The Fourth Meeting House was erected in 1756 on land now part of the College Yard, where Lehman Hall stands. The pulpit was in the middle of the long north wall, and most of the floor was divided into box pews. The main entrance was opposite the pulpit, not under the tower at the west end. Seats in the front gallery were set aside for students in the college. The building was used on many public occasions, including college commencements and the inauguration of college presidents. The first sessions of the convention that framed the present Constitution of the Commonwealth met here in 1779. In 1833, the property was transferred to Harvard College and the building torn down; the Parish receive, in exchange, the land on which it constructed the Fifth Meeting House, the college contributing to the cost. The Fourth Meeting House (1756-1833), viewed from the Common. It was used for worship, town meetings and college ceremonies

From the Archives of the First Parish. Click for text As shown in the original documents to the left, the American Revolution is reflected in successive warrants for meetings of the First Parish. In 1775, the inhabitants are greeted "in his majesties Name". The following year, the title "his majesty" disappears and the warrant is issued "in the Name of the Government of this Colony and of the People". In 1781, after the adoption of the Massachusetts Constitution, the wording is: "In the Name of the Government and People of the Common Wealth of Massachusetts". The warrants are a reminder that while the church was a select covenanted body of communicants, public worship was the common concern of all the inhabitants of the territorial parish Harvard College in 1767 from Views of Harvard, Harvard University Press.

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