In 1630, the Rev. John White and a group of 140 individuals formed a church in England, calling themselves Puritans. Soon after their formation, the members of the Puritans decided to travel to North America. They set sail in the 400-ton ship Mary and John and landed first at Hull, and later at a place called Mattapan by the Neponsett tribe. The Puritans named their new home Dorchester Plantation in honor of Rev. White who came from Dorchester, Dorset.

In 1631, a log cabin was built to serve as the first meeting house. The building also served as a fort, storehouse, schoolhouse, and town hall. The second church, originally built on the same site, was moved to Meeting House Hill in 1670. Four additional meeting houses would be built on that same hill during the course of the church’s history. The third meeting house was constructed in 1678. The fourth was built in 1743 and the fifth was built in 1816. On February 3, 1896, a fire destroyed the fifth meeting house. The sixth meeting house was built on the remaining foundation of the fifth meeting house and was dedicated on May 6, 1897. For its first five years of existence, the parish had two ministers, John Warham and John Maverick. John Warham and a group of followers left the church and moved to Windsor, Connecticut. They were followed by Rev. Richard Mather, who served from 1636-1669. Under Mather’s pastorate, the church founded the first publically supported elementary school.

Other ministers of long-standing tenures included Revs. John Danforth, who served from 1682-1730; Jonathan Bowman, 1729-1773; Thaddeus Mason Harris, 1793-1836; and Nathaniel Hall, 1835-1875. During Harris' tenure, the church evolved from a Trinitarian Congregational church to the Unitarian denomination, although Harris himself never believed in denominational titles.

The First Parish Dorchester Church, now a member of the Unitarian-Universalist denomination, continues to serve the local community.