In our history since 1630, many people have come through First Parish Dorchester and made an enduring impact on their communities. We will continue to bring together information about these people. Please contact us if you have documentation you would like us to share.

First Parish ministers and their periods of tenure have been:

Rev, Elizabeth Carrier-Ladd (2020-present)
Rev. Terry Sweetser (Interim, 2019-2020)
Rev. Patricia Brennan (Interim, 2016 – 2019)
Rev. Arthur R. Lavoie (2005 – 2015)
Rev. Victor H. Carpenter (Interim, 2003 – 2005)
Rev. David W. Thompson (Interim, 2001 – 2002)
Rev. Shuma Chakravarty (1998 – 2000)
Rev. Kenneth R. Warren (Interim, 1996 – 1998)
Rev. Elizabeth Ruth Curtiss (1994 – 1996)
Rev. David W. Thompson (Interim, 1991 – 1994)
Rev. James Kenneth Allen (1954 – 1991)
Rev. Robert MacPherson (1951 – 1954)
Rev. David Bruce Parker (1950)
Rev. Robert Arthur Storer (1937 – 1950)
Rev. Lyman Vincent Rutledge (1921 – 1927)
Rev. Adelbert Lathrop Hudson (1921 – 1938)
Rev. Harry Foster Burns (1918 – 1921)
Rev. Roger S. Forbes (1908 – 1917)
Rev. Eugene R. Shippen (1894 – 1907)
Rev. Christopher R. Eliot (1882 – 1893)
Rev. Samuel J. Barrows (1876 – 1880)
Rev. Nathaniel Hall (1835 – 1875)
Rev. Thaddeus Mason Harris (1793 – 1836)
Rev. Moses Everett (1774 – 1793)
Rev. Jonathan Bowman (1729 – 1773)
Rev. John Danforth (1682 – 1730)
Rev. Josiah Flint (1671 – 1680)
Rev. Richard Mather (1636 – 1669)
Rev. John Maverick (1630 – 1635)
Rev. John Wareham (1630 – 1635)

Notable historic lay leaders include:
Caroline S. Callendar, co-founder of the Fields Corner Industrial School (later known as Dorchester House Multi-Service Center, now DotHouse Health)
Abigail Adams Eliot, nursery school movement pioneer
Emily A. Fifield, second woman elected to the School Committee