More About Us
Our History
We Covenant with the Lord and one with another; and do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his Blessed word of truth.
~Salem Covenant of 1629
More About Us
Our History
About a year after the incorporation of the City of Miami, Plymouth Congregational Church was founded on McFarlane Road as Union Chapel in 1897. At its first service, the Rev. James Bolton led six men and two women by the light of oil lamps in a small chapel erected on land donated by Commodore Ralph Munroe.
The church became Union Congregational Church near the turn of the century and was led for about six years by the Rev. Solomon G. Merrick. Merrick was the father of George E. Merrick, who planned and developed Coral Gables, and later served on Plymouth’s board of the church.
New York architect Clinton McKenzie designed the current stone sanctuary at its present location in the Spanish mission style. Spanish stonemason Felix Rebom cut each stone by hand using only a hatchet, trowel, T-square and plumb line. Completed in late 1917, the sanctuary was dedicated in 1918.
Architect Robert Law Weed led an expansion of the church that brought it to its current size in the early 1950s. At that time, church leaders imported a hand-carved Spanish walnut and oak door studded with wrought iron that had been found among the ruins of an old monastery in the Pyrenees Mountains in about 1929.
To this day, the door welcomes people of faith to Plymouth Congregational Church.
We Covenant with the Lord and one with another; and do bind ourselves in the presence of God, to walk together in all his ways, according as he is pleased to reveal himself unto us in his Blessed word of truth.
~Salem Covenant of 1629
OUR TIMELINE
Early History of Plymouth
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1897
Union Chapel, Plymouth’s predecessor, is the first church to open in Coconut Grove. Erected with funds secured by local women, the chapel sat on a plot of land donated by Commodore Ralph Munroe on McFarlane Road.
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Early 1900s
The Congregational Society applied to the Trustees of Union Chapel for the use of the building as a Congregational church under the Rev. Solomon G. Merrick.
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Around 1909
The Rev. George B. Spalding became pastor and led plans for a new church edifice at its current location.
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January 6, 1916
Incorporation of Union Congregational Church.
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December 2, 1917
The newly erected sanctuary opened for its first Sunday service under Rev. Spalding. The building and organ cost $17,000. The Miami Metropolis described the new sanctuary as “modern in every respect” and “yet a perfect model of the old Spanish architectural style.”
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February 10, 1918
Dedication of the new sanctuary of Union Congregational Church. Wrote The Miami Herald: “The new building, constructed of native Florida rock, and handsomely furnished inside, is a very striking one, and is one of the most distinctive religious edifices in the South.”
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July 29, 1921
The church congregation voted to change the name to Plymouth Congregational Church. Plans were also approved for a new parsonage, now Plymouth Hall.
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November 1954
Completion of a $90,000 expansion of the sanctuary under the Rev. Dr. David J. Davis that doubled the seating capacity to allow for the church’s rapid growth. The expansion also included the current oak door imported from Spain.