We are excited to celebrate two centuries of Trinitarian Congregational Church throughout 2026. Check here to learn more out our history and for details on upcoming events to ring in our next century.
Trinitarian Congregational Church and the Struggle for Abolition from 1826 through the Civil War
Wednesday May 6th at 7pm
Discussion with local historian Robert Gross and Director of Congregational Library and Archive Kyle Roberts
200th All Church Dinner Celebration
Friday June 5th at 6pm
Join us for a celebratory dinner at TriCon to celebrate 200 centuries of worship and service. Catered by Blue Ribbon BBQ join us for a great family event.
Trinitarian Congregational Church and the Struggle for Abolition from 1826 through the Civil War
Wednesday May 6th at 7pm
Discussion with local historian Robert Gross and Director of Congregational Library and Archive Kyle Roberts
Our 200th Year
In 2026, Concord’s Trinitarian Congregational Church is celebrating it’s 200th year.
The early settlers to Concord established the First Church (“First Parish”) in 1635 based on congregational governance and the authority of scripture in following the life of Jesus and his disciples. By the early 19th century, the First Parish was drifting more and more towards Unitarianism. In 1826, nine members of First Church “crossed the brook” over “the leaving out of the Trinity” and formed an independent religious society that became the Trinitarian Congregational Church.
In 2026, still affirming our belief in Creator, Christ, and Spirit, TricCon Church welcomes all people to worship and share communion. You are welcome here whoever you are, wherever you live, whomever you love, whatever you look like, or wherever you are in life’s journey. We extend our grace and peace to all.
Our stated purpose as a congregation is to worship God; to preach, teach and live the gospel of Jesus Christ; to experience Christian fellowship and unity within the church and the church universal; to celebrate the sacraments; to render loving service toward all of God’s creation; and to work for rightousness, justice and peace. Our church is not just an historic place, but always a living place, and in each new time we are challenged to live into this holy purpose.
In the year ahead we will remember and commemorate the church’s remarkable 200-year history while considering the challenges and opportunities facing us in 2026. We trust that the Spirit is present among us, to help us follow Christ and live out our purpose into our third century.
The Beginning
The early church in Concord was founded in 1635 along with the colony. Until 1833, the church was supported through a tax on the townspeople and all were expected to attend public worship. When Ezra Ripley assumed the pastorate of the Concord Church in 1778, a position he was destined to hold for the next 63 years, he began to move the Church away from a strict Calvinistic theology and toward a more liberal stance, relaxing the rules to attract members.
In 1825, seeking a return to a more active spiritual life the more orthodox viewpoint, a small band led by the Thoreau sisters, Jane, Elizabeth, and Maria (aunts of Henry David), began holding a series of prayer meetings in houses in the village. In early 1826, they and five others, petitioned to be removed from the rolls of what had become known as Dr. Ripley’s Church. Plans were immediately underway for construction of a meeting house on land donated by Ebeneezer Hubbard.
In a gesture of goodwill, First Parish allowed the use of its meeting house on June 5, 1826 where the Rev. Lyman Beecher, minister of Hanover Street Church, Boston, a leader of the orthodox movement, and father of Harriet Beecher Stow, was the preacher, and the Trinitarian Congregational Church was established. This spirit of congeniality between the churches was short-lived. Differences and divisions between the parishes continued, as First Parish moved father from the orthodox creed and affiliated with new the Unitarian denomination. The split was especially disappointing to Rev. Ripley who had struggled mightely to unite this flock. Ironically, when he succumbed to his death in September of 1841 at the age of 90, the service was held at Trinitarian Congregational Church, due to renovations happening at First Parish at the time.
Early Groups in Our Church
Within weeks of the formal establishment of Trinitarian Congregational Church, the congregation voted to establish a Sabbath-school to offer religious education and instill moral values. The school was organized around prayer and reading of the Bible. The older children used “question-books”, providing lessons and questions on Biblical topics while the youngest scholars recited passages from the Bible. In 1828, the church voted to resolve itself into the Concord Sabbath-school Society and founded branches throughout the town.
The schools, overseen by a superintendent, were largely taught by volunteers, primarily women and enhanced literacy as well as fostering religious knowledge. In 1832, Congregationalists founded the Massachusetts Sabbath School Society that provided curriculum and library books to the area churches, including ours.
Women’s groups were also important in the early church. Mrs. Southmayd, wife of the first minister, established a weekly female prayer meeting and a monthly Mothers’ meeting, both efforts designed to contribute to the “spiritual good" of the church. In 1828, The Ladies’ Sewing Society, later to become the Ladies’ Missionary Society, included 43 members, and provided social connections as well as an opportunity to fulfill their stated purpose of “desiring to aid in the case of benevolence., according to the ability which God giveth, we whose names follow, agree to associate together for the purpose of gathering from the avails of our industry an offering for the treasury of the Lord.” Their treasure consisted of sewn and knitted clothing to be distributed to the needy in the town and beyond.
Out of this effort, was born the Misses’ Sewing Society for girls ages three to ten, later expanded to the Juvenile Bible Society to better reflect is stated purpose of the Bible. At the meetings, members gathered for needlework and the readings of selections that illustrated “the necessities of the destitute and the condition of those living in the heathen lands.” Other missionary efforts included the Bible Union, the Juvenile Missionary Society, the Sabbath School Missionary Association, all stemming from a desire “to train the young in the habits of benevolence.”