The First Congregational Society in Salem
A Unitarian Universalist Church in the Liberal Christian Tradition
Who We Are
Welcome to all of you who have come to share with the First Church family, see the beauty of our meetinghouse, and experience our community. We are grateful for your presence among us and hope that you will feel at home in this house of worship.
Our congregation welcomes and celebrates various theological, philosophical, and spiritual diversity. We espouse and work to live the values of freedom, reason, interdependence, equity, justice, transformation, pluralism, and generosity as pathways to honoring love as our central tenet. We do not ask what you believe or expect you to think in a specific way; we only ask that you work to live a kind, helpful life with dignity.
Ministers and speakers here have the task of presenting religion freely, fearlessly, and faithfully. As members and congregational participants, we are responsible for how we hear and interpret the messages from the pulpit and one another, with the critical thinking we can bring to our everyday lives. Members of this congregation welcome all who believe that religion is broader than any sect and more profound than any set of opinions.
Our History
Gathered by the Puritans of Massachusetts Bay Colony in August of 1629, this is one of the oldest Protestant churches founded in North America and the first to be governed by congregational polity. During its long history, the church's theological position changed significantly in the early 1800s when Unitarianism was embraced, and our theological thinking shifted to become more liberal Christian. With the merger of the Unitarian and Universalist faith traditions in 1961, the congregation welcomed adding the combined Unitarian Universalist to the congregation’s name in 2017 after the local Universalist congregation merged with a church in a neighboring town.
Today, we remain a self-governing congregation that follows its by-laws and democratically elects its officers. The First Church welcomes all who wish to share in our religious fellowship and spiritual quest regardless of color, race, creed, or sexual orientation.
All are welcome.
