Middlesex Parish Meetinghouse built in 1744, from an 1837 woodcut found in Barber's "Historical Connecticut Collection."
First known as the "Church of Christ in Middlesex," the First Congregational Church of Darien, United Church of Christ, is the daughter of First Congregational in Stamford. We are a descendant of the most ancient of Connecticut and Massachusetts Puritan and Pilgrim congregations. In 1737, the Connecticut General Assembly recognized the devotion, faith, and energy of this new congregation by granting the petition of eighty families to form a new "Ecclesiastical Society." Although worship was regularly conducted here from that time on, it was not until 1744 that the community could provide for its first "settled minister." Our first minister, Moses Mather, had an expansive mind with great gifts for preaching and pastoral care. That same year, the first meetinghouse, a white wood frame building, was built with taxes voted by the community. Well situated on the King's Highway and post route between New York and Boston, the meetinghouse was not only the first center of Christian worship for the community, it also served the spiritual needs of countless travelers, who planned stops on their journeys to coincide with one of Reverend Mather's lively Sunday sermons or Thursday seminars. Ever true to the Bible, his was an eloquent voice against an unjust governing of the American people by a remote British crown. This resulted in his twice being imprisoned. Undaunted, he continued his service to God, community, and country for an outstanding total of 64 years as our pastor-teacher.
By 1836 the church had outgrown its frame meetinghouse. A new and larger brick meeetinghouse, in the Greek Revival style, was completed the following year. The center pulpit and unadorned design is typical of New England meetinghouses. Anyone who steps into the room today can sense the long history, rich tradition, and peaceful feeling maintained by its simplicity.
Two hundred and sixty three years since our founding, we still remain rooted in the Bible, which nourishes our personal faith in the God who we seek to serve in our community, the nation, and the world. Creative tension continues to exist between two aspects of our community life: "Where there is no tradition, there can be no institution; where there is no change, there can be no church." Because we are committed to the sacredness of individual conscience, our church has often taken a stand for justice and against community custom and civil law. In the eighteenth century, we objected to England's unjust control over her colonies. Our church protected runaway slaves in their quest for freedom by way of the "underground railway" in the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century we have been a clear and strong voice for open housing in this community and for human rights throughout the world.
Regular worship is the center of church life, as we seek to respond to the prayer of
Jesus that "we may all be one" and as we seek mutual support and unity in
spirit. Our services are open to all, and we maintain a strong commitment to the
ecumenical movement and to interfaith understanding. We believe that the good news of the
gospel applies to all aspects of life and must be clearly addressed to contemporary
concerns and issues. In that way our 269-year-old church remains ever young and vigorous.
Connecticut Conference, United Church of Christ
Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut
United Church of Christ, national headquarters
United Church of Christ Statement of Faith—adapted by Robert V. Moss
We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify:
God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death.
God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.
God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.
God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table, to join him in his passion and victory.
God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace, the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.
Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God.
Amen
Our Covenant:
We covenant with God and with one another, as fellow members of this Church, and bind ourselves in God's presence to serve His kingdom in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ. We pledge our loyalty to this Church and to the whole body of Christ's Church, declaring our intention to walk together in God's holy ways, made known or to be made known to us. Amen.