Charter Day Sabbath Gatherings at First Church in Boston

Every September the First Church in Boston & The Partnership of the Historic Bostons celebrate "Charter Day" in
conjunction with other events going on citywide to celebrate the signing of the charter in 1630.
To hear the sermons that were given on these dates, click on the sermon title listed below.
Examples of the music in the service can be found at the bottom of the page.

2019 - 9/8 - "The Mass Bay Puritans and The Other" - Stephen Kendrick

2018 - 9/9 - "Seeing (and Being) God's Anointed" - Stephen Kendrick

2017 - 9/17 - "The CommonHealth of Massachusetts" - Stephen Kendrick

2016 - 9/25 - "Having Relations" - Stephen Kendrick

2015 – 9/20 – “Spiritual Food for Survival” – Stephen Kendrick

2014 – 9/21 – “Saints, Sinners, and Survival” – Stephen Kendrick

2013 – 9/29 – “Sin and Punishment in The Puiritan Churches” – Stephen Kendrick

2012 – 9/23 – “Women’s Roles in Colonial Massachusetts: The Two Annes” – Rosemary Lloyd

2011 – 9/18 – “From Stone to Timber: Meeting Houses in The New World” – Stephen Kendrick

2010 – 9/26 – “A Great Legacy: The Puritan Hunger for God Required Education” – Stephen Kendrick

2009 – 9/13 – “The Great Paradox” – Stephen Kendrick

2008 – 9/7 – “Lost in Translation: John Eliot, Administering to Two Cultures” – Stephen Kendrick

2007 – 9/9 – “Community Vision of Boston Founders: An Unburied Treasure” – Francis J. Bremer, Author

2006 – 9/10 – “Cotton’s Church” – Robin Whitehead, Vicar, Parish Church of St. Botolph, Boston, Lincs, UK

2005 – 9/11 – “Boston 375” – William Fowler, Jr., Professor, Northeastern University

2004 – 9/12 – “American Jezebel, the Story of Anne Hutchinson” – Eve LaPlante, Author

2003 – 9/ 7 – “Liberty & Grace” – Stephen Kendrick

Charter Day Music:  O Sing Unto the Lord, Purcell     -    9/20/2015
This performance was supported by funding from a Gian Lyman Silbiger Grant,
awarded by the Viola da Gamba Society-New England.
Dr. Paul Cienniwa, Director of Music

                              The X Commandments, arr. Cienniwa       -   9/17/2017
John Farmer's 1592 setting of a versified Ten Commandments that appeared in "The Whole Booke of Psalmes, With Their Wonted Tunes, As They Are Sung In Churches, Composed Into Foure Parts" of 1592. Click here for publication.
Dr. Robert August, Director of Music