Due to the persecution of Baptists, the congregation met in secret until 1679, when it built its first meetinghouse in Boston’s North End neighborhood. Puritans nailed the doors of the meetinghouse shut and prohibited the Baptists from meeting inside, but the congregation persevered and ultimately built and purchased several other meetinghouses. The congregation relocated to the Beacon Hill neighborhood in 1881, purchasing a church designed by Henry Hobson Richardson in 1870 for the Brattle Square Church. This church represents Richardson’s first major commission and earliest use of Romanesque forms. The success of this highly individualistic building led to Richardson’s commission for Trinity Church in Copley Square and launched the Richardsonian Romanesque style, which deeply influenced American architecture.

First Baptist Church has a “centuries-long history of serving [the] Boston community,” according to the congregation. The church shares space with many community organizations, including a kindergarten program that welcomes students regardless of their financial background, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, and a semi-professional choral ensemble. The Common Boston festival also uses the church as a site for a weekend of events that showcases the city’s rich architectural, historical, and cultural resources.

A National Fund grant of $250,000 with over $500,000 in matching funds raised by the congregation contributed to the restoration of First Baptist Church’s 170-foot tower and replacement of the sanctuary roof. In March 2016, a storm blew debris from the tower into the street, prompting preservation efforts that would mediate the risk posed by unstable stone. Tower work included repointing masonry and replacing the red slate roof and rotting wooden rafters. As a result of the National Fund-supported work, the congregation reports that it is “energized” about completing preservation projects in the future that will allow the church to continue to serve “God, our congregation, and our community.”  

First Baptist Church of Boston courtesy First Baptist Church Boston