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The mission of the First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church of Chelmsford is to be a welcoming, inclusive and nurturing environment for worship and spiritual growth. The church community promotes and encourages respect for each individual in his/her search for truth and development of personal values; learning through an open-minded exchange of ideas; and compassion for and commitment to each other and the world.
First Parish is a liberal religious community; we do not hold one another to any creed or doctrine. All develop their own beliefs and are encouraged to spiritual growth. We honor the truths in all the world’s religions. We respect Jesus as he is found in the Gospels, and other great teachers. We strive for a world community founded on ideals of human kinship, justice and peace. We encourage cooperation among people of goodwill in every land, and we encourage respectful relationship with our natural environment.
Voices of a Liberal Faith - Unitarian Universalists (YouTube Video):
First Parish is a democratic society. The church members determine the budget, call the minister and elect officers, including the church’s governing board which guides the business affairs, administration and policy of the church. The society is funded by pledged contributions and fund-raising activities by the congregants.
Membership is open to those in general agreement with the aims and principles of the society. While we hope that friends of the church will want to join us by signing the Book of Membership, they are welcome to participate in all activities as friends except voting in a parish meeting.
For further details, see the Church Bylaws.
Our cooperative church school encourages all parents to contribute by teaching, speaking or playing music for children’s chapel services, serving on the R.E. Committee, or helping plan and carry out special activities.
Church school for children from age two through high school is held at the same time as the church service. The children begin the hour with 15 minutes of worship, either in the chapel or with the adults in the sanctuary. A nursery is provided for children under two years of age.
The Junior and Senior Youth Groups were combined as of Fall, 1999, but are once again two separate groups. A Coming of Age Program ushers teens into young adulthood and understanding of their Unitarian Universalist heritage. See also: Religious Education for Youth (REY)
We participate in local interfaith services and activities. The church building is used by several community groups, including Girl Scouts,12-step recovery groups and a group of Muslims who worship and hold education classes here. Groups and individuals support and work with several organizations providing services to others:
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ServicesWe welcome you to our meeting house and cordially invite you to join us in the vestry downstairs for refreshments and conversation following the Sunday morning service (or in the Alliance Parlor during the summer). Services are usually conducted by the minister or ministerial intern, sometimes by our lay Worship Committee. Children often join the adults for the first 15 minutes of the service. We have five choirs - Senior, Intermediate, Junior, Carol, and a Bell Choir. |
The church has a library, opened in 1999. It is open on Sunday mornings, until the end of Social Hour. There is a full index in the library cabinet. Categories for both adults and children are included.
Any group interested in making use of the building should contact our sexton, Leila Pelosi, pelosi@comcast.net, 978-256-6923.
Building Use Rules & Procedures
This religious society began as the Church of Christ in Wenham in 1644. In 1655, at the request of the early settlers in Chelmsford, the minister, Rev. John Fiske, with most of his church, moved to Chelmsford to establish the First Parish. As the first, and for many years the only, church in Chelmsford, its history is inextricably connected with that of the town. For nearly 200 years, the Chelmsford town meeting and the First Parish meeting were one and the same, and it was not until 1831 that the church elected its own officers distinct from town officials.
The present building is the fourth on the same site. In the first meeting house people were seated according to age, rank and estate, by a committee of citizens. In 1712 the second meeting house was erected, and privately owned pews began to supersede benches. The third, built in 1792, burned down on the evening of February 13, 1842, and was replaced by the present structure. At that time the Universalist Society joined the Unitarian Society to form the United Parish - more than a century before the continental merger resulting in the Unitarian Universalist Association. By the 1870s the church had evolved into a primarily Unitarian Society.
The town built the brick basement, which was used as a town hall until 1880. The present Sunday School and office area and the Chapel, were added at the rear of the building in 1956.
For more historical information, see First Parish Facts. For information about our building maintained by the Chelmsford Historical Society, click here.
