Our History

First known as First Congregational Church of Portland, our original church building was dedicated on June 15, 1851.  Housed in a neat, comfortable church measuring a mere 32' x 48', and costing just $7,400, the founding congregation consisted of only ten members.  The dedication sermon was preached by George Atkinson, who later became our third pastor.

We were initially a member church of the Congregational Christian Churches until overwhelmingly voting in 1960 to affirm a merger with the Evangelical and Reformed Church, thereby becoming a member congregation in the United Church of Christ.

We are perhaps best known for our rich history of social action.  Just a few of those actions have included ministering to the influx of workers in the war industry in the 1940's, championing improved race relations in the 1950's and 1960's, sponsoring Cambodian refugee families in the 1970's and 1980's, welcoming the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and queer community into the full life of the church in the 1990's, and most recently standing with our moderate Muslim friends and neighbors in the fight against the discrimination and misperceptions they encounter in a post 9/11 world. We have a long history of serving in local homeless shelters as a means of fighting the poverty around us.  We feel the call to minister to the marginalized among us, as we believe Jesus would have us do.

Please join us as we continue to make history.