[3] Future work will include renovation and office reorganization in the Parish Hall, and a significant footprint expansion to provide much-needed community, classroom, and activity space.

The fifth building, built in 1816, was the host to many social justice leaders, such as William Lloyd Garrison and Theodore Parker, because of First Parish's long-standing pastor, the Reverend Nathaniel Hall, who was dedicated to the abolitionist cause.

Today, First Parish is an important resource for Dorchester’s Vietnamese, African-American, Caribbean, Irish, Latino, Haitian, and Cape Verdean residents.

However, the members did not allow themselves to be trapped by cloying nostalgia too much; they soon voted to demolish the smaller vestry that survived the fire in order to create a larger Parish hall.

The scale of the new building was intended to host large numbers of people for a variety of activities; church meeting notes regularly record concerns about serving the community needs – socially, spiritually, and economically.

The original architects were principals of the Boston architectural firm, Cabot, Everett & Mead, which designed buildings for notable people and institutions.

Under Everett and Mead, after Cabot’s retirement in 1888, the firm designed a large shingle style home in Nova Scotia for Alexander Graham Bell four years before their work at First Parish.

In 1909, Mr. Everett worked with Arthur Asahel Shurtleff (later known as Shurcliff) to complete a landscape project on the site, including the design and installation of the cast-iron fence and memorial gates that stand today.

Fortunately for First Parish, he was also a member and lay leader who provided his services at a reduced rate for these projects, and donated the organ chimes in 1925.