Old Cambridge Baptist Church

Address: 1151 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge MA 02138

Years Active: 1844–Present

Tradition: American Baptist 

The Old Cambridge Baptist Church (OCBC) was established in 1844 as an offshoot of the First Baptist Church Cambridge (Email Exchange with Rev. Sarah Lusche on 10/16/25). The OCBC has had a longstanding commitment to social justice and progressive Christianity. This commitment to social justice is built on the belief that we must act in response to “God’s call to hold fast to love and justice for the earth.” Alongside a commitment to the idea of God’s love as transformative and radical instead of rigid adherence to doctrine, the OCBC also subscribes to the idea of “Christ as Liberator, not only from personal sin, but also from structural sin that inflicts suffering in history and society, such as white supremacy, heterosexism, ableism, colonialism, capitalism, and environmental destruction.”

This commitment to social justice has been demonstrated through historical inclusion of runaway slaves, veterans, activists, and civil rights leaders as Church members. In the 1970s, the OCBC contributed $50,000 to the Black Community Fund, served as a sanctuary for anti-Vietnam war protesters, and became one of the first American Baptist churches to call women as pastors. The OCBC became a sanctuary church, a church that commits to serving as emergency housing for undocumented immigrants who may be at risk of deportation, in the 1980s. The OCBC professes a continuing commitment to “racial equity which demands the fair allocation of opportunities and resources in employment, housing, education, health care, and other areas” (Lusche Email Exchange). 

The OCBC’s commitment to social justice extends into how it has grown into a welcoming space for LGBTQ+ people. The OCBC declared itself to be officially welcoming of gay and lesbian people in 1983, with this affirmation now extending to bisexual and transgender people as well (Lusche Email Exchange). The church also housed the Boston chapter of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first national lesbian civil rights organization, well into the 1990s even after the national chapter disbanded in the 1970s. The OCBC was a founding member of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists and the first church to join the Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry (Lusche Email Exchange). The church has also had a significant number of openly queer pastors since 1975. The OCBC has participated in the Boston Pride for the People Parade and hosts a Pride Worship service on the first Sunday of June. 

Members of the OCBC come from a diverse range of theological beliefs including leaving space for questioning seekers. OCBC members include people who have arrived at Baptist tradition from other Christian denominations, other faith traditions, or no religious tradition at all. Church services are also open to people of other faiths who are welcome to worship “in ways that fit for them.”

Language used in worship at the OCBC uses multiple genders in reference to God, expresses that God is beyond our conception of gender, and affirms all humans as being created in the image of God. The OCBC declares in their statement about their beliefs as a church that they have moved away from biblical literalism and fundamentalism, instead seeing the Bible as a source of wisdom with differing interpretations of what exactly is meant by divine revelation and as scripture that is meant to be engaged with critically.

Sources and Further Information: 

https://www.oldcambridgebaptist.org/ 

https://cwhp.cambridgema.gov/bios.html?ln=DaughtersofBilitis&mN=&fN= 

https://www.nyac.com/servingasasanctuarychurch 

Relevant Pages: 

Religious Coalition for the Freedom to Marry

Entry written by Peter Goswami in June 2026.