Location Dedham, Massachusetts Website www.allinchurch.org Phone +1 781-326-5050 | Country United States Address Dedham, MA 02026, USA Year built 1819 | |
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Denomination United Church of Christ (1963–present) Previous denomination Congregational Christian Churches (1931–1950s)
National Association of Congregational Christian Churches (c. 1950s–1963) Former name(s) The Orthodox Church (c. 19th century) Architectural style Greek Revival architecture Similar Dedham Community House, St Mary's Church, Dedham Historical Society, Endicott Estate, Wilson Mountain Reservation | ||
Allin Congregational Church is a historic United Church of Christ church in Dedham, Massachusetts. Built in 1818 by conservative breakaway members of Dedham's First Church and Parish, the current building was constructed in 1819 in the Greek Revival style.
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History
Allin Congregational Church was founded in 1818 when more conservative members of the First Church and Parish broke off from the increasingly liberal First Church. The members were protesting the selection by the church membership of a liberal candidate to be the new pastor. They first met across the street, in the former house of Jason Haven, a former pastor of First Church when it was still united. The new congregation was initially called the Orthodox Church, but was later renamed Allin Congregational Church after John Allin, the founder and first pastor of First Church.
In 1819, the current church building was constructed to meet the needs of the growing congregation. At the time, First Church's building faced the street that Allin was on, so the two churches were facing each other. The church was officially incorporated in 1929.
At the time of its establishment, Allin Congregational Church was more conservative than its neighbor, First Church. By the 20th century, First Church was no longer Congregational, but Unitarian. Allin Church remained Congregational, and joined the Congregational Christian Churches when the denomination was created in 1931. In the 1950s, the church became part of the conservative denomination the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, before leaving in 1963, when it became part of the United Church of Christ.
Organ
The organ at Allin Church is over 100 years old and contains 3,500 air-blown pipes. Originally built in 1912 by Ernest M. Skinner for Appleton Chapel at Harvard University, and some of the pipework was altered by Skinner in 1931. The next year, Appleton Chapel was demolished and replaced by the current Memorial Church. The organ was put into storage, and in 1938 was installed at Allin Church by the Frazee Organ Co. In 1958 R. Kershaw changed nine ranks of pipes and added a new coupler. Today, the organ has 55 ranks of pipes and a repaired console which was added in 1999. The current organist and Minister of Music at Allin Church, C. Martin Steinmetz, has been organist for over 50 years.