Prior to the arrival of European colonists, the lands that encompass today’s Harwich were inhabited by the Wampanoag. Harwich was first settled by Europeans in 1670 as part of Yarmouth. Harwich was separately incorporated in 1694.

The First Congregational Church of Harwich, Massachusetts, was founded in 1747 when the town of Harwich was split into the North and South Parishes. Efforts to split the town in half had begun in 1744 when families from the south side of Harwich petitioned the town meeting to separate the southern portion into its own distinct precinct. This and several other attempts were denied until a petition to the Massachusetts General Court resulted in the eventual separation of Harwich into two “distinct and separate precinct[s]” effective January 16, 1747. On April 8, 1747, the precinct voted to begin construction of a meeting house with construction being completed the following year. Also, in April of 1747, Edward Pell, a Harvard graduate and Boston native, preached to the South Parish. Not long after, he was called by the South Parish to become the first pastor of the South Parish, a call he accepted graciously. Pell was ordained to the office on November 12, 1747. As part of his salary, Pell was given a “convenient hovel.” This structure was finally completed in 1751. Pell perished in 1752 and his widow left to Maine in 1753. At this time, their home became the parsonage and “Ministerial House” for future pastors. It did not remain as such for long as in 1782 the house and barn were sold to cover precinct expenses. The period between 1773 and 1792 was particularly rocky for the church, marked by numerous religious dissensions, shared pulpits with the West Harwich Baptist Church, and general unrest which resulted in the quick succession of multiple pastors during this period.

In 1792, the second meetinghouse was completed after the first had been condemned a year earlier. With the new meetinghouse came a new minister, Nathan Underwood, whose name became synonymous with the second meetinghouse. Underwood served the parish for thirty-six years, the longest ministry at the church. During his time at the First Congregational Church, Underwood expanded the membership of the church, advocated for further independence for the South Precinct, and taught numerous others “scientific” farming. He retired from active service in 1819, though he continued to offer support until 1828 when his relation with the church was formally dissolved. Shortly before his death, Underwood sold his home to the town for use as an almshouse. By 1832 the second meetinghouse needed to be replaced, and by the fall of that year Moses B. Lakeman completed construction. Financial difficulties and short pastorates marked the church’s history until 1851 when the Rev. Moses Hale Wilder began a complete reorganization of the church’s administration. He also oversaw the first expansion of the third meetinghouse in 1854.

The church officially became known as the First Congregational Church of Harwich when the church became incorporated under Massachusetts state law on December 19, 1898 at the behest of the Rev. George Y. Washburn. Washburn, further, celebrated the 150th anniversary of the church by writing a history of the congregation in 1897.

The first third of the 20th century was again marked by financial and parishioner distress with few pastors remaining long and the congregation growing smaller. That changed in 1933 with George Hunt who helped to revitalize the church community. His wife, Ruth Hunt, became the first woman to preach at the First Church after her husband fell ill one weekend. After World War II, Harwich, along with the rest of the Massachusetts cape, had become something of a tourist resort town. The result has been a revitalized church which has become welcoming to locals and visitors alike. The 200th anniversary of the church saw a complete renovation of the third meetinghouse. In 1954, a chapel first built by the Ladies of the Sewing Circle in 1881 was repurposed into the Parish House. In 1961, the church voted to become a member of the United Church of Christ. The First Church of Harwich continues to serve the community today.

Edward Pell

1746-1752

Benjamin Crocker

1754-1756

John Dennis

1756-1761

Benjamin Crocker

1761-1765

Jonathan Mills

1766-1773

No regular minister

1774-1776

Joseph Litchfield

1777-1778

Samuel Nickerson

1778-1787

Jonathan Jeffers

1787-1789

Asa Hunt

1790-1791

Nathan Underwood

1792-1828

Isaac W. Wheelwright

1826-1827

William M. Cornell

1828-1829

Lucius Field

1830

Powers

1831

Caleb Kimball

1832-1834

William Withington

1835

Charles S. Adams

1835-1838

John H. Avery

1838-1839

William Marchant

1840-1841

James D. Farnsworth

1841

William H. Adams

1841-1844

Cyrus Stone

1844-1848

Theophilus F. Sawin

1848-1851

Moses Hale Wilder

1851-1858

Joseph Rice Munsell

1858-1868

William H. Beard

1869-1870

Charles S. Whitney

1871-1872

Bradish G. Ward

1872-1876

Joseph Hammond

1876-1877

Smith Norton

1878-1879

S.W. Powell

1880

Rufus B. Tobey

1880-1883

Cassius M. Westlake

1884-1885

Henry P. Cutting

1885-1888

F.J. Ward

1890

John C. Staples

1891-1892

J. Walter Sylvester

1893

J.H. Whittaker, Jr.

1893-1894

Artemas J. Haynes

1894-1896

George Y. Washburn

1896-1899

Charles H. Rowley

1899-1904

Henry A. Ryder

1905-1910

Frederick T. Knight

1910-1912

George W. Clark

1913-1918

Jack Hyde

1919-1920

F.B. Noyes

1920-1922

F.W. Hoisington

1923-1924

B.D.F. Lindsay

1924-1928

Howard R. May

1928-1929

Walter M. Stone

1930-1931

Leon S. Kelley

1931-1932

George A. Hunt

1933-1936

Henry D. Newell

1936-1943

George Loring Thurlow

1943-1953

Harry L. Meyer

1953-1959

J. Edward Elliot

1960-1971

Albert C. Ronander

1971-1978

H.L. Meyer

1976-1982

J.R. Williams

1981-1984

M.B. Carver-Schad

1981-2007

C.T. Newberry

1985-2006

L.C. Toppan

1986-1995

E. Deasy

1988-1989

J.N. Erickson

1990-1997

J.C. Pearsall

1997-1998

A. Weirch

1998-2001

T.C. Leinbach

2006-2017

Susan E. Thomas

2021-present