For 185 years, Twelfth Baptist Church has stood on Warren Street in Roxbury as a sanctuary, a station on the Underground Railroad, a pulpit that hosted the young Martin Luther King Jr., and a community anchor that continues to feed thousands of Bostonians. Under the leadership of its 14th senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Willie Bodrick II, the historic Black Baptist congregation describes itself as a people of "Love, Light, Life and Liberation" and welcomes worshipers from Roxbury and beyond, both in person and through its livestream.
Two Hundred Twenty Years on One Foundation
The story of Twelfth Baptist Church is really two stories braided into one. In 1805, Rev. Thomas Paul, a Baptist preacher from New Hampshire, gathered twenty-four members in Master Vinal's Schoolhouse on Beacon Hill to found the First African Baptist Church of Boston - what most Bostonians now know as the African Meeting House. Around 1840, after a bitter disagreement over how publicly the church should engage the abolitionist cause, a group led by Rev. George H. Black withdrew to continue that mission. The Boston Baptist Association formally recognized that breakaway body as Twelfth Baptist Church in 1848, when Rev. Leonard A. Grimes was ordained its first pastor.
That splitting was, in the telling Twelfth tells of itself, not a rupture but an inheritance - "the soul of the African Baptist Church resided in those who carried its covenant forward." The two congregations continued in parallel for decades, with three of Twelfth's sister congregations eventually merging in 1915 to form People's Baptist Church. Twelfth kept the unbroken line of people, mission, and mantle, and today the church marks both dates as part of its identity: 220 years since the founding of the First African Baptist Church (1805) and 185 years since Twelfth itself was established (1840).
The Fugitive Slave Church
The first quarter-century of Twelfth Baptist's life made it a household name in Boston and in the national conversation about slavery. Rev. Leonard A. Grimes, ordained in November 1848, had already spent two years in a Virginia prison for helping a woman named Patty and her six children escape slavery. At Twelfth, he turned the church into a station on the Underground Railroad. The congregation became known as "The Fugitive Slave Church," and Grimes personally raised money to purchase the freedom of Anthony Burns after Burns - a member of the church - was seized under the Fugitive Slave Act and returned south. He recruited soldiers for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first African American units in the Civil War, and won national prominence as president of the American Baptist Missionary Convention. By the time of his death in 1873, Twelfth was the largest church in the Boston Baptist Association, with more than seven hundred members.
The next pastor, Rev. George Washington Williams - who served from 1874 to 1876 and was only twenty-four when he took the pulpit - used the post as a research base. He wrote the first detailed history of Twelfth Baptist, The History of the Twelfth Baptist Church, Boston, Mass. 1840-1874, and his later History of the Negro Race in America, 1619-1880 is still regarded as the first major work of Black American historiography.
The Shaw Era and the Move to Roxbury
By the end of the nineteenth century, Boston's Black community was migrating southward from Beacon Hill, and Twelfth's membership was collapsing. Rev. Dr. Matthew A. Shaw, a Jamaican-born physician, accepted the call to lead the church in 1899 and made a decision that reshaped its geography: he led Twelfth's relocation to Lower Roxbury, and on November 11, 1906, the congregation dedicated the Boston Tabernacle at the corner of Shawmut Avenue and Madison Street (now Melnea Cass Boulevard). Membership grew so dramatically that by the end of his tenure Twelfth was considered the largest Black congregation in the city. Marian Anderson gave her first Boston recital within those walls.
The Hester Era and a Boston University Preacher Named King
Rev. Dr. William Hunter Hester, an Oxford, North Carolina, native who had earned graduate degrees at Boston University School of Theology and Andover Newton, was installed as the eleventh pastor in 1924 and served for forty years. Under Hester, the church produced its second published history, One Hundred and Five Years by Faith (1946). The young Martin Luther King Jr., then a doctoral student at Boston University, often preached there; the friendship he struck up with Dr. and Mrs. Hester later shaped his civil rights work. The Haynes Early Education Center in Roxbury was eventually named for Hester's longtime youth minister, Rev. Michael E. Haynes, who succeeded him.
The Haynes Era: Faith in Action for Forty Years
Rev. Dr. Michael E. Haynes was installed as senior pastor on October 24, 1964, and would lead Twelfth for the next forty years. A state legislator, a chapter president of the Negro Baptist Ministries Conference, and a featured speaker before the U.S. Congress, Haynes turned Twelfth into one of the country's leading urban ministry centers. Under his leadership the church revised its constitution, established a food bank and pre-school, acquired the Martin Luther King Jr. House and the Second African Meeting House, and founded SAMH Corporation, the nonprofit that still manages the church's housing, thrift shop, and youth programs. In 1965 he helped Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. plan the Roxbury-to-Boston-Common march for school desegregation.
The Gerald Era and a New Century
After five years serving as interim pastor and ten years as senior pastor (2010-2020), Rev. Dr. Arthur T. Gerald Jr. - raised at Norfolk House, mentored by Rev. Haynes and Clarence "Jeep" Jones, and a thirty-eight-year academic at Salem State - retired from the pulpit on December 31, 2020. Among his initiatives were expanded youth mentoring, partnerships with neighborhood schools and nonprofits, a revitalization of the worship and music ministry, and the church's deepened presence as a "beacon of hope" in a rapidly changing Roxbury.
The Bodrick Era: A Restoration and a $1 Million Gift
On January 1, 2021, Rev. Dr. Willie Bodrick II, J.D., M.Div., a native of Atlanta, Georgia, and a graduate of Georgetown University, Harvard Divinity School, and Northeastern University School of Law, became Twelfth's fourteenth senior pastor. He had already spent nine years on the ministerial staff, first as youth and young adult minister and ultimately as associate pastor, and had directed the after-school and summer enrichment programs.
Bodrick's first year coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic. He pivoted the church to Facebook, YouTube, Zoom, Tithe.ly, and PayPal; in partnership with Boston Medical Center, he opened a vaccination clinic in Shaw and Hester Hall that vaccinated more than 2,500 people. During his tenure, Twelfth has donated more than $375,000 to community members and organizations, distributed food to more than 15,000 residents a year through the food pantry, and welcomed a $1 million gift from King Boston (now Embrace Boston) - the largest single donation in the church's history. In 2025 the church completed a major Restoration and Renewal Project of its historic edifice, and on October 17, 2025, Twelfth held its first gala in more than thirty years, themed "Built to Last." Bodrick also serves as President and CEO of The American City Coalition, which launched the Roxbury Worx workforce development program.
Sunday Worship at 10:45 a.m.
Sunday worship at Twelfth Baptist begins at 10:45 a.m., with a prelude of praise and worship led by the Praise Ensemble before the choir, clergy, and diaconate process in. The order of service runs from a call to worship and morning prayer through pastoral emphasis, tithes and offerings, musical selection, scripture and sermon, an invitation to Christian commitment, and benediction. Services are held in the sanctuary at 160 Warren Street and streamed live on the church's YouTube channel for those at home, traveling, or abroad. Archived video of recent sermons - including recent messages from Bodrick, Associate Pastor Rev. Jeffrey L. Brown, and visiting preachers such as Rev. Dr. Cassius L. Rudolph - is available on demand.
Sunday School at 9:30, by Zoom
Before the worship service, two adult Sunday School classes meet from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. over Zoom: a co-ed adult class led by Minister Rachel Idowu Gray, and a women's class led by Minister Elizabeth Crockton and Karen Wier. Both classes study the R.H. Boyd Sunday School curriculum. The Zoom link for each class is posted in the weekly church bulletin. Sunday School Superintendent Karen Wier oversees the program.
A Daily, Weekly Rhythm of Prayer
Prayer is woven into the life of Twelfth almost continuously. Midday prayer is held from 12:15 to 12:45 p.m. Monday through Saturday on a dial-in prayer line. Early-morning prayer begins at 6:00 a.m. every Thursday on Zoom, and the Friday "Hour of Power" prayer service runs from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Zoom, led by the Intercessory Prayer Ministry. The School of the Bible meets on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. for in-depth Old and New Testament study, and a Monday-night Men's Bible Fellowship reviews the previous Sunday's theme and seven accompanying scriptures on Zoom.
The Food Pantry on Tuesdays
The food pantry - one of the most visible arms of the church's witness - began in 1996 when a few members distributed groceries to three families. It now supplies a week's worth of food to roughly two hundred families each week. Volunteers collect donations from Target on Mondays and Thursdays and from the Greater Boston Food Bank on Tuesdays, then distribute to clients from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday. As the pantry notes, the motto is "Fighting Hunger - Feeding Hope," and every group that comes through the line is offered prayer along with its bag of groceries, vegetables, bread, and meat.
Clothing, Books, and Other Direct Service
The Clothes Rack thrift shop inspects donated goods and resells them at modest cost or simply gives them away, guided by the words of Matthew 6:1-4. The Bookshelf Ministry, which for years sold Bibles, devotionals, and greeting cards out of a nook in the narthex after Sunday worship, is temporarily closed while it re-envisions online sales. A Computer Lab offers tutoring in basic computing. The SAMH Corporation - Second African Meeting House - oversees the church's housing ministry, thrift shop, after-school program, summer enrichment program, and a formerly active Christian preschool currently on hiatus.
Children, Youth, and Family
Children and teens are woven into almost every ministry at Twelfth. The Junior Church Ministry, led by Minister Isaiah Briggs, offers age-appropriate Bible teaching for children roughly five to twelve during Sunday morning worship. The Youth & Young Adults Ministry, led by Minister Jeremi Taitt, hosts bimonthly brunches, a biweekly Bible study and book club, social mixers (hikes, golf, running), service projects in the thrift shop and food pantry, and "Link-Ups" with other young adult ministries in the city; meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. The Girl Scouts Ministry runs a troop for girls ages five to eighteen, meeting the second Saturday of each month and following the Boston Public Schools calendar. The after-school program serves high-need youth ages five to fourteen with academic support, character development, and socio-emotional learning, while the summer enrichment program adds Bible study, life-skills classes, arts and crafts, sports, and field trips.
Men, Women, and Seniors
Twelfth's Men's Fellowship Ministry - open to all male members by default - holds a weekly online Bible study, serves coffee on second Sundays, and gathers for an annual men's weekend each September, currently led by Sidney Burton Jr. The Women's (Churchwomen's) Fellowship Ministry, led by President Michele Vaughn-Bernardez, sponsors the Annual Tea the first Saturday in June and the three-day October Weekend, which culminates in a Sunday when women lead the entire worship service with the women's choir and liturgical dancers. The Swingers, a senior fellowship led by Billye Ruth Thomas, meets the second and fourth Wednesdays from September through June for a singspiration, a devotion, guest speakers, and outings; the Dorcas Partnership Ministry, chaired by Flossie Pearson, calls members in their nineties each month and sends birthday cards to seniors eighty and over. Baby dedications are offered through the Baby Dedication Ministry.
Music, Dance, and the Spoken Word
The Music Ministry, led by Music Minister Jonathan Singleton, draws on classical, traditional, and contemporary styles and includes the Praise Ensemble (which leads worship before the main service), the full choir (which rehearses on Wednesday evenings or after Sunday worship at the music minister's discretion), a Men's Chorus, a Women's Chorus, and a Youth Chorus. Collaborations with Berklee College of Music and other area music ministries have brought recitals, including the annual Lance Martin Piano Summit. The Liturgical Dance Ministry, under Mamie Dorsey O'Neal, interprets scripture in movement, and the Sign Language Ministry (currently being restarted) interprets services for members who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Audio Visual Ministry - the oldest department of the church, founded in 1977 and now led by Technical Director Sidney Burton Jr. - manages the church's livestream, archives every service, and photographs church life for the website. The Drama and Poetry Ministry is also in development.
Prison Ministry and Re-Entry
Twelfth's Re-Entry / Restoration Ministry works with people who are incarcerated or returning from incarceration, following the command of Hebrews 13:3 to remember those in prison as though imprisoned with them. The Angel Tree program - operating annually from September through December - delivers gifts, gospel messages, and personal notes to children with incarcerated parents; the Missions Ministry coordinates the church's support for the Charles B. Harris School in Liberia and a Honduras foreign mission led by Deaconess Sharon Keyes; and Disaster Relief / other outreach ministries help with local needs. Peace Walks with community members, law enforcement, and local leaders are held on Fridays.
The Waystation to Liberation
One of the newer initiatives is the Waystation to Liberation, a citywide, intergenerational storytelling project designed to gather, preserve, and share the lived experiences of Black Christians in Boston. Through art, creative media, communal events, and a living installation housed at Twelfth, the project aims to document and celebrate the histories of Black Bostonians whose stories are at risk of being lost.
Notable Members, Past and Present
Members and friends of Twelfth over the years include some of the most consequential Americans of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African American woman to earn a medical degree, practiced in Boston. Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin edited the Woman's Era, the first national newspaper published by and for African American women, and her husband George Lewis Ruffin was the first African American graduate of Harvard Law School, the first elected to the Boston City Council, and the first African American judge in the United States. Lewis and Harriet Hayden sheltered fugitive slaves on Beacon Hill and helped found Black Freemasonry. William Monroe Trotter, founder of the Boston Guardian, helped lay the groundwork for the NAACP. Shadrach Minkins, Anthony Burns, Thomas Sims, and Peter Randolph - all central figures in the great fugitive slave cases - appear on the church's roll of members. Martin Luther King Jr. preached in the sanctuary as a young doctoral student at Boston University. And in more recent memory, longtime member Clara Bell, a fixture of Twelfth for decades, has been recognized as a behind-the-scenes figure in the civil rights movement.
Inside the Building
The historic Roxbury edifice is the spiritual home for Sunday worship, weekly Bible study, the food pantry, the Clothes Rack thrift shop, weddings, funerals, baptisms, the summer enrichment program, and the annual gala gatherings. Sunday worship is held in the main sanctuary, Sunday School classes meet on Zoom, and most working ministries now use a warren of rooms in the 160 Warren Street complex. Senior meals are served in the dining area on fourth Sundays, and the church reserves Shaw Hall and Hester Hall for larger fellowship events and (historically) the community vaccination clinic. A separate building at 142 Warren Street hosts smaller gatherings such as the Literary Fellowship Ministry's quarterly book talks; community flea markets and yard sales take place at 168 Warren Street.
Joining, Serving, and Giving
Becoming a member begins with a conversation with the pastor or staff. Visitors are invited to fill out a visitor card on arrival or online. Anyone interested in joining or volunteering in one of the church's many ministries can complete a Join-A-Ministry form on the church website. Online giving is available through Tithe.ly and PayPal, with designated funds for the Building Fund, youth scholarships, mission trips, holiday drives, and community outreach. Donations may also be sent to the Central Office at 160 Warren Street, Boston, MA 02119.
For 185 years and counting, Twelfth Baptist Church has stood on Warren Street as a witness that faith and freedom walk together - and at 220 years from the founding of its mother congregation, the work continues.