Our History

In the beginning…Native Americans lived in what is now Barrington. European settlers moved in to the area by way of Plymouth, MA not long after the arrival of the Mayflower. When our Confirmation Class does its history tour they visit various places around town: the site of the 1st church in 1667 (which was Baptist) up near 4 Town Farm, the Prince’s Hill Cemetery where some of our early ministers are buried, the old graveyard down at Tyler Point where a church was built before it was taken across the river in 1717.

And we visit our own building, now on this site over 200 years with some of the same foundation blocks to prove it. From Native American land to Barrington town much has changed but our church has weathered it. The building has changed, the people inside have changed, but the commitment to providing God’s word and encouragement remains the same.

We now have an office and education building that was added in the 1950’s and we joined a national denomination called the United Church of Christ but we still worry about flooding storms causing the river to rise.

History Timeline

Barrington Congregational Church, United Church of Christ – affectionately known as “The White Church” – has been a landmark on this site for almost two centuries. However, the congregation dates back even further. In the 1660’s, John Miles, a fugitive from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, gathered a congregation of Baptists and Congregationalists north of One Hundred Acre Cove (just north of the present church). The congregation was later scattered by King Philip’s War but came together again about 1678 and built a meeting house on Tyler Point. Following the death of John Miles, the congregation split under its new leader, and the Baptist contingent moved (together with their meeting house!) to North Swansea, and the Congregationalists remained. In 1711 the first Congregational Meeting House was built on what is now Jenny’s Lane in Barrington. In 1717 the township of Barrington was recognized by the Colonial government, as “the parish of the Barrington Congregational Church”, and in 1737 the Meeting House was moved to its present site.

In 1797 the church was incorporated as the United Congregational Society of Barrington, Rhode Island, and was thereafter no longer supported by the Town. Some years later, because of the “ruinous condition” of the meeting house, plans were made to build a new one to be financed by a lottery and the sale of pews. The building was finally erected in 1806 on the site of the old one. It is said that some of the beams and boards from the original meeting house, dating back to the 1711-1717 period, were incorporated into the new building. The new building consisted of a large two-story sanctuary, with balconies along the south and north walls and a high pulpit from which the pastor preached, over which was a sounding board. The church had a short tower over the front entrance.

In 1850-53, without changing the outside appearance of the building, the high pulpit and balconies were eliminated and the sanctuary was raised to make space for a vestry below. A few years later a steeple was added to the short tower and in 1868 the ladies sewing circle raised sufficient funds to put a bell in the steeple. In 1888 an addition was added at the east (river) end of the building to make room for a pipe organ. Prior to 1890, when the first bridge was built, church members from New Meadow Neck crossed the river in boats, landing at a wharf attached to the church property.

The 1938 hurricane blew down the steeple and flooded the vestry to a depth of several feet (a plaque on the stairs marks the flood level). Due to generous contributions from the entire community, the spire was rebuilt within a year. In 1944 the house south of the church was purchased to provide more room for the Sunday school. Ten years later, the congregation voted to raze the house and a new education building, dedicated in January 1956, was built on the site.

In 1951 the heavy wooden pulpit, Bible stand and chairs were replaced by the colonial chancel with pulpit, lectern and communion table that we have today. The organ console was moved from the east end to a place near the northeast corner of the north wall. Two big projects were undertaken in 1961-62 – a new organ was installed in the choir loft, and the east wall of the chancel was moved back through the space where the pipes and bellows of the old organ had been.

1987 saw the installation of an elevette in the rear of the sanctuary for those unable to climb the stairs and in 1991 the church crossed the gender barrier when a woman was called as associate pastor, and again eighteen months later when a woman interim minister was called. 1996-1997 saw the renovation of the choir loft and installation of a new Rodgers combination electronic organ with 17 ranks of pipes. In 2001 a new handicap ramp, terrace and landscaping was installed behind the education building and in 2003 new landscaping was planted in the front of the education building.

2007 – 2017: Work to the buildings included installation of a new fire alarm system in both buildings and installation of handicapped doors in Fellowship Hall in 2005, and the refinishing of the sanctuary ceiling in 2006. In the summer of 2007, work was done on the foundations of the river end of the church building – replacing the old stone foundations with new concrete foundations. In addition, work was done to bring the sanctuary up to the new fire code by installing a new interior stairwell from the front of the sanctuary down to the lower level. The work included removal of the old winding staircase, relocation of the sacristy, changes to the music office and an update to the vestry kitchen. However, the only visible change in the sanctuary was the addition of a door on the wall to the right of the pulpit that provides access to the new staircase. The old metal fire escape on the river end of the church building was removed, improving the exterior look of the church building. The work was completed in October 2007.

Significant weather events, such as major storms and high tides continued to impact our historic building through thee decade. In 2010 for example, the front doors had to be replaced, then repaired. Roof shingles on both the church and the education buildings have had to be replaced, and new storm windows needed to be installed on sanctuary windows. In 2014, a significant project was the conversion from an oil to a gas-fired boiler to heat both buildings. Water eventually damaged electrical wiring in the boiler room floor however, and the large steam pipe under the driveway that connects the boiler room to the church building had to be replaced. Shortly after, repair efforts were focused on the structural arches in Fellowship Hall which were found to be decayed with a large gap between the concrete floor and the beams.

The year 2017 was an important one, as the Town of Barrington recognized the granting of the town’s original Colonial Charter in 1717, and the Barrington Congregational Church’s 300th was celebrated as well. Tours of the existing 1806 church building and previous meeting houses on Tyler Point and Jenny’s Lane, as well as lectures and displays of historical documents, were some of the many events scheduled. On Nov. 12th a special service for the anniversary was held in the sanctuary, followed by a Gala Brunch at the Barrington Yacht Club with 96 persons in attendance, including 11 former ministers. A long hoped-for project came to fruition not long after, when efforts were made to save the deteriorating carriage sheds on the north side of the church which have so distinguished the ‘White Church’ in town. Sheds such as these had been commonly used in 19th century New England when horses and carriages were the primary modes for attending churches, but few still remain standing today. Work began to restore the structural integrity of the sheds including new siding on the river front, new roof shingles, the regrading of the ground surfaces, as well as new painting inside and out.

The year 2020 brought a whole new set of challenges to the church and our entire community: the Covid 19 Pandemic. For a place to which people turn in moments of fear and uncertainty, the Barrington Congregational Church was faced with the unique task of how to provide comfort, community, fellowship when both the sanctuary and the education buildings had to be closed for the entire year. Ministers, deacons and congregants quickly joined together however, to provide worship services as well as meetings via the technology platform of Zoom. By the end of June 2021, Sunday services returned to the sanctuary, although social distancing and masking became the temporary norm, and windows and doors had to be left open between meetings. HEPA filter units were provided for the sanctuary, church office and education building classrooms. Despite the physical shutdown however, the work, ministry and outreach of the church continued. Much as the 1950’s had seen a renewed focus on Sunday School education, vibrant new programs called Godly Play and Our Whole Lives energized the youth education ministries. Then as a series of racial and social justice issues and tensions in the country became almost impossible to ignore, BCC took a major role in the organization of townwide support for the Black Lives Matter movement that brought out over 1200 residents in town to participate. Support was also garnered for LGBT persons, women’s issues, Native American rights, antisemitism, gun violence prevention, ways to address the climate crisis, as well as ways to reduce waste with composting.

In 2024, Church By-laws were updated, and the governing structure and Board of the Church organization were significantly revamped. While repairs and improvements of the church’s two parsonages had been ongoing, the congregation voted for the sale of the Nathaniel Road Parsonage, with proceeds going to the church endowment fund. A new bronze plaque, commemorating the congregation’s beginnings in mid-1600’s Puritan New England, was placed on the south facing side of the church building. The oval plaque of the Barrington Preservation Society which commemorates the building of the present church in 1806, is still displayed on our stately front doors. Rising river water and heavy rains again flooded the church parking lot and vestry however, and ruined the steam boiler condensate pump. Thus a major project in 2025 was the replacement the entire church heating system with a new state-of-the art heat pump/mini split system. The new system provides both heating and cooling for the sanctuary and the education building, and runs on electricity. A new hot air furnace, run on natural gas, provides supplemental heat when needed for the vestry and other ground floor areas. A RISE engineering project then oversaw the installation of new insulation in the attic and walls in the old church building, adding to a more environmentally friendly energy system as well as substantially reduced energy costs. In further bringing BCC up-to-date with the 21st century, a 16 panel Solar Project is being mounted on the education building, with electricity run through wiring installed in the former steam pipe tunnel under the driveway. This project, entirely funded with private donations, will provide 25,000kW of power to the education building with a savings of $7500./yr., and has begun to power the sanctuary as of early 2026.