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The Ruggles Baptist Church was designed and built by the firm of highly successful Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram. Architect for the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City and supervising architect of Princeton University, Cram is best known in Boston for his Gothic Revival style churches. The Ruggles Baptist Church is executed in the Colonial Revival style and represents a departure from Cram’s familiar Gothic forms. Its design, however, reflects Cram’s belief that Classical ornament is appropriate for post-reformation churches and is consistent with the architect’s academic and philosophical approach to ecclesiastical architecture.

The Colonial Revival style, also referred to as Georgian Revival, was based on Classical forms and featured distinguishing features of Georgian and Federal architecture including columns, pediments, entablatures, sidelights, fanlights, modillioned cornices, quoining, and Palladian windows. The Second Church incorporates many of these elements in an elegant, unified whole described by an architecture critic at the time of its dedication as “a building of intellectual type, yet designed for a rich art of worship.”  Its stone steeple was patterned after one by English Classicist Sir Christopher Wren. The unusual height of the sanctuary and the clear windows flooding the space with natural light contribute to the feeling that one is in a meetinghouse, albeit a meetinghouse with unusually ornate trim.

Constructed between 1912 and 1914, the church was built for the Unitarian congregation of the Second Church and replaced a group of 1890s rowhouses. Founded as a Puritan church in 1649 and evolving to a Unitarian congregation, the Second Church was associated with the Mather family of ministers (including Samuel and Increase) and with poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, who served as minister from 1829 to 1832. After its merger with the First Church in 1970, the Second Church congregation sold the building to the Ruggles Street Baptist Church of Roxbury. Ruggles has been a dedicated steward of the church building, maintaining the complete integrity of the church exterior and making only minor interior modifications appropriate to conduction of the Baptist liturgy.

From the rich exterior limestone ornamentation to the Cram-designed light fixtures in the sanctuary, the Ruggles Baptist Church remains remarkably unchanged since its dedication nearly a century ago. The beauty and Classical logic of its architectural design, both inside and out, have withstood changing taste and the evolving needs of the congregation.

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This description was provided for us by the reputable architectural firm of Menders, Torrey and Spencer, Boston, MA

We are a community of people who have come to know God through Jesus Christ our Messiah, Savior and Lord. We are attempting to live our Christian lives in an ever-changing, and complicated urban environment.  Living out this life includes an emphasis on daily walk and worship of God, learning about and sharing our faith, and serving the Lord and each other through our spiritual gifts and our acts of love.

Our Stated Purpose:

Ruggles Baptist Church seeks to be a community of believers in Jesus Christ who worships God and enables one another, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to fulfill each person’s calling to glorify God and expand His Kingdom.

Senior pastor, Larry Showalter, has been leading Ruggles since 1981. Originally from a dairy farm in Pennsylvania, his family attended a Church of the Brethren congregation. Curiosity about God and the Christian life prompted many questions that he struggled with to find satisfactory answers. As a teenager he came into contact with Youth for Christ, an evangelical youth ministry in his hometown. He was struck by the way the teenagers involved with Youth for Christ talked about  faith. They spoke with enthusiasm and excitement about “coming to Christ” and having a relationship with him. He realized this was present in their lives, but seemed to be absent from his own. His curiosity persisted as he sought to know more about God and experience him. Eventually he made a decision to follow Jesus Christ during the summer between his sophomore and junior years at Penn State University. That decision turned out to be life-changing for him!

Pastor Larry’s college major was in dairy science, but he sensed God was calling him in a new direction. Upon completion of his college degree he joined the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, which enabled him to concentrate his energies in evangelism and making disciples. He met his wife, Lois, at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where both were on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ. Discerning that his future lay in pastoral ministry, he studied theology, earning a Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 1975. From seminary he accepted a call as Associate Pastor atThe College Church in Northampton, Massachusetts before accepting the pastorate here at Ruggles Baptist Church in 1981.

Pastor Larry’s wife, Lois, graduated from Mills College in Oakland, California in 1969 with a degree in English Literature. Lois had a life changing experience when she accepted Jesus as her Savior and Lord in high school with Young Life. This journey took off in college with her involvement in Campus Crusade for Christ. After graduation from college Lois spent three years on staff with Campus Crusade at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where she met Larry. Lois supported her husband through seminary while they were living in Gloucester. In addition to having raised their five children in the Boston area, Lois has had a family childcare business out of her home for over twenty-sixyears.

James Marohn -
Office Manager, Children’s Teacher, Family Sunday Preacher, etc.

James grew up about 25 miles northwest of Boston in the quiet, mosquito-infested town of Carlisle, MA. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1991, having majored in Studio Art. In addition to his responsibilities at Ruggles, James has been an after-school teacher for the last 19 years, as well as an illustrator. James has been a member of Ruggles Baptist Church since 2000. Some of his favorite things are basketball, early morning runs, road trips, trivia contests, cheeseburgers, and Boston’s annual Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl. James lives in Brookline with his wife and two children.

Dale Karasek -
Youth Minister, High School “Chaplain”, Teen Teacher, Building Custodian, etc.

Dale has lived in the Boston area since he graduated from Brown University in 1980. He has worked with teenagers in a variety of capacities for close to thirty years. He has been on staff at Ruggles since 1997. He currently resides in Brookline with his wife, two children and extended family. In addition to his responsibilities at Ruggles, Dale is a volunteer football coach at Brookline High School. He is also involved with the Brookline Coalition Against Substance Abuse (B-CASA) and assists the faculty advisor of the Christian club at the high school.

We believe in God, the Father Almighty; and in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, our Lord; who was born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, was crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; He ascended into heaven; He sits at the right hand of the Father; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Ghost, the Holy Church; the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the priesthood of all believers, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

We do, therefore, in the presence of God and His people, confess Christ Jesus as our Saviour and Lord, and do heartily give ourselves to His service, and take His Word as the rule of our life.

And having been, as we trust, united by faith to Him, we do now, as a Church of Christ, humbly relying on His grace, unite with one another in this covenant:  We will habitually observe secret prayer and the reading of the Scriptures earnestly seeking therein the help of the Holy Spirit.

We, who are heads of families, will maintain the worship of God in our homes, and will endeavor to lead our children, or others committed to our charge, to faith in Christ and to the Christian life.

We will attend regularly, as far as Providence shall permit, the public worship of God on the Lord’s Day and such other meetings for worship as the church may appoint; and we will faithfully observe together the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.

We will walk together in Christian love, with sympathy and kindness, and will tenderly and faithfully admonish and help one another as may be needful.

We will aid, as the Lord shall prosper us, in supporting a faithful Evangelical ministry among us, and in sending the Gospel to the whole human family; and as we have opportunity, we will seek by example and word to lead people to Christ.

We will endeavor to live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world, abstaining from whatever is unbecoming in the Christian character; and, as in baptism we signified our death to sin and resurrection to holiness, so we will seek to walk in newness of life.

And may the God of Peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make us perfect in every good work to do His will, working in us that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, forever and ever. Amen.

The Church Council is responsible for the management of both the spiritual and temporal affairs of the church, but subject to the authority of the membership. The membership of the Church Council includes all Elders, Deacons, and Committee Heads. Decisions of the Council require the unanimous vote of the Elders and a majority of the Deacons and Committee Heads.

The Elders pay particular attention to the spiritual life of the church, addressing the needs of the church body, and shepherding the church community toward a vital faith. The Elders are expected to use their particular spiritual giftedness toward blessing the church in addressing the needs and the maturing of faith in the church.

Presently the church elders are:
   – Pastor Larry
   – Nanan Coughlin
   – Bob Moffett

The Deacons oversee administrative responsibilities and other practical tasks associated with this community of believers.

Presently the deacons are:
   – Suzanne Caro
   – Marti Karasek

The Committee Heads include the leaders of the following standing committees:

• Children’s Education Committee: Margaret Dunn, Dale Karasek, Rebekah O’Donnell, Jerrie Moffett, Lois Showalter
• World Outreach Committee: Chris Coughlin, Kathleen Heitman, Marti Karasek, Pastor Larry
• Stewardship Committee: Jim O’Donnell, treasurer and counter; Stephanie Sender, financial secretary and counter; Suzanne Caro, account manager; Jessica Showalter, counter; James Marohn, office manager

1. A six-month period of participation in the church community is necessary before you can consider becoming a member.
2. Prospective members must be sponsored by another member of the church who, if necessary, will help you with the membership process. A statement called, “Intent of Membership in Ruggles Baptist Church,” must be signed by both the prospective and sponsoring member expressing a desire to be a member, and to sponsor a member, respectively.
3. Completion of a membership information form, a spiritual gift evaluation and a ministry evaluation are required for membership. This material will be provided to you after your signed, “Intent of Membership in Ruggles Baptist Church,” is received in the church office.
4. Applicants must sign statements of faith, which are the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed.
5. Applicants must sign the Church Covenant of 1878 and agree to strive to fulfill its intent upon your life. (The Church Covenant is found under “about us” on the home page and then click on ”Our Beliefs.”)
6. In order that we may know more about your commitment to Christ, you will meet with a gathering of leaders for the purpose of telling your story of salvation and growth in Christ.
7. Believers baptism by immersion is necessary for membership. However, baptism as an infant/child is accepted, if the applicant deems this baptism a sign of the New Covenant, and important toward coming to a conscious faith in Christ. It is hoped that evidence of the significance of infant/child baptism was demonstrated by participation in a covenant community (church) through childhood, along with participation in a meaningful confirmation by that community. Baptism by immersion in another church is accepted, if you have a testimony of salvation at the time of baptism.
8. Prospective members are approved for membership by the Church Council, and by the affirmation of the church community at an official community meeting.
9. New members are welcomed into the membership of the church community in the next worship service, and presented with a certificate of membership.

Note: The information that is needed to begin membership is provided by contacting the church office (617-266-3633; office@rugglesbaptistchurch.org).

The Ruggles Street Baptist Church was organized from two mission Sunday Schools in Roxbury in 1870 and formally incorporated into the American Baptist Church in 1878. It drew its name from its address at 159 Ruggles Street, named after a Revolutionary War hero. The church has a history of evangelism and a strong sense of civic purpose and responsibility. A 1915 announcement in the Boston Globe reported that, in addition to Sunday services, the church offered an employment bureau, a free lunch room for the unemployed, a free dispensary with three doctors in attendance, grocery and clothing departments, and free distribution of milk for babies in needy homes.¹¹ The church’s commitment to public health and welfare led it to found the Boston Baptist Hospital in 1893, later to become New England Baptist Hospital.

Daniel Sharp Ford (1822 – 1899), wealthy publisher of the Baptist weekly newspaper, The Christian Watchman and Reflector, and The Youth’s Companion magazine, was a Ruggles Church member and benefactor, and founder of the Boston Baptist Social Union. He contributed generously to the union, leaving a $1.25 million bequest with a large earmark for his childhood church. Ford underwrote a European tour for the Ruggles Street Church male quartet, increasing their fame nationally and abroad.

 The church thrived in Roxbury through the 1930s, serving a heavily populated area of low and middle income families and welcoming more than 1,200 a week to its Sunday School. The church building, an old meeting house remodeled twice to accommodate the growing congregation, was destroyed by fire in 1925. The congregation moved into the Old Swedish Baptist Church, eventually constructing a new building in 1934. Membership exceeded 1,100 in 1940 at the church’s 70^th anniversary, but slowly declined thereafter. The 1940s saw dramatic change in the neighborhood that Ruggles Street Baptist Church served, with families moving to the suburbs in the wake of an ethnic and economic shift. Buildings were abandoned and demolished, crime increased, and by the late1950s areas around the church were slated for urban renewal. Making matters worse, the government laid plans for a new highway, the proposed southeast expressway that would run directly through the church office building. Most of the congregation was commuting into church from the suburbs by the early 1960s.

 Plans were made to move the church to a site that met the three requirements of the Boston Baptist convention – one that was in Boston proper, served a congregation made up of “working people”, and was not near another Baptist church. With the assistance of the Boston Baptist Social Union, the church owner-trustees, land was acquired in the Heath Street-Mission Hill area of Jamaica Plain, where New England Baptist Hospital and the Lahey Clinic planned to build a hospital. When plans for constructing a church in Jamaica Plain stalled, and as arrangements were being made for a temporary church location, it was discovered that the Second Church was available for sale. The Ruggles Street building was sold to the St. Francis de Salles Catholic Church and the Ruggles congregation moved to Audubon Circle in 1970.

The Interior Life: Encountering God in Scripture
“Living in the Living Word”
(Part 4)
Pastor Larry Showalter

Continuing with the Interior Life Series, the present emphasis is on the place of Scripture in your inner walk with the Lord. Today’s focus is (again) on the centrality of Jesus Christ in all of Scripture. When you are in the Word of God your ultimate hope is to encounter him. Lectio divina, or sacred reading, is a manner of approaching the Scripture with the hope of bringing you into an encounter with God