Cambridge, Massachusetts, originally called Newe Towne and then Newtowne until 1638, was fist settled in 1630. The first meeting house was erected in 1632. Public worship began in 1633 with Thomas Hooker as the minister. In 1636 Hooker, and all but eleven members of his congregation, moved to Connecticut after he dissented from other Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. Thomas Shepard became the second minister in 1636 and the First Church was officially organized with him as the minister on February 1, 1636. It was the eleventh congregational church founded in Massachusetts. In 1637, Harvard was settled in Newtowne in part so that students could "benefit from proximity to the soul-ravishing preaching" of Rev. Shepard. In 1648 the Cambridge Platform of Church Doctrine and Discipline, an important document outlining church government in New England, was adopted in the First Church meeting house. Rev. Shepard continued to be the minister of the First Church until his death on August 25, 1649.

By 1650 the first meeting house had fallen into disrepair and the second meeting house was erected in the College Yard. Johnathan Mitchel succeeded Rev. Shepard in 1650 and served as the minister until his death in 1668. He was instrumental to the creation of the Half-Way Covenant which granted baptism to the children of nonmembers of the church. Rev. Mitchel was succeeded by Urian Oakes (1671-1682) and Nathaniel Gookin (1682-1692). In 1696, William Brattle, a 1662 graduate of Harvard, was installed as the minister of the First Church. During his time at the church he was also a tutor and treasurer at Harvard and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. By 1703 the second meeting house had also fallen into disrepair and the town voted to begin construction on a third. Construction on the third meeting house was completed in 1706 and remained near the location of the second. Rev. Brattle’s pastorate ended in 1716 with his death.

At 24 years of age, Nathaniel Appleton, was installed as the minister of the First Church in 1717. He is the single longest serving minister at First Church having served for 67 years until his death in 1784. Beyond his pastorate, Rev. Appleton was also a Fellow of Harvard and was the second ever recipient of the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Harvard in 1771. In 1718 the third meeting house was expanded. In 1753 the fourth meeting house was constructed. Timothy Hilliard was installed as an assistant pastor in 1783 while Rev. Appleton’s health began to fade and in 1784 Hilliard was installed as the new minister. He served until his death in 1790.

Rev. Hilliard was succeeded by Abiel Holmes who was installed as the minister of the First Church in 1792. He graduated from Yale College in 1783 and became a minister in South Carolina and then in Midway, Georgia until 1791 when he permanently moved back to New England. In 1803 he was made a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1805 he published his history, American Annals. In 1813 he was elected as a member of the American Antiquarian Society and served as the secretary there from 1816-1828. In 1829, Rev Holmes’ contract with the Parish of the First Church was severed over his refusal to invite Unitarian preachers and his strict adherence to evangelical Congregationalism. As a result, a majority of the church’s members withdrew from the parish and formed the Shepard Congregational Society, hiring Rev. Holmes to lead the new congregation. In 1831 the fifth meeting house was constructed by the Shepard Congregational Society at the corner of Mt. Auburn and Holyoke Street. Rev. Holmes continued to be the pastor of the Congregational Church until 1831 when declining health forced him to resign from the position. The parish which remained in the fourth meeting house eventually became the First Parish Unitarian and built their fifth, and current, meeting house in 1833.

In 1829 Nehemiah Adams Jr. was installed as an assistant pastor at the First Church. When Rev. Holmes resigned in 1831 Rev. Adams became the minister. In 1834 he resigned from the pastorate to become the pastor of the Essex Street Church in Boston. In 1835 Dr. John Albro was called to become the next minister of the First Church. Rev. Albro was both scholarly and community oriented, serving on the School Committee and often inviting students to his residence for the study of the Greek Testament. He published a work titled the Life of Thomas Shepard. He resigned in 1865 and died the following year.

Alexander McKenzie was installed as the pastor of the First Church in Cambridge in 1867. During his pastorate, the church’s membership grew significantly. He founded the Young People’s Alliance in 1882. He also maintained close relations with Harvard and other academic institutions; at Harvard he was the preacher to the University and the Secretary of the Board of Overseers and he was also a trustee of Wellesley College. In 1872, the sixth, and final, meeting house was constructed. That church was also known as the Shepard Memorial Church. The fifth meeting house was sold to the Roman Catholic congregation following the construction of the sixth meeting house. In 1924 that building was sold to Harvard. Alexander McKenzie served as the pastor of the First Church until 1910 when he resigned, though he maintained the title of pastor-emeritus until his death in 1914.

In 1919 the First Church and Shepard Congregational Society were incorporated into a single legal entity, the First Church in Cambridge. In 1957 the First Church joined the United Church of Christ. In 1991 the First Church adopted the open and affirming title. Renovations on the sixth meeting house were completed in 2000. The First Church in Cambridge continues to serve the local community today.

Thomas Hooker

1633-1636

Thomas Shepard

1633-1649

Henry Dunster (interim)

1649-1650

Jonathan Mitchell

1650-1668

Charles Chauncey (interim)

1668-1671

Urian Oakes

1671-1682

Nathaniel Gookin

1682-1692

William Brattle

1696-1717

Nathaniel Appleton

1717-1783

Timothy Hilliard

1783-1790

Abiel Holmes

1792-1831

Nehemiah Adams

1831-1834

John A. Albro

1835-1867

Alexander McKenzie

1867-1912

Raymond Calkins

1912-1940

John H. Leamon

1940-1962

Wells Grogan

1962-1976

Allen Happe

1977-1999

Mary Luti

2000-2008

Daniel Smith

2008-present