * Schedule a meeting with the vicar to learn more about us and discuss
     questions you may have.
   * Fill out a membership form so that we know your needs and interests.
   * Support us with a financial pledge, to sustain our ministries.


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OLD NORTH CHURCH CONGREGATION

   


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Tourism Hours
Open Monday – Saturday,  10am – 5pm; Sunday, 11:30am – 5pm

Historic Site Contact
jfishman@oldnorth.com 

Worship
Register by 3pm Saturday to attend Sunday’s 10am service in person or join us
virtually at 10am every Sunday morning on YouTube.

Congregation Contact
congregation@oldnorth.com
617-523-6676

193 Salem St, Boston, MA 02113

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