Old South Church

Address: 645 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116

Years: 1669–Present

Current Building, 1875–Present

Tradition: United Church of Christ

Old South Church has been one of several major centers of Boston’s queer religious history. One of the oldest religious congregations in the country, it was started in 1669 in the United Church of Christ (UCC) tradition. Old South Church moved into its current building in the Back Bay neighborhood in 1875, after having inhabited the Cedar Meeting House from 1669 to 1729 and the Old South Meeting House from 1730 to 1872. It has been home to a series of members important to American history, such as Samuel Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Phyllis Wheatley. 

Throughout much of its recent history, the congregation has been a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, the congregation “ministered to AIDS patients in the 1980s, creating a healing service that continues until today”; additionally, according to a 2019 MassLive article, Old South Church was also “the first Christian church in Boston to host a gay wedding.” (It should also be noted that the Arlington Street Church claims the same on their website.) Old South Church is also designated as “Open and Affirming” on the UCC website, and in the mid-to-late aughts, “Quinn Caldwell served as the church’s first openly gay minister.”

Today—in addition to its other initiatives working, according to their website, on “Immigration,” “Climate Crisis,” “Racial Justice,” and “Housing”—Old South Church continues its commitment to advocacy, featuring on its website an entire page devoted to its LGBTQ+ welcome, events, and activist causes. 

Sources and Relevant Information:

https://oldsouth.org/justice-action

https://www.masslive.com/news/2019/05/from-the-boston-tea-party-to-gay-marriage-old-south-churchs-350-year-history-is-steeped-in-liberal-dissent.html

https://oldsouth.org/lgbtq

https://www.bostonpreservation.org/news-item/tracing-queer-history-boston

For more on Old South Church’s history: https://www.oldsouth.org/history

Relevant Pages: 

Arlington Street Church