Ipswich, Massachusetts, first known as Agawam, was settled by John Winthrop, and twelve companions, in 1633. The town was incorporated in 1634. The town name, Ipswich, was chosen to honor the merchants of Ipswich, England, who were financial supporters of the Massachusetts Bay Company. The First Church in Ipswich was gathered on August 5, 1634, and the first meeting house was constructed the same year. Newly arrived from England, Nathaniel Ward and Thomas Parker were both settled as the first ministers, though Rev. Parker was dismissed after a year in Ipswich to become the pastor in Newbury. In 1646 the first meeting house was sold and construction on the second meeting house was completed in 1647. 1681 a group of parishioners left to form the Second Church in Ipswich, also known as the Chebacco Parish, which is now the Congregational Church of Essex.

In 1699 the third meeting house of the First Church was built on the north green. In 1702, a clock was added to the building; this construction was partially funded by the public sale of the stone remains of an old fort. In 1714 a group of parishioners left the church to form the Third Church in Ipswich, now First Congregational Church in Hamilton. In 1747 a group of parishioners left to the South Church in Ipswich after strong disagreements between the two settled pastors, Rev. Nathaniel Rogers and Rev. Walley, spilled into the public. In 1749 another group of parishioners left to form the West Farms Parish, now the Linebrook Church. In 1749 the fourth meeting house was constructed to replace the third which was too large for the parish following the 1747 and 1749 dismissals. A gilded weathercock was placed atop the spire of the fourth meeting house. In 1762 a tower clock was purchased and installed into the building. In 1773 the First and South Parishes jointly purchased a burial ground on the south side of town

David T. Kimball was ordained as the fourteenth minister of the First Church in Ipswich on October 3, 1806. He had graduated from Harvard in 1803 and studied theology under Rev. French in Andover following a year as an instructor at the Phillips' Academy. In 1816, Rev. Kimball helped to establish the first Sabbath School of the First Church. He served as the minister until he died of pneumonia on February 3, 1860. Construction on the fifth meeting house began in 1846 and the new building was dedicated in 1847. The building was one of only a few gothic churches constructed out of wood. The weathercock and tower clock of the fourth meeting house were incorporated into the fifth.

After years of declining membership, the South Church voted to reunite with the First Church in Ipswich in 1922. Following the merger the new church organization was called the First and South Congregational Church. Members from the Linebrook Church rejoined the First and South Congregational Church in 1958, though the Linebrook Church continues to exist today as an independent church. In 1965 the fifth meeting house was struck by lightning and was destroyed in the ensuing fire. The tower clock, thought to be the oldest in-use tower clock in the United States in 1965, was destroyed, but the weathercock survived. Construction on the sixth meeting house was begun in 1970 and completed in 1971; the weather clock was once again incorporated into the new building. At some point between 1961 and 1984 the First and South Congregational Church reverted to its original name, First Church in Ipswich. Now a member of the United Church of Christ, the First Church in Ipswich continues to serve the local community today.