No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here.

Brief History 

The Beginning
The First Congregational Church in New London was organized as a congregation under the leadership of Rev. Richard Blinman in the town of Gloucester (Cape Anne), Massachusetts in the year 1642.  Blinman and his followers had journeyed to the Massachusetts colony to escape persecution in England.  The congregation had been in Cape Anne for about nine years when Blinman and about 50 others moved to a place then variously called Towagog, Nameaug, Pequott, Pequod, and Pequot.  The town had no settled pastor, and Blinman filled that need.  The congregation had been inexistence for about 15 years when the name of the town was changed to New London.

For many years the Church was known as the First Church of Christ, the name given to the first church planted in a town.  Thus the first church in New Haven, in Hartford, in Middletown, in Fairfield, and in other ancient towns were originally called and are still known by this name.  "First Church" was so called because it was the first (and only) church to be organized in the area extending from Bride Brook on the west to the Pawcatuck River on the east, and from the Long Island Sound to the towns of Bozrah, Norwich, and Preston on the north.  In 1998, the congregation voted to change its name to "The First Congregational Church in New London, United Church of Christ".

The Current Building
The present granite church was built in 1850 - at a cost of about $43,000.  Designed by the noted architect Leopold Eidlitz of New York, the church building was constructed from local granite (some of it quarried at the site).  A new organ (Hook and Hastings) was purchased.  Electric lights were installed in 1910.  The present church bell (the sixth) was installed in 1876.  By arrangement with the town, it was used to summon people to town meetings, to sound fire alarms, and to toll the noonday and the evening curfew.

During the "revitalization" of the 1970's, the Parish House was sold to the U.S. Postal Service, and a new Parish Hall was built in 1976.  This houses our administrative offices, classrooms, and meeting rooms used by church members as well as community groups.

A Sense of Mission
This congregation was instrumental in the creation of the New London Food Pantry.  After distributing food to the needy from our own food locker for a number of years, the congregation chose to join other groups in New London to establish and support a community-wide food distribution system.

In 1986, the congregation established a program of free meals for the hungry in the community.  In the years since, members of the Fishes and Loaves Committee have gathered in the Parish Hall kitchen each month to prepare and serve nutritious meals for all who present themselves.  Between the program's inception in 1988 and the present, about 30,000 meals have been served.

We Extend a Warm Welcome...
...To all who visit our historic church.  May your time among us bring you something of the joy and fulfillment that we share as a community.