A SHORT HISTORY

Click HERE for a detailed history of the ministers of the church.
Click HERE for a detailed history of the church buildings.

In 1694, when the General Court of Massachusetts determined that there were enough people in the north precinct of a settlement centered on Cape Cod Bay to support a minister, a charter was granted to form the town of Harwich. The town was now responsible for the erection and maintenance of a meeting house which, when built, was known as the Church of Christ in Harwich.

As Harwich grew, the people of the south precinct petitioned the General Court that the south side be made a "distinct and separate" precinct. With the granting of this petition on January 16, 1747, the south precinct became Harwich while the north precinct remained the North Precinct. It was not until 1803 that the north precinct became Brewster.

Even before this petition was granted, two men of Harwich had offered three acres of land "to set a meeting house on." When the meeting house was finished it was voted "to settle and ordain" Edward Pell "to the pastoral office over the Church of Christ" on November 12, 1747. It is this date we observe as our founding date.

At this time there was but one church to a community which all adults were required to support and attend. Although, as time went on, the relationship between the church and the town became less rigid, it was not until 1834 that the relationship was finally dissolved.

With the growth of Harwich new points of view were inevitable. Newlights and Free Will Baptists, Methodists and Quakers made their appearance, resulting in theological controversy. It was at this time, too, that political revolt with the mother country of England was breaking out. The period of the late 1770's was a time of short ministries, shared pulpits, and contentions.

By 1792, however, an upturn in the fortunes of the church was indicated by the building of a new meeting house and the calling of Mr. Nathan Underwood who served this church for more than 30 years. With Mr. Underwood's retirement the church suffered a relapse so severe that not until the 1830's was it able once again to employ a minister without the aid of the Home Missionary Society.

In spite of these difficult times a third meeting house "of the Congregational Way," was built in 1832 to replace the second meeting house which had become dilapidated and unfit for worship. It was not until the late 1890's, when the church was incorporated, that we were legally entitled to call our-selves the First Congregational Church of Harwich.

Although between the 1830's and the 1930's the church had many ministers and many ups and downs, it was during this period that a parsonage was donated to the church and the meeting house was enlarged and renovated. In 1854 a narthex was added over which towers a steeple more than 110 feet high, reputed to be the most photographed steeple on Cape Cod. In 1954 the Ladies' Chapel, built in 1881 by the Ladies' Sewing Circle, was remodeled and enlarged to become our present-day Parish House.

With the advent of Social Security, Cape Cod, which had long been a popular vacation spot, now became a favorite retirement area. The influx of senior citizens so changed the character of the church that it is now primarily a congregation of retired professional and business people. Increasing memberships and increasing budgets have made possible, within the past fifteen years, the addition to the church building of a new choir room, a pipe organ to replace the old Hammond electric organ, the acquisition of a new parsonage, and the remodeling of the old parsonage to serve as a minister's study, a church office, and a distribution center for Meals on Wheels. At a congregational meeting in August, 1980, it was voted to sell the new parsonage and include in future budgets a housing allowance for the minister.

A 1997 completed capital campaign will make further expansion and improvements to our buildings possible over the next few years.