Twelfth Baptist Church facts for kids
The Twelfth Baptist Church is a very old church in the Roxbury area of Boston, Massachusetts. It started in 1840. This church is the oldest one that came directly from the First Independent Baptist Church in Beacon Hill. Many famous people have been part of this church. These include people who fought against slavery like Lewis Hayden and Rev. Leonard Grimes. Also, the historian George Washington Williams, the artist Edward Mitchell Bannister, and the business owner Christiana Carteaux were members. Important educator Wilhelmina Crosson and civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. also belonged to this church.
Contents
History
Early Days and Fighting Slavery
The Twelfth Baptist Church began in 1840. A group of 36 people decided to start their own church. They left the First Independent Baptist Church, which met in what is now the African Meeting House. The exact reason for their leaving is not fully clear. Some historians believe they wanted to fight slavery more strongly than the other members. Also, the First Independent Baptist Church had not had a regular leader for some time. This might have caused disagreements about how to run the church.
Rev. George H. Black, a Baptist minister from the West Indies, led the new group. They moved to Phillips Street in Beacon Hill. Rev. Leonard Grimes became their first pastor in 1848. Grimes was an abolitionist, meaning he worked to end slavery. He also helped enslaved people escape to freedom as a conductor on the Underground Railroad. He was even jailed for trying to help an enslaved family in Virginia.
Under his leadership, the church became known as "The Fugitive Slave Church." Many people who had escaped slavery got help from the church. A lot of them chose to join the church family. Early members included Lewis and Harriet Hayden, Shadrach Minkins, Anthony Burns, Thomas Sims, Peter Randolph, and John S. Rock. Rev. Grimes served as pastor until he passed away in 1873.
Moving and New Leaders
In 1907, the church moved to a building that used to be a Jewish temple. This was at 47 Shawmut Avenue in Roxbury. Later, it moved to its current home at 150-160 Warren Street.
The church has had many important pastors and members. Rev. George Washington Williams was its second pastor. He was a veteran of the Civil War, a lawyer, a journalist, and an important historian. Williams wrote a history of the church in 1874. Rev. J. Allen Kirk wrote about the Wilmington massacre of 1898. Rev. Matthew A. N. Shaw was the president of the National Equal Rights League of Boston. He also organized the Negro Sanhedrin conference in 1924.
Important People and Their Work
A well-known educator named Wilhelmina Crosson taught Sunday School at the Twelfth Baptist Church in the 1940s. She was one of the first African-American female schoolteachers in Boston. Crosson created the city's first program to help students with reading. She also strongly supported teaching black history early on.
Rev. William Hunter Hester wrote a history of the Twelfth Baptist Church in 1946. In the 1950s, he worked with a young assistant minister. This minister was studying to get his doctorate in theology at Boston University. His name was Martin Luther King Jr.. Hester was an old friend of King's father. He was a very important influence on Martin Luther King Jr.
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Haynes was active in the civil rights movement. He represented Roxbury in the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the 1960s. Haynes helped start the Boston/Roxbury campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1976. This center, called CUME, trains church leaders from different backgrounds in Boston and across the U.S.
On September 20, 2021, a group called King Boston gave $1 million to help support the church.
Pastors of the Church
Here are the pastors of the Twelfth Baptist Church so far:
- Rev. Leonard Grimes (1848–1874)
- Rev. George Washington Williams (1874–1876)
- Rev. Williams Dennis (1876–1880)
- Rev. L. F. Walden (1880–1885)
- Rev. Robert Fairfax (1886–1890)
- Rev. H. H. Harris (1890–1891)
- Rev. J. Allen Kirk (1891–1894)
- Rev. John R. McCenny (1894)
- Rev. Matthew A. N. Shaw (1894–1922)
- Rev. William Hunter Hester (1923–1964)
- Rev. Dr. Michael E. Haynes (1964–2004)
- Rev. Dr. Arthur T. Gerald, Jr. (2010–Present)
