Arlington Street Church

Address: 351–355 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116

Years Active: 1729–Present

Tradition: Unitarian Universalism

The Arlington Street Church (ASC) has played a pivotal role in the history of queer religiosity in Boston. ASC was founded by Calvinists in 1729, eventually forgoing the barn in which it was founded and building its first church (“The Federal Street Church”) in 1744. This iteration of the church was the home to Massachusetts’ ratification of the Constitution in 1788. ASC’s current church building finished construction in 1861 and has housed the congregation ever since. Over time—particularly from the late eighteenth to mid nineteenth centuries—ASC changed its affiliation from Presbyterian to Unitarian, and in 1961 to Unitarian Universalist, when they became a member of the Unitarian Universalist Association.  

ASC describes itself as a “diverse, welcoming congregation” and notes on its website: “We are heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered.” Indeed, in 1970, ASC began to open its doors to host LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, like the Daughters of Bilitis and the Homophile Union of Boston. In 1977, Dignity/Boston (then just called “Dignity”) began to assemble in ASC’s space, as did the Boston UU Gays and Lesbians organization. During the AIDS pandemic, ASC hosted a series of benefit concerts starting in 1983. In 2004, ASC held its first same-gender wedding ceremony—which was the nation’s first to be held in a church. More recently, in March 2024, on account of its central role in the history of LGBTQ+ life in Boston, the congregation was awarded a National Park Service grant of around $750,000 for the purpose of ASC’s restoration and preservation. 

Throughout its history, ASC has allied itself with a variety of other causes, such as running programs to aid local unhoused populations, holding protests against the Vietnam War, and founding its Freedom Center to “raise money for African American and other causes and groups.”

Sources and Further Information:

http://www.ascboston.org/downloads/publications/brochures/ASC-History.pdf

https://www.ascboston.org/about/history-minns.html

https://www.ascboston.org/about/welcoming.html

https://www.ascboston.org/about/history.html

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/02/metro/arlington-street-church-awarded-national-park-service-grant-its-role-bostons-lgbtq-history/?event=event12

https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Arlington%20Street%20Church%2015%20Study%20Report_tcm3-42375.pdf

Relevant Pages:

Dignity Boston