A place to worship,
A place to belong.
Whether you are visiting the island for the weekend, living here year-round, or are only here for a little while, we'd love to welcome you anytime to our church.
Join us for in-person and online worship each Sunday at 10 am in the Summer Sanctuary. You may also watch a Livestream of our service by clicking on the button below...
Where to find us
First Congregational Church in Nantucket is located in the heart of downtown, just a few blocks off Main Street at 62 Centre Street.
The church is easy to find — simply ask anyone in town or look for the tallest white bell tower visible from almost anywhere in town.
More specifically, head up Main Street (away from the Harbor) until you reach the Pacific National Bank and turn right. You are now on Centre Street. Continue along Centre Street, pass the Jared Coffin House (a historic landmark), and walk another couple of Nantucket "blocks." You will soon find the church at the top of the hill on the left side of the street at 62 Centre Street.
Our mission: Be a Christian community inspired by our heritage and bound together by our Covenant.
We are dedicated to caring for and welcoming all who are seeking relationship with God, and to nurturing one another in our journey of faith.
Our congregation affirms the historic Christian faith rooted in Holy Scripture and confessed by the church at all times and in all places. We believe the Bible contains the Word of God, given by divine inspiration, the only normative rule of faith and practice. The books of the Old and New Testaments are to be interpreted according to their historical context and purpose in reverent obedience to the Lord who speaks through them in living power.
FAQs
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We are a welcoming and friendly church with a warm sense of community, worship that engages both heart and mind, and a commitment to grow together in faith. We center our life in the word and will of God made known to us in Scripture and in the person and teaching of Jesus Christ.
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First Congregational Church in Nantucket was worshipping as a church and had its first pastor by 1725. Our oldest building, the Old North Vestry, was constructed by 1725 and is still in use today. Our larger and “newer” sanctuary was built in 1834.
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Our mission is to be a Christian community inspired by our heritage and bound together by our Covenant. We are dedicated to caring for and welcoming all who are seeking a relationship with God, and to nurturing one another in our journey of faith.
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We are a “Congregational” church in the Reformed tradition of Protestant Christianity. Our name “Congregational” comes from the fact that we are organized and govern ourselves as a congregation at the local level.
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The roots of Congregational churches in America go back to the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620 and founded the Plymouth Colony and the Puritans who landed at Salem in 1630 and founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Both groups, who shared a similar theology, came from England to the New World seeking religious freedom and independence from the Church of England. The churches they established in New England became known as Congregational churches.
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Yes, our church is associated with other Congregational churches in the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches headquartered in Milwaukee, WI.
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FCC is a warm community of people from all walks of life. You will be welcomed here no matter your situation in life.
How to be involved.
As a church, we're richly diverse in our backgrounds, stories, and perspectives on life. We welcome all who live on Nantucket or find their way here.
History
First Congregational Church in Nantucket was worshipping as a church and had its first pastor by 1725. Our oldest building, the Old North Vestry, was constructed by 1725 and is still in use today. Our larger and “newer” sanctuary was built in 1834.
Our roots go back to the 16th-century English Reformation when a group known as the Puritans separated themselves from the state church in England and came to America for religious freedom. They arrived in the New World in 1620 on the ship the Mayflower and became known in America as “the Pilgrims.” The churches they established in early New England were later known as Congregational churches.