Church of the Pilgrimage - Plymouth, MA
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 41° 57.339 W 070° 39.883
19T E 362034 N 4646192
This church was built in 1840 by the congregation that withdrew from the First Parish Church in 1801 as a repudiation of the liberal theology. This church is now, however, affiliated with the UCC and has adopted a very liberal theology of "openess."
Waymark Code: WMDQYJ
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 02/16/2012
Views: 3
This historic square is at the foot of Burial Hill where the the first Fort was built by the Pilgrims who landed in Plymouth and where the earliest Pilgrims are buried. The first meeting house was built here, and subsequently replaced by five buildings, the latest built in 1897, still home to the First Parish of Plymouth.
Ironically, these separatist Pilgrims who had withdrawn from the Church of England and were in exile in Leyden Holland when the made the pilgrimage on the Mayflower to find freedom of worship, found themselves split over weighty theological issues. When the liberal leaning James Kendall was installed as pastor in 1801, a group of 52 members once again found it necessary to become separatists, withdrawing to preserve the Trinitarian heritage of their original Pilgrim fathers and mothers, dating back to the first covenant of that tiny group in Scrooby, England, in 1606.
Though First parish kept the communion furniture and original records, still maintained today, the new group thrived and erected the current building in 1840, maintaining a vital ministry to those on the pilgrimage of faith, now affiliated with the United Church of Christ as a congregational church. It is perhaps a further irony that this church, formed in protest over liberalism, has itself become associated with the ultra-liberal groups, declaring itself to be "An Open and Affirming Congregation," by which they mean, "We intentionally welcome and affirm all gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender persons . . . " part of "A Resolution Declaring The Church of the Pilgrimage, UCC an Open and Affirming Church" adopted in 2010. Historically this is a radical departure from the Covenant of 1606 and from that first group of 52 who seceded in 1801.
These two buildings, along with the old 1749 Courthouse building from the triangle at the top of Leyden street with a view out over Plymouth Harbor where the Mayflower had landed.
The building is an example of Georgian architecture, with its large domed bell tower and white clapboards.
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