About FBC—Medford
The First Baptist Church of Medford is a warm, open, and inclusive multi-generational congregation.
Our worship services are formal, filled with beautiful music, and conducted according to the rich New England Protestant tradition.
Our strength and vitality spring from our love of God and our rich diversity of people and opinions.
Our congregation began meeting in 1818, when a house church gathered in the home of Polly and Sally Blanchard on High Street in Medford.
The first recorded baptism occurred in May of 1820 in the Mystic River, and the church was legally incorporated in 1841.
Mainline Protestant & Baptist
The American Baptist Churches USA today is the most racially inclusive Protestant body in the country, and we celebrate the racial, cultural and theological diversity witnessed within our membership at FBC Medford.
Baptist is a hard word to define because it does not describe a fixed set of beliefs so much as a particular set of values. Four Freedoms have long shaped how Baptists live out their faith.
Bible Freedom
. . . the freedom to read the Bible as individuals and in community, guided by the Holy Spirit with the aid of scholarly tools and church traditions.
Soul Freedom
. . . the freedom of every Soul to interact with God without the interference of clergy, government, or other authorities.
Church Freedom
. . . the freedom of every congregation to manage its business, maintain its membership, and to conduct its worship as each sees fit.
Religious Freedom
. . . the freedom OF religion, the freedom FOR religion, and the freedom FROM religion for every person as the conscience leads, believing that the Church and the State must ALWAYS be separate.
Baptists are proud to name among our ranks Roger Williams, Martin Luther King, Jr., Walter Rauschenbusch, Harvey Cox, Jimmy Carter, and other bold witnesses to compassionate Christian Faith.
