Our Vision
By divine grace, our vision is for every person in Cambridge, Greater Boston, and the World to encounter Jesus and be transformed by God’s love. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will know God, love neighbor, pursue healing, and seek justice.
Our Story
Central Square Church was formed in June 2020 by two churches with a long history in Central Square and led by pastors with deep relationships in the community.
Courtesy of Cambridge Historical Commission, 1945
First Baptist Church of Cambridge (FBC) has stood as a beacon in the heart of Central Square for over 200 years, ministering to the community, providing respite for people who are homeless and those with addictions, and hosting such luminaries as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Fanny Crosby. Over the years, FBC has birthed other churches and ministries.
Since its inception in 1996, Cambridge Community Fellowship Church (CCFC) has sought to be a church that “seeks the peace” of the city, a church that is not only in the Central Square neighborhood but for the Central Square neighborhood. CCFC has been recognized by the city, has been cited in numerous articles and books, and in 2018 was featured by NBC Boston as a church that is seeking to uphold the values and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Despite our different backgrounds, the two churches shared a united vision to stay rooted in Central Square, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to serve the people of our beloved city. The process of joining together is the fruit of many years’ consideration and cultivation and we were overjoyed to merge and become Central Square Church on June 19, 2020.
During the pandemic, a capital campaign funded a building renovation and we opened our doors for the first time on Easter Sunday in April 2022. We are excited for the opportunity to serve as a diverse, reconciling faith community with deep ties to Cambridge; to bring many to know and follow Jesus; and to restore and revitalize a historic building in the heart of the neighborhood. We seek to hospitably welcome people from all walks of life into a place where everyone can find belonging, deepen in relationship with one another, and encounter God’s love. We invite you to be a part of this vision!
Central Square Church is an active member of the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) and American Baptist Churches.
Statement of Faith
We believe the Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, to be the inspired Word of God, without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of humanity and the final authority for all Christian faith and life.
We believe in one God, the Creator of all things, infinitely perfect and eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully Man, having been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He died on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. He arose bodily from the dead, ascended into Heaven, where, at God’s right hand, He intercedes for his people and rules as Lord over all.
We believe that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, and during this age, to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Through the proclamation of the Gospel, He persuaded us to repent of our sins and confess Jesus as Lord. He also indwells, guides, instructs, and empowers us for godly living and sacrifice.
We believe that humanity was created in the image of God. Tempted by Satan, man rebelled against God and thereby became estranged from his maker, subject to divine wrath, inwardly depraved and apart from grace, incapable of returning to God. Fallen and lost, humanity can obtain salvation and spiritual life only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit.
We believe that the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His resurrection provide the only ground for justification for salvation for all who believe, and only such as receive Jesus Christ are born of the Holy Spirit, and thus, become children of God. We believe that salvation is provided solely by his grace though faith in Christ Jesus.
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the agent in our sanctification and He seeks to produce His fruit in us as we are conformed to the image of Christ. As we are led by the Spirit, we grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, freely keeping His commandments and endeavoring to live in the world so that all people may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in Heaven.
We believe that water Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are sacraments and ordinances to be observed by the church during the present age. They are, however, not to be regarded as a means to salvation.
We believe that the consummation of all things includes the visible, personal, glorious, imminent return of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the just and the unjust and the fulfillment of Christ’s Kingdom in the new heavens and the new earth.