Historical Notes

Is this church Unitarian, Universalist or Congregationalist? When the building was erected as the town's only church in 1790, those denominations did not exist yet. The churches of New England were all "Congregational" because there were no bishops or hierarchy; each congregation ran its own affairs.

A religious dispute arose after the Revolutionary War. The liberal Congregationalists, centered around Harvard College, believed in human potential for self-improvement, and believed that Jesus was human and God was one, a unity. They came to be called "Unitarians." The Conservatives centered around Yale College and believed in the depravity of humans and in the doctrine of the trinity; that God is three persons. They were called "orthodox" or "Trinitarians," and eventually became the Congregational denomination.

Our first minister, the Rev. William Mason, served from 1798 to 1834 during the height of the controversy. A Harvard graduate, he held the Unitarian views. In 1820, dissatisfied members withdrew to form the Castine Trinitarian Church, which joined the new Congregational denomination. With the removal of the county seat from Castine and the split in the church, this building was remodeled in 1831 to accommodate a smaller congregation. After the retirement of Parson Mason, a short succession of Unitarian ministers failed to do well here.

From 1839 to 1850, the church was served by Universalist ministers. The Universalist ministers, who were usually self-taught and of the working class, must have presented a contrast to the Harvard Unitarians.

After 1850, no minister served this church until the Unitarians revived the congregation in 1867. The Unitarians and Universalists merged on a national level in 1961. Until 1990, our local church was officially named the "First Congregational Society Unitarian," a name that confused many visitors. We are now the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Castine.