Faith in Action
What does the Lord require of you, O human being,
but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
At the heart of Central Baptist is our core value of living out the social gospel and accompanying those who are marginalized by systemic injustices. This has included racial justice; gender justice and women’s rights; sexual and gender minority justice; religious freedom justice, housing justice; immigration justice, including English as a second language; and creation justice, particularly in addressing climate change.
At CBC we covenant as individuals and as a congregation to work with others toward peace, justice, and the wholeness of God’s creation.
It’s been said that this focus on systemic injustice is part of our DNA. Central Baptist came into being following two schisms, the first with Baptist Church in the Great Valley in 1840 regarding that church’s inaction in merely being content with the presence of black persons as part of the congregation instead of taking a bold stand for the abolition of slavery.
We attend to justice issues through Faith in Action Teams (FIATs), which are open to participation by members and non-members alike. Several FIATs are operational at any given time, reflecting energy and interest as new passions for justice emerge.
Here are some of the highlights of our social justice focus over the decades:
Recent and ongoing Faith in Action activity:
Before Black Lives Matter signs became popular, we placed a large banner proclaiming this message on our front lawn in August 2015. This was in solidarity with ongoing racial injustices, particularly deaths at the hands of police. Those three words unearthed the thinly veiled racism on the Main Line as the church received threatening messages and the sign was vandalized several times, but it still stands today.
When Pini Kidulah, an Eastern University graduate student from Kenya, visited a CBC worship service in 2009, we had no idea at the time how our worlds would interconnect. With CBC supporting her efforts, Pini returned to Kenya, where she started the nonprofit Jitokeze Wamama Wafrika, which empowers vulnerable women and girls in overcoming poverty and in improving their resilience to the impacts of climate change.
In 2009, CBC installed 9.6 kW of solar panels on its roof to provide ~30% of the electricity historically used at CBC. This action was taken to fulfill our mission to help steward this earth by reducing carbon dioxide emissions in response to the global climate change crisis.
Following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, in 2006, CBC answered the invitation of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America and became part of “Churches Supporting Churches” providing financial support, work crews, mental health support, and pastor visitations with St. John Baptist Church in New Orleans.
Since the early 2000s, CBC has intentionally expanded its ecumenical and interfaith connections with nearby progressive Christian communities, Muslims, and Jews. Since 2006, CBC has enjoyed an annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service with Temple Brith Achim in King of Prussia.
From 2003 until the 2020 pandemic, the Ecology Mission Group operated a Fair Trade Table, selling fair trade coffee, tea, olive oil, chocolate, and other products after most Sunday services. The sale of these items supported living wages for workers producing agricultural products. Many of the products were also organic and shade grown, meaning less harm to the environment, the workers, and the end user, and more habitat for birds and other living creatures.
In 1993, CBC became one of thirteen founding congregations of ABC Concerned (now the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists), celebrating and affirming the LGBTQ community. While CBC officially became a Welcoming and Affirming congregation in the 1990s, the presence of gays and lesbians in our congregation (and staff) was recognized and welcomed as early as the 1960s.
In 1992, CBC became part of Interfaith Hospitality Network (now Family Promise). On a rotating basis, we welcome families without homes to use our facilities as home base for a week at a time. Along with local volunteers, CBCers provide hospitality, companionship, meals, and a place to sleep for our guests.
Founded in 1975, the Women’s Resource Center was the outgrowth of CBC women putting an ad in the newspaper calling for a gathering of women interested in promoting women’s rights, advocacy, and support. Now operating as an independent nonprofit, WRC continues to provide services to women and girls in southeastern Pennsylvania and is housed next to the church building.
Central Baptist Nursery School was established in 1963 and was the first integrated nursery school on the Main Line. Now operating as an independent nonprofit, it is still housed in the church building and is a well-respected and popular educational program in the area.
CBC’s History
Mission trips for service and learning took place from the 1980s into the 2000s. In addition to several trips to El Salvador, locations included Haiti; Appalachia; Robbins, Tennessee; Nicaragua; Hobart, Oklahoma; Jamaica; and West Pokot, Kenya.
During the civil war in El Salvador, Central Baptist became a Sanctuary Church (1985), part of a network of religious institutions that housed undocumented Salvadorans fleeing the war with church members present 24 hours a day.
Before Roe v. Wade (1973), CBC housed a hotline for the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion (CCS), an international network of clergy that helped women obtain legal and illegal abortions from licensed medical professionals.
From 1969 to 1994, CBC sold products at the on-site Crafts of Freedom shop, providing artisans from developing regions the opportunity to earn income for their handcrafted items.
Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, CBC voted to mortgage the church building for $100,000 to give to black businesses as an act of solidarity. The church did not end up taking this action, because church and community persons donated the money (nearly an amazing $900,000 in today’s dollars), which was subsequently given to the businesses.
In the 1960s, CBC cared for at least five Cuban refugee families until they became self-supporting, followed by sponsorship of a group from Nigeria and two Vietnamese families after the war in their country forced them to flee. Since then, CBC has supported persons from Burma, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, El Salvador, and Cameroon as asylum seekers and refugees.
In the 1950s when the USSR took over Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, CBC members organized an ecumenical group to respond to the needs of displaced persons.
In 1958, CBC was involved in an undertaking referred to as “Project Free.” Through this endeavor, legal action was brought against the Main Line Board of Realtors to push for racial justice through open housing policies.
Pennsylvania was one of the states that was hit the hardest during the 1918–1920 influenza pandemic. The basement of CBC was opened as a temporary emergency hospital, equipped and staffed by volunteers from the church. This effort was officially recognized by the US Public Health Service following the pandemic.
From the late 1890s into the 1920s, Central Baptist worked to address slumlord conditions in the Highland Avenue section of Wayne and was foundational in the building of what is now known as the Radnor Township Civic Association, the only black-owned community building on the Main Line. During this time, CBCers were also engaged in teaching English as a second language to local Italian immigrants.
