First Church of Christ, Unitarian

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The First Church of Christ, Unitarian in Lancaster, Massachusetts, also known as the Bulfinch Church, sits at 725 Main Street facing the town common. Its fifth meeting house was built around 1816–1817 and was designed by the famed architect Charles Bulfinch. The congregation traces back to 1653, started by Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the same year Lancaster was founded. The building is a brick structure with a slate roof and was restored in 2010, beginning with the cupola and facade with support from the Bulfinch Fund.

The church is recognized for its national importance: it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977, noted as one of Bulfinch’s finest works. Formerly a Congregational church, it is now part of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. The current minister is Rev. Wil Darcangelo. Architecturally, the building is rectangular with a projecting front section and a two-stage tower. A front portico with three arched openings frames three doors, the central door taller. The tower’s first stage is square with clock faces; the second stage is round with twelve Ionic columns supporting an open belfry, above which sits an attic with swag drapery, a dome, and a weather vane.