The Congregational Church
The Congregational Church on Front Street traces its beginnings to Exeter’s founding in 1638. Reverend John Wheelwright and his followers established both the congregation and the settlement after his expulsion from Massachusetts Bay Colony. Religious disagreement was therefore part of the community’s history from its beginning.
The present meetinghouse dates to the late 1790s and is Exeter’s oldest surviving church building. Its white exterior, arched entrances and clock tower give it a prominent place along Front Street. Built for a congregation already more than 150 years old, it replaced an earlier meetinghouse on the site.
The congregation’s history includes division as well as continuity. During the eighteenth-century Great Awakening, disagreements over religious revival and worship led members to establish a separate Second Parish. For generations, Exeter supported two Congregational communities, each with its own meetinghouse and minister.
The church also provided space for political debate. In February 1845, Amos Tuck and fellow opponents of slavery’s expansion met in its vestry to challenge their Democratic Party’s position, particularly over the annexation of Texas. Their organizing formed part of the political realignment that eventually contributed to the emergence of the Republican Party.
In 1920, the two Congregational parishes reunited. Members of Second Parish returned to the First Parish meetinghouse, and the combined congregation adopted the name Congregational Church in Exeter. Their former church building subsequently became Phillips Church at Phillips Exeter Academy.
The building preserves a history extending beyond its architecture. Its story encompasses colonial religious dissent, changing relationships between church and town, antislavery organizing and reconciliation between divided congregations. Together, those developments connect this enduring meeting place with several important chapters of Exeter’s past.
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