The Story of our Church This church has a rich history that reaches back to at least 1814. One of the first churches in this area was First Baptist of Philadelphia. Connections were made with Moorestown Baptists by the Philadelphia church at the start of a movement to bring Baptists together to raise support for mission outreach in the American South and West and also in Asia. This was an exciting time. The Rev. Luther Rice, who accompanied the famous first Baptist overseas missionaries, Adoniram and Ann Judson, had returned from Burma to raise mission funds.
After the church was officially organized in 1837, members bought the present Main Street property on which the present building is located. They then set about constructing their church building with their own labor. While the men worked, the women cooked the meals.
Mission support with other Baptists throughout the United States continued to grow. However, as slave ownership became a national debate, tensions developed that led to a division between Baptists in the North and in the South, with those in the South continuing to allow their missionaries to own slaves. This organizational division continues today.
In 1871 the original church building was torn down and construction began on the current building, which was completed in 1879. The congregation and church continued to grow through the early 1900's, adding a basement, kitchen, and pipe organ. By the 30's the Sunday School had over 400 students, including 2 classes for adult Women and a class for men.
In the 1970's the church became more socially and politically active, opposing the Vietnam war and being one of the founding churches for MEND (Moorestown Ecumenical Neighborhood Development) which has allowed for affordable housing in Moorestown.
In 1999 First Baptist called it's first woman pastor, Reverend Rene Colson Hudson
In 2007 First Baptist Church became a Welcoming and Affirming Church, publicly welcoming and affirming all people without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity. We are a church that means "God loves just as you are no matter what." All are welcome at FBCM!
In 2012 our current Pastor, Reverend Linda A. Pepe, was called as Pastor. We just celebrated Pastor Linda's 10 year anniversary with FBCM.