The First Congregational Church serves as a throughline back to 1765 and New Gloucester’s earliest settlers. Knowing the church and its history helps us understand who we are today: We are who we are as a town and a community because of this church and its more than 250-year-old history.
That history began on Jan. 16, 1765. The First Congregational Church was founded, in fact, because, at that time, a town could not be incorporated unless it had a church. The town founders hired Samuel Foxcroft as their first minister and services were held in the Blockhouse and in each other’s houses.
Part of the initial payments were made in lumber and silver to fund the building of a home for Rev. Foxcroft. The first major frame dwelling in New Gloucester, the house still stands on the corner of Gloucester Hill and Church roads. The first purpose-built meetinghouse was completed in 1773, followed by the original sanctuary in 1790. That structure was built directly across the street and it faced Church Road.
In 1838, when the original building wore out, the town tore it down and used parts of it to build a new church that now faced Gloucester Hill Road. The bell is original to this building and is believed to come from Paul Revere’s foundry. The George Stevens organ was installed in 1857. The vestry next door was built in 1873 and added onto in the 1950s when the church needed more space.
The sanctuary was extensively renovated in 1895, when stained glass replaced clear windows, curved pews replaced straight, and wall-to-wall carpeting was installed. This was also when the clock, a gift to the town by Deacon Valentine and made by a different George Stevens, was installed. The clock’s original rocks and weight were replaced in 1968 and a motor installed, but gravity still runs the clock itself.
The latest major construction was in 1995, when modern offices and bathrooms in between the two buildings were constructed, finally connecting the sanctuary and the vestry.