What We Believe
The Gospel
At Ruggles, we're all about the gospel. The gospel, or good news, is the message of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus, God's own divine Son, entered our broken world as a human to rescue us from sin and death. He gave up his life on the cross, taking God's punishment on Himself, so that all those who admit and repent of their sin and put their trust in Jesus Christ as savior will be saved from their sin and live forever with God.
"The gospel is the joyous declaration that God is redeeming the world through Christ and that He calls everyone everywhere to repent from sin and trust Jesus Christ for salvation. Each of us has sinned against God, breaking His law and rebelling against His rule, and the penalty for our sin is death and hell. But because of His love, God sent His Son, Jesus, to live for His people’s sake, the perfect, obedient life God requires and to die on the cross in our place for our sin. On the third day, Christ rose bodily from the grave and now reigns in heaven, offering forgiveness, righteousness, resurrection, and eternal blessedness in God’s presence to everyone who repents of sin and trusts solely in Him for salvation." (Capitol Hill Baptist Church Statement on the Gospel)
Ruggles Street Baptist Church was founded on July 26, 1870. In that year, we adopted our Statement of Faith and Church Covenant to express a summary of what we believe and how we should live.
Statement of Faith
From the time of the Early Church to today, Christians have laid out doctrine (beliefs) in brief, definitive statements. As those who know God, we believe it necessary to set forth in a concise fashion the cornerstone truths of our church as guided by Scripture. Our Statement of Faith summarizes essential Christian beliefs, shows unity in Christ, and guards the church from error.
All who join Ruggles Baptist Church are required to affirm this Statement of Faith: the Apostles Creed and an updated version of the New Hampshire Confession of Faith from 1833/53. This statement registers our belief in historic Christianity, evangelical Christianity, believer’s baptism, and congregational polity. As members agree to the statement, we are responsible for believing and living in accordance with it.
Church Covenant
Ruggles has worshiped together under a covenant, or statement on how we agree to live as a church, since our earliest days in 1870. The church covenant is equal parts promise, expectations, ethical statement, and biblical standard. We summarize how we promise to live together in the covenant. It forms the ethics, or the moral principles, of our worldview and holds out a biblical standard by which we live. Our acceptance of this multifaceted document follows the practice of believers throughout the centuries who have pledged to God and one another to live out the gospel in community. We use our covenant in two key ways today. We require all new members to sign it before joining the church. We also reaffirm our commitment to the covenant at members meetings. By featuring the covenant in our life together, we strive to protect ourselves from individual and corporate sin. Of equal importance, we spur one another on to live in light of a greater covenant, one initiated by love, sealed by sacrifice, and kept for eternity by our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Denomination
Ruggles is a member of the American Baptist Churches USA, the American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts (TABCOM)—Boston Southwest Association