A Church Plant from Danvers

The history of First Baptist Church falls squarely into the history of Salem which was settled in 1626 by Roger Conant and a small group of settlers from Cape Ann. At that time all churches in Massachusetts were congregational and supported by the state. Baptists were prohibited from Massachusetts as early as 1644. As the new light movement spread throughout New England, Baptist churches began to form in Massachusetts. One such church was Danvers Baptist Church. In 1793 the women of Danvers Baptist Church began meeting together in Salem for prayer. In 1798, Mr. Herrick and his wife, Bethiah, were baptized in Danversport (now Danvers). They held meetings in their home on Cambridge Street in Salem on Friday evenings. They are directly responsible for First Baptist Church being founded in Salem in 1804.

The First Pastor and the First Building

In 1804, the first man was baptized in the North River (between Lynn and Carpenter Streets), and in February of that same year, Mrs. Michael Webb was baptized in the North River (near what was called Water’s Wharf) by Rev. Elisha Williams of Beverly. Nine men and fifteen women were meeting regularly in the home on Cambridge Street and were praying for the means to establish a church. Their first minister, Rev. Lucius Bolles, was called in 1804 and served until 1826. The congregation in Salem grew and quickly outgrew this house church. Captain James Odell offered them a lot on Federal Street, which was accepted. Therefore, construction on a new building began on this land in 1804 and the one-story building was completed shortly thereafter. The church was dedicated June 1, 1805. The church grew rapidly though, and in 1805 it was voted to erect a larger brick building, which was dedicated on January 11, 1807 and cost $14,000. There were 100 pews on the first floor. In 1810, there were 135 baptisms! In 1816, the First Church Library was started, and the first Sunday school was organized August 13, 1818. In 1821, the vestry could not accommodate all who came to the Tuesday evening meetings, so they transferred to the meeting house. By 1826, the church membership had grown to 512.

Two things happened due to this remarkable growth and spiritual work of God. Not first, but eventually, in 1827, an even larger building was erected on Federal Street in Salem to accommodate the growing congregation. That building housed the church for nearly 200 years and became known as “The Baptist Temple” because of its size and beauty, complete with a massive bell-tower completed in 1865. The building remains standing to this day, but now functions as Salem’s law library. Rev. Bolles eventually left First Baptist to become the first secretary of the American Baptist Foreign Missionary Society. This link with missions defines First Baptist’s history.

A Church Planting Church

But even more importantly, First Baptist Church has a deep church planting legacy, having planted two others churches in their first century. So because of the extraordinary early growth mentioned above, it was decided in 1824 that there was a need for planting another church. Therefore, subscriptions were taken for the erection of another church, and on October 21, 1825 and then again on January 18, 1826, eleven men and 20 women were sent out to form another church, originally called the Second Baptist Church. Its church building was on St. Peters Street facing Federal Street, less than a mile away from First Baptist. Rev. Rufus Babcock was the first pastor of Second Baptist church. In 1856, the name was changed from Second Baptist Church to Central Baptist Church, and it served the cause of Christ in Salem for almost 80 years until 1909. In the summer of 1908, both First Baptist and Central Baptist were without a pastor, and the subject of a union of the churches was considered by individual members. By March of 1909, the two churches had formally agreed to merge into one church, meeting at First Baptist Church’s building on Federal Street and agreeing to be called First Baptist Church going forward.

When Salem became home to the Naumkeag Steam Cotton Mills and hundreds of French Canadian workers flocked to Salem seeking employment, and it quickly became Salem’s largest employer. Thus, FBC decided to plant a church for French-speakers right there in their midst. They chose Rev. Oliva Brouillette to be their first and only pastor. The new church would minister to the French-speaking people in South Salem for 50 years, as the French Evangelical Baptist Church, from 1900-1950. By 1950, as the company began plans to move their operations south, many of the French-speakers in Salem began to move to other areas and numbers in the church dwindled. Therefore, Rev. Brouillette’s French Evangelical Church also re-united with First Baptist Church and a “neutral/unbiased” pastor was called to serve this now combined congregation. Also in 1950, the Calvary Baptist Church in Salem, which was organized in 1870, similarly united with First Baptist Church. Rev. Walter Loomis was loved by all and the mergers became past history.

A Mission to the “Ends of the Earth”

In 1812, First Baptist was deeply involved in sending Adoniram & Ann Haseltine Judson (and their team), who are widely considered as some of the first missionaries from the New World to a foreign country (Burma, now Myanmar). (The team barely made it out of Salem harbor before the port was blockaded by the British in the War of 1812!) Having been ordained at the Tabernacle Congregational Church in downtown Salem, their study of the Scriptures on the long, initial sea voyage to India led them to the conviction that Baptism by immersion was the correct form. So after having become convinced of Baptist theology and converting from Congregational to Baptist, Judson requested that First Baptist Church support his missionary endeavor. Judson famously wrote to Rev. Bolles, “under these circumstances, I look to you.” Rev. Bolles and the entire congregation then raised support to send Adoniram and Ann Judson to Burma where Adoniram translated the Bible and they won many for Christ. 

The first Bible Society to promote foreign missions was formed at this church on April 23, 1812. It was called the Salem Bible Translation and Foreign Mission Society. Rev. Bolles was the first secretary.

Sending this team of missionaries is a deeply important part of First Bapitst’s history. FBC participated actively in supporting foreign missionary work for decades following. In sending the Judson team, FBC contributed to reaching people in Burma and helping them follow Jesus. Today many Hmong people in modern day Myanmar have been forced to flee their native country because of religious persecution and ethnic violence, and they have come to the United States in large numbers. Many of them hold to the faith they first received from that team. Several are now missionaries themselves bringing the Christian faith back to the United States.

Sarah Hall, a member of First Baptist Church and part of the four-person team, married Adoniram after her husband and Judson’s first wife (Ann) both died in Burma.

The Judson Window

In 1962, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the sailing of Adoniram and Ann Judson, the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society met at our church to commission nine new missionaries. That same year, our church dedicated its stained glass window, portraying the sealing of the Brig “Caravan” with the first foreign missionaries from Salem harbor. The window was first hung in the front of old church building on Federal Street and it made the church a stop for people studying and remembering those important events. When the state of Massachusetts bought First Baptist’s Federal Street building in 2006, the church purchased and moved into its current facility on Lafayette Street, bringing with them the “Judson Window.” It now hangs beautifully in the new church’s entry way on Lafayette Street today. The window is dedicated in memory of Rev. and Mrs. Oliva Brouillette, French missionaries and pastor in Salem for over fifty years.

A New Beginning in a New Building on Lafayette Street

In 2006, the state of Massachusetts bought First Baptist’s original building on Federal Street. Thus, in 2007, the church purchased and then moved into its current facility on Lafayette Street, just a few blocks from Salem State University on the South side of the city. The church brought its history and ministry with it into God’s new location for the next season of Gospel ministry in the city of Salem.

First Baptist’s Denominational Affiliations

First Baptist Church, from its beginning in 1804, has been connected with the Baptist church movements in Massachusetts. In 1950, the Northern Baptist Convention was renamed the American Baptist Convention and then in 1972, in the midst of reorganization that in part reemphasized the congregation-centered mission of the denomination, its name was changed again to American Baptist Churches USA, which is what it is named today.

More recently, in 2018, First Baptist became affiliated as well with the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference as a way to partner even deeper in ministry with those doing work for the Gospel in New England.

Pastors in Recorded History

1804-1826 - Lucius Bolles

1826-1833 - Rufus T. Babcock, Jr.

1834-1841 - John (Eps) Wayland

1842-1848 - Thomas Davis Anderson, Sr.

1848-1876 - Robert Curtis Mills

1877-1885 - George Edmans Merrill

1885-1886 - Galusha Anderson

1888-1903 - Edwin Pickett Farnham

1903-1909 - Alexander Blackburn

1909-1916 - Frederick William Buis

1917-1945 - Ralph Atherton Sherwood

1945-1951 - Earl E. Hand

1951-1953 - Walter Harrison Loomis, Jr.

1953-1959 - Samuel J. Riggs

1959-1960 - Gordon W. Danielson

1960-1972 - Forrest Richardson Gilmore

1973-1981 - Parkes R. Johnson

1981-1982 - Charles Carlston

1982-1987 - Aram Terah Marashlian

1987-1988 - Richard W. Dutton

1988-1992 - William Kelly Grimsely

1992-1993 - David White

1993-1997 - James “Jim” Maynard  

1998-2002 - Merle “Skip” Robert Pimental

2002 - Lewis Furbeck Cole Jr.

2002-2007 - Miriam Baez (the church’s first female minister)

2007-2015 -  Renee Womack-Keels

2017-2020 - Robert Dibbs

2021-Present - Steven White

“The future is as bright as the promises of God.” - Adoniram Judson

In the past, First Baptist Church sent out a team that launched a Gospel movement to reach the world for Christ. Today, First Baptist Church seeks to continue that evangelistic spirit of extending love to reach its local and beloved city of Salem, the city that reached the world.