Our church descends from a number of churches active in the Charlton community over the centuries. The first of these was founded in 1761, six years after the town was formed in 1755. We are the first church to be founded in this community and the only one remaining on the town common.
Caleb Curtis (1727-1802), was the first minister. He blessed the Minutemen who left from our town to fight at Lexington and Concord in April of 1775, was the area’s representative to the Continental Congress and in the summer of 1776, he read the Declaration of Independence from the pulpit as ordered by the Massachusetts General Court.
This is an 1830 woodcut of the second Congregational Church built about 1798. At the time of its construction this was one of the largest meetinghouses in all of Worcester County. Picture courtesy of Frank Morrel, local historian.
In 1798 our second building was constructed with 100 pews on the main floor and 50 in the balcony. It was one of the largest meetinghouses in the region.
In response to the Unitarian controversy in 1825, the First Congregational Calvinistic Church was formed. A Unitarian church was also created and shortly afterwards it united with the Universalist Society of Charlton becoming the First Union Society of Charlton, which held Christian Universalist beliefs. The First Congregational Calvinistic Church and the First Union Society would draft Articles of Federation in 1922 creating the Federated Church. In May of that same year the Universalist church building burned. The property was donated to the town of Charlton so that the Charlton High School could be built there. The building is currently used as the Charlton Town Hall. A plaque by the front door testifies to the generosity of the congregation.
On Christmas Day in 1939, the Federated Church building burned to the ground. Despite the
The Federated Church building burning on December 25, 1939. Photo courtesy of the Charlton Historical Society.
severe economic times, the Federated Church was able to raise the funds to build a new building which opened in 1941, just two years after the disastrous blaze.
The Educational Wing was added to the present church building in 1964 and the building was made handicapped accessible in 2001.
In 2011, a special March service marked the church’s 250th anniversary, drawing political leaders as well as four former Federated Church pastors: Reverend Tom Bentley, Reverend Tom Howard, Reverend Jerry Kupperschmidt and Reverend Hal Wilson.
The Reverend James Chase came to the church as pastor in 1987. He served the church and the community with great distinction until illness forced him to retire in September of 2020.
The Reverend Gary Shahinian is currently the Intentional Interim Minister. A role he began in October of 2020.