More New Beginnings

In 1818, the Women’s Auxiliary Conference, late the Dedham Branch Alliance, was begun. It remains the oldest Branch in North America. In 1889, our community news bulletin, The Parish Record was started with a subscription of 50 cents per year. In 1890, the Parish Committee introduced “an envelope system, an early form of pledging that eventually replaced the “pew rents” with which the church had been supported.

A solid presence in the town of Dedham, First Chruch shared its resources to support the larger community during the First World War. Fuel shortages led to a combining of services between First Church and the Allin Church, alternating buildings on Sundays. Then in 1918 the opening of the church was delade for four weeks because the Parish House was being used as a town hospital for victims of the influenza epidemic.

Beginning in September 1991, a congregational fund drive raised $27,000 to provide handicapped-accessible ramps to the Meetinghouse and Parish House. Construction was completed in 1993.