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