About Us

First Congregational Church, Rochester was established in 1827 as the first Congregational church in the state of Michigan. We are a local church of the United Church of Christ, established in 1957 upon the union of the Evangelical and Reformed Church, and the Congregational and Christian Church. Serving the Rochester area for more than 187 years, First’s voice mirrors its name – First.

In 1620, when our spiritual forebears prepared to leave Europe for the New World, their pastor, John Robinson, sent them off with this historic commission: “God has yet more light and truth to break forth out of his holy Word.” In this powerful sentence, Robinson explained that God’s revelation could not be confined to scripture, to a creed, or to a catechism, neither could it be attributed exclusively to a pope, a particular religious body, or to a unique event or period in history. The word of God, Robinson argued, was more expansive than all of these. And so here we are, First Congregational Church, Rochester. We hope you find a home here, among a “church of firsts.”