Welcome to Part Two of the Virtual Tour!

From the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, cross Tremont Street and turn right to...

Park Street Church

(Corner of Park Street & Tremont Street)

An independent Congregational church founded in the early 19th Century, one of Park Street Church's many claims to fame is that the song "America" (a.k.a. "My Country 'Tis of Thee"--you know, the one sung to the tune of "God Save the Queen")was first sung there. Not usually open for tours.

From Park Street Church, turn right and walk up Park Street. Cross Beacon Street to Bowdoin Street. Walk down Bowdoin Street to...

Church of St. John the Evangelist

(35 Bowdoin Street) Founded in the 1880s by the Society of St. John the Evangelist (a.k.a the Cowley Fathers, the oldest Anglican religious order for men) as a mission, it is now a progressive, high-church Episcopal parish. Originally a Congregational church building, it was later the original home of Church of the Advent. In addition to its own congregation, "St. John's Bowdoin Street" is also home to Dignity/Boston, a group for gay Roman Catholics. Not usually open for tours.

Turn left out of St. John's and continue down Bowdoin Street to Cambridge Street. Cross Cambridge Street and walk left to...

Old West Church

(131 Cambridge Street) Like many other old church buildings, Old West was originally Congregational. Now a Methodist parish, it is also home to Boston's congregation of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches. Old West also boasts a famous Fisk organ. Not usually open for tours.
From Old West, cross Cambridge Street and turn right. Take a left on Joy Street to a right on Mt. Vernon Street. From Mt. Vernon Street, take a left on Walnut to a right on Chestnut Street to...

Beacon Hill Friends House

(6 Chestnut Street) This brownstone is home to Boston's congregation of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) The Quakers' history in Boston goes back to the mid-17th Century. Unfortunately, the Puritans were not very welcoming of them. Mary Dyer, a Quaker, was hanged on Boston Common.Not usually open for tours.
Turn right from the Friends House on to Chestnut Street. Continue on Chestnut Street, across Charles Street, to Brimmer Street. Turn right on Brimmer to...

Church of the Advent

(30 Brimmer Street) One of America's oldest Episcopal churches with an Anglo-Catholic tradition, Advent was founded in the 1840s as a result of the Oxford Movement. Its handsome building features a Lady Chapel designed by renowned Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram who also designed the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.Open daily for prayer.

Turn left out of Advent on to Brimmer Street. Walk to Beacon Street. Turn right on Beacon and then left on to Arlington Street. Cross Arlington Street and walk three and a half blocks to...

Arlington Street Church

(Corner of Arlington Street & Boylston Street)

Formerly known as Federal Street Church (before it moved, of course), this is a notably progressive Unitarian-Universalist congregation.

It is famous for its social action which goes back to the mid-19th Century when it was a base for Boston's abolitionist movement.

Not usually open for tours.