The area that now comprises the towns of Hopkinton and Ashland was once known as Magwonkkommok (or Magunco), and consisted of 51 families of “praying Indians”, Christianized Native residents probably drawn from the Massachusett and Nipmuc tribes indigenous to the area. This community was the seventh such “praying town” established by the English Puritan missionary Rev. John Eliot. Harvard College subsequently purchased the land from the Native residents in 1715, renaming it Hopkinton after Edward Hopkins, a major benefactor of the college. Harvard then proceeded to lease the land for 3 cents per acre.

On May 21, 1723, the town voted “to have preaching constantly on the Sabbath.” A church, initially composed of 15 members, was organized in September of 1724. They simultaneously ordained the Rev. Samuel Barrett, a graduate of Harvard, as their first minister. A simple two-story meeting house, measuring 48x38, was constructed in 1725. In 1731 the church voted to observe the Cambridge Platform of Church Discipline, adopting a congregational form of governance.

Rev. Barrett remained as pastor until his death in 1772, at which time his colleague Rev. Elijah Fitch took over the ministry until his own death in 1788. In 1791 the Rev. Nathaniel Howe was ordained, although as a condition of his ordination he specified that he would not personally admit members to the church under the Half-Way covenant. He preached a famous “Century Sermon” in 1815 to commemorate the centenary of the town, which was subsequently published worldwide.

The parish was officially incorporated in 1827, the town having managed the church before that time. The parish committee quickly voted to build a new meeting house, and the first building was sold and moved off-site. The second meeting house was finished and dedicated in January of 1830, measuring 50x62 feet, with a seating capacity of 600 in the main auditorium. It also included a steeple and bell. An organ was installed at a cost of $600 in 1847. This second church was extensively remodeled and enlarged in 1859, when Hopkinton’s population grew to 4,500 as a result of the town’s success as a center of boot and shoe manufacturing. The organ and bell were also replaced with larger versions, and a parsonage was purchased in 1870 at a cost of $3,500.

In 1882, a fire swept through Hopkinton, destroying the second meeting house, along with the town hall, post office, a hotel, and a shoe factory. Funds were quickly raised for the construction of a new and third meeting house, costing a total of $31,000, which was dedicated in May of the following year. This building was also the victim of a cataclysmic event, when the hurricane of September 21, 1938 toppled the steeple and effectively destroyed the entire church. Consequently, a fourth iteration of the meeting house was built in 1939. The large former bell, salvaged from the third meeting house, was installed in the new church and was rung at its dedication.

The church eventually affiliated with the United Church of Christ, but voted to leave on October 2, 1994 due to theological differences. In 1997, the current church building was constructed in order to accommodate expanding membership. In September 2011 the name of the church was officially changed to Faith Community Church.