United Congregational Church (Newport, Rhode Island)

United Congregational Church, (formerly First Congregational Church and Second Congregational Church) built in 1857, is a historic church in Newport, Rhode Island. As of 2009 the congregation is affiliated with the United Church of Christ (UCC).

History

The congregation was gathered as Newport's First Congregational Church in 1695 by Rev. Nathaniel Clap, a Harvard College graduate who ministered to the Newport congregation until his death in 1745. The Second Congregational Church of Newport started another congregation in 1735, but the two later reunited. The congregation was active during the American Revolution and both churches' meeting houses were used as barracks and hospitals by the British and French troops in Newport. Dr. Samuel Hopkins was the minister of the church in the late eighteenth century. The current building was completed in 1857 and John LaFarge stain glass windows were installed later in the nineteenth century. In 1971 the building was later added to the National Register of Historic Places. As of 2009 the church is pastored by the Reverends Mary Beth Hayes and Nan L. Baker.

See also

• Clarke Street Meeting House

References and external links

• "Forward through the Ages, in Unbroken Line: 300 years of Congregationalism on Aquidneck Island, 1685-1995" by Florence Archambault