The first inhabitants of Boston, the local Indians, practiced their own native religion.
The first large group of permanent European settlers were the Puritans, a group that sought to "purify" the Church of England from such "Romish" influences as bishops and The Book of Common Prayer. Generally intolerant of other beliefs, the Puritans made theirs the official state church for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which it remained until 1833.
Gradually, other groups such as Baptists (1665) and Anglicans (1688) came to be accepted. The first Roman Catholic Mass in Boston was not celebrated until 1788.
Boston Religion after the Revolution
After the American Revolution, Boston began to change. In the early 19th century, what had been the Puritan church experienced a schism between the "Unitarians" who denied the doctrine of the Trinity and the "Trinitarians" or "Congregationalists" who supported it.
In that century, Bostonian ties with England became stronger, especially during the reign of Queen Victoria. The Bostonian aristocracy--the "Brahmins"--wished to be more like the British nobility and adopted their religion, Anglicanism or "Episcopalianism" as it was called in the U.S. This explains the number of fine Episcopal churches in the central part of Boston.
Waves of immigrants form other European countries, particularly the Irish in the mid-to-late-19th Century and the Italians in the late-19th and early-20th Centuries increased the number of Roman Catholics in Boston to the point where it became the region's dominant religious sect. Many Jewish immigrants also entered Boston at this time.
Also in the late 19th Century, Mary Baker Eddy founded the Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston.
Other religious sects such as the Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians did not establish themselves as well in Boston as in other parts of the U.S.
Boston Religion Today
Boston is home to the headquarters of the Unitarian-Universalist Association and the Church of Christ, Scientist. It is the seat of the third-largest Roman Catholic diocese and the largest Episcopal diocese in the country. The United Church of Christ (A body formed by the union of Congregationalists with other Christian bodies) also has a strong presence in Boston.
A cosmopolitan city, Boston is now home to Christians of every stripe, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans and nearly every other religious group.
Copyright © MCMXCVIII-MMIII by John A. Merullo.
