Hence, after due deliberation and conference and with the consent of interested parties, there was organized in the month of October 1867, what was called the Hopedale Parish, whose membership was composed of persons outside as well as inside the pale of the Community – of all in the place who desired to unite and work together, as set forth in the constitution, for the moral and religious education and improvement of all classes of the population and for the public welfare and happiness. This being done, the Community in its distinctive capacity, transferred its powers and responsibilities in the matters indicated to the Hopedale Parish, which at once assumed them and entered upon the discharge of the involved trust. Everything was settled to the satisfaction of those concerned, and the regime then established has continued to the present day, as it is likely to continue indefinitely in days and years to come. Autobiography of Adin Ballou
Unitarian Parish at 100 by Peter Hackett
Now and Then – The Unitarian Church Star Island, 1939