First Congregational Church of Billerica

The First Congregational Church of Billerica was established in 1829, and the frame of the church was raised on October 28 of that year. The building was substantially complete within less than three months, as it was dedicated on January 13, 1830.

The gathering of the new congregation was the result of a disagreement in theology both within and outside the Billerica town church, which had grown increasingly less Calvinist and more Unitarian over the early years of the 19th century. Unrest was apparently held in check while the town's popular longtime minister was alive, but after his death in 1823, the conflict became more pronounced. Such a theological split between those with Unitarian religious views and those with more orthodox beliefs was common in New England churches of the time. In most communities it resulted in the formation of small new religious societies which struggled to survive without the tax base which until the early 1830s still provided support for the official town church. Some help for the new religious societies came from regional organizations, however, as was apparently the case in Billerica with both the First Congregational and another splinter congregation, the First Baptist Church, which had been organized with 20 members in 1828.

References

1. MACRIS BIL.30