Dear Members and Friends of Maplewood Baptist Church:
There is much to share. God’s goodness continues as we travel our journey of
faith. First, here is a little history review:
In 1867, a group of believers from First Baptist Church in Malden met together
in the Maplewood area. They started a Tuesday night gathering, then a Sunday
school to minister to people in the Maplewood area of the city. They met in
their homes and with the Methodist Church. They started to build a chapel for
the Sunday school, and before it was finished, it blew down in a gale wind in
September 1869. They rebuilt and it was completed in March 1870. On
October 18, 1871, they officially incorporated as Maplewood Baptist Church.
Since 1871, wars, pandemics and other challenges faced the congregation. A
fire destroyed the building in 1937 on a Sunday. It is said that the choir sang
as the people filed out of the building.
Next, here is some more recent news:
With a deteriorating building and limited resources, Maplewood Baptist sold
our building 2014. The congregation continued to meet in the building, now
occupied by a school until the recent pandemic made that impossible. We met
virtually with electronic devices or outdoors in the parsonage yard or Lincoln
Park when weather permitted. Grateful for provisions, challenges, blessings,
and surprises, we met for about a year in a chapel space at First Baptist Church
of Melrose.
First Baptist Church of Malden invited Maplewood Baptist to worship together.
It met unique needs for each congregation—one needing a pastor and the other
needing a building. Since November 20, 2022 we have been praising God
together. Pastor Gary McClenthen is faithfully preaching from the Word. We
are meeting new people, finding common interests, seeing spiritual growth, and
ministering to the community and beyond through outreach and discipleship.
We have begun to see that this experiment is also a homecoming. None of us
were around when those members of First Baptist decided to focus ministry in
the Maplewood area of Malden, we see now that the mission they undertook
blessed many. It appears to be time for us to return home to First Baptist. The
leadership of both churches agree that we are not just joining together to
survive or try to sustain what was in the past. We are on a journey to discover
and be obedient to the calling that God has for us to represent Jesus well to our
community.
We have gathered together intentionally via Zoom and in person for months
seeking God’s guidance in what steps are next and what direction to go. We
are preparing to form a new, temporary advisory board made up of leadership
from both churches. We will seek to develop new bylaws. We will evaluate,
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experiment, and seek God’s wisdom in polity, worship, and outreach. We
recognize that there will be challenges as we face losses as well as new gifts.
We will pray, wait, and walk forward as the way opens. We are excited to be on
this journey together.
We will be bringing updates from time to time as to what the advisory board is
doing. When there are proposed changes, they will be brought forward to be
voted on by the two congregations.
To those of you who have been unable to attend in person, we have missed you.
We are grateful for your part in the history of our church fellowship. You have
shared your gifts, your resources, and your presence when you were able, and
we thank God for you. We pray God’s blessing on us all as we continue to seek
him and his wisdom as we journey together in faith, love, joy, hope, and peace.
On Saturday, April 20, 2024, we all are invited to gather for a “It’s Been Better
Together” Retreat from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at First Baptist Church, 493 Main
Street in the fellowship hall, which is accessible. The two congregations met
together in January for a Town Hall meeting. That meeting concluded with
participants looking to the church leadership to answer the question, “What do
we do next?” Pastor Ron Bouthillette, TABCOM’s Associate Executive Minister
in Church Relations, has been invited to be our guest speaker and facilitate
conversation around that question. Lunch will be served. A Zoom option will
be available. Meeting Information: ….
We would love to see you and hear your thoughts. Please let us know that you
are coming for our planning.
Maplewood Baptist Church leadership
“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives
in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were
taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7