Our History

MSCC traces its roots to 1828 when the Meeting House of the Congregational Society was in Salisbury and Amesbury.

The Congregational churches founded by the Pilgrims and other spiritual reformers spread rapidly through New England. In an early experiment in democracy, each congregation was self-governing and elected its own ministers. The Congregationalists aimed to create a model for a just society lived in the presence of God. Their leader, John Winthrop, prays that "we shall be as a city upon a hill ... the eyes of all people upon us."

The present building was acquired from the Unitarian Congregational Society in 1832 or 1833. The first regular minister was Rev. Joseph H. Towne. At this time membership was forty.

In 1700, Congregationalists were among the first Americans to take a stand against slavery. The Rev. Samuel Sewall wrote the first anti-slavery pamphlet in America, "The Selling of Joseph." Sewall lays the foundation for the abolitionist movement that comes more than a century later. In 1836, Rev. Towne resigned to lecture on anti-slavery. In 1841, the church declared slavery to be a violation of the principals and spirit of Christianity.

In 1887 it was voted that the church be called "The Main Street Congregational Church of Amesbury". At the 1898 Annual Meeting, it was voted to offer water as well as wine in the communion cups in light of the Temperence Movement.

In 1944 the bell was recast after cracking and was rededicated. In 1945, the congregation approved the union of the Congregational and the Evangelical Reform Churches and in 1957 the Main Street Church became a member of United Church of Christ (UCC), a new denomination resulting from this union. One of the UCC's distinguishing characteristics is its belief that ... God is still speaking, ... even when it puts us out there alone. History has shown that, most often, we're only alone for a while.

Today we are a strong and growing church seeking to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the 21st century.