Early Baptist Churches in the Northeastern U.S.

Recently our daughter treated the “old folks” to a vacation with her to the northeastern United States. We saw many marvelous things while there – from fall foliage to Mount Washington to Niagara Falls to the Cincinnati Zoo. Part of the trip included visiting the sites of some historic Baptist churches. Here is a brief report of what we saw. Some locations were deliberate encounters, and some we happened across while traveling. I will take them in chronological order.

First Baptist Church, Providence, Rhode Island.

It was dark when we arrived at this location, but I was able to get some pictures. This church at Providence claims to be the oldest Baptist Church in America. The church claims its organization from 1638. Roger Williams gathered a congregation in 1638, but it is not clear that he was a Baptist at the time. I consider Williams a “halfway Baptist” – one who accepted some of the principles of the Baptists, and may have connected himself with them for a very brief period but was never fully committed to Baptist doctrine. Additionally, it appears that the Williams church died out, and the current First Baptist Church is the continuation of a General Baptist Church organized in 1652. Nevertheless, they claim to be the first Baptist Church in America. The building used by First Baptist Providence was built in 1775. The church is now a very liberal society affiliated with the ABCUSA and American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island.

United Baptist Church, Newport, Rhode Island.

The Baptist Church at Newport was organized in 1638 by John Clarke. It is the oldest Baptist Church in the United States and America. The building in which the church currently meets was built in 1826. The church is affiliated with the ABCUSA and American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island, but appears to be a much more conservative evangelical church than the one at Providence. They hold the New Hampshire Confession of Faith as their doctrinal statement.

“Sometime during the year 1638, it is believed, the church now known as The United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial, of Newport, was organized and he [i.e., John Clarke] became its first pastor, holding that office until his death. He is believed to have been the first American Baptist pastor, and it is thought by many that the church he founded and served as pastor is entitled to the distinction of being the oldest Baptist church in this country.” Wilbur Nelson, The Life of Dr. John Clarke, Newport, RI: Men’s Bible Class of First Baptist Church, 1924, p. 17. 

Pennepack Baptist Church, Busleton, Pennsylvania.

The Pennepack Church was organized in 1688 by Elias Keach, son of English Baptist leader Benjamin Keach. Though not the first Baptist church constituted in Pennsylvania, it is the oldest Baptist church in Pennsylvania in continuous existence. The first meeting house was built in 1707, and the current building was built on the same location in 1805. The church is affiliated with the ABCUSA.

Welsh Tract Baptist Church, Newark, Delaware.

The Welsh Tract Baptist Church was organized in Wales in 1701, and then moved to the “Welsh Tract” purchased from William Penn in 1703. The current meeting house was built in 1746. The picture from one side (below) shows a brick wall repair of a cannon ball hole made during the Revolutionary War Battle of Cooch’s Bridge. The meeting house is surrounded by the cemetery on three sides, which includes burials of early members and pastors. The Welsh Tract Church rejected the concept of parachurch societies for carrying out the Lord’s work, and followed the “old school” local church ministry. Welsh Tract Old School Baptist Church meets here monthly on second Sundays.

Baptist Church, Hopewell, New Jersey.

The church at Hopewell was constituted in 1715. Some of its first members were baptized by the Pennepack Church in Pennsylvania. The Old School Baptist Meeting House at Hopewell was built in 1747. No congregation currently meets here. Declaration of Independence signer John Hart is buried in the graveyard, as well as Joab Houghton, who in front of this meeting house made a call for volunteers for the Continental Army.

Second Baptist Church, Harbourton, Hopewell, New Jersey.

This building built in 1879 was once the home of the 2nd Hopewell Baptist Church. There was a church meeting here by 1803, when the cemetery was established. The Baptist Church disbanded around 1930. The Harbourton Cemetery Association was incorporated in 1931 to maintain the cemetery – which had been owned by the church. I believe a generic community church probably meets here now.

Old Stone Church, Old School Baptist, Locktown, New Jersey.

It is not clear just when this church at Locktown was constituted, but at least by 1819 when Old Stone Church building was built. The nearby Kingstown Baptist Church held meetings in Kingstown as well as in this area. Eventually a church was established here as well. The church disbanded in the 1960s, and the location is now maintained as an historic building by the “Friends of the Locktown Stone Church, Inc.”

Union Baptist Church, Mystic, Connecticut.

This church building in Mystic, Connecticut was originally built in 1829 for use by different denominations. Some members from the First Baptist Church founded the Third Baptist Church in 1831. The Third Baptist congregation met here. As different groups built their own buildings and moved out of this location, this meeting house was left to the use of the Baptists. In 1861, the Third Baptist Church merged with the Second Baptist Church to form Union Baptist Church. The current building itself is also a combination of the Second and Third Baptist meeting houses, the building of Second Baptist being moved to the back of the original building. The Second Baptist Church dated back to 1765, when it was organized in Fort Hill, Groton, Connecticut.

Wearts Corner Baptist Church, Wertsville, New Jersey.

The Baptist Church in Wertsville, New Jersey was formed by “New School” Baptists who left the “Old School” congregations at Hopewell and Flemington. These departing Baptists supported missionary societies and other extra-church organizations. They had organized by 1834, when the stone meeting house was constructed. The congregation ceased to meet in 1908. The building is now a residence. (Apparently also called Amwell Baptist Church, which name is on the gable front.)

Baptist Church, Weston, Vermont.

The “church on the hill” building was built in 1838. It was originally built by the Baptists, so there was a Baptist Church in Weston by that time. However, the building is now home to the Weston Community Church. It is said to be one of the most photographed buildings in southern Vermont.

Tremont Temple Baptist Church, Boston, Massachusetts.

Tremont Temple Baptist Church was founded in Boston in 1839. My understanding is that it was a Free Baptist Church—believed in a general atonement and free (that is, open) communion. The building was completed in 1894. Several stories, it is now used by others as well as the church. The old sign over the church door says “The First Integrated Church in America.” I am unsure what nuance they use to make that claim. Many Baptist churches in America had integrated congregations long before this. The church affiliates with the ABCUSA, but also is part of the 9Marks orbit.

Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist Church, Westerly, Rhode Island.

There were Baptists in England and America who worshipped on the 7th day rather than the 1st day. This church house is the meeting location for the Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist Church in Westerly, which was organized in 1840. Apparently, based on there being two signs, and considering the Seventh Day Baptists meet on Saturday, another church called “The Church at Westerly” meets in the building on Sunday.

The church locations we visited cover a founding history of over 400 years, 1638-1840. Obviously, there were other locations we could have seen, but these constitute two that I was determined to see – Newport and Welsh Tract – and others that my daughter determined we would be close to, or places we happened to drive by. In most cases the buildings were locked, no one was around, and we were unable to go inside (Welsh Tract & Tremont Temple being exceptions). I did not do detailed research on the foundings of these churches, but generally accepted the dates they proposed. We saw other non-Baptist historical buildings, such as the Old North Church where the lanterns of warning were hung prior to “the midnight ride of Paul Revere” and William Dawes. I thought I would share a bit of history and a few pictures.

Pictures of Jesus

I have long thought Jesus did not look like any of the portraits we generally see of him. This ties in with a question that comes to the minds of Christians, “Should Christians display artists’ conceptions of Jesus?” I think this best to “leave well enough alone” – that is, it is best that churches and Christians avoid displaying paintings of Jesus on their walls. We have no idea of what Jesus looked like, beyond perhaps a general idea of how a first century Jewish male might have appeared. The Bible shows no interest in detailing how Jesus looked physically, so why should we?

The books of nature and of the Bible provide our “picture” of Jesus. They declare who he is – his creation, his nature, his law, his acts, his death, his resurrection, his return.  A portrait hanging on a wall or a picture reproduced on a bulletin cannot begin to be an accurate display of the “image” of God, and doubtless creates a “false image.” The Bible portrait of Christ should hang on the “wall” of our mind!

It was fairly common when I was growing up to see pictures of Jesus hanging on the cross or praying in Gethsemane in some homes and on some church house walls. I don’t think anyone was trying to worship these images, and that it was a sort of cultural thing. Nevertheless, I do not think that can be our standard to follow.

Rather, may we consider the ethics of Sola Scriptura, the Regulative Principle of Worship, the Second Commandment, and the Great Commission. There is a lot of overlap in what these teach us.

Sola Scriptura. If the Scriptures given by inspiration of God completely furnish us with what we need for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, and all good works (2 Timothy 3:16-17) – we do not need a painting or image that is not furnished in the Scriptures. If we have a painting or picture, it is essentially a false image in the sense that it does not actually or accurately portray what Jesus looked like in the physical realm. If the Bible is our sole source of faith and practice, we have very little information with which to even imagine how Jesus looked, and even less need to know.

2nd commandment. The emphasis of the second commandment is more on the worship of images rather than just the engraving of images (Exodus 20:4-5). However, they are related. Having a picture that purports to be Jesus hanging in a home or a church building does not mean that those folks are actively practicing idolatry. On the other hand, simply saying they are not practicing idolatry provides no positive support for the practice of displaying such pictures. To me, an image (picture) that purports to be God – even God in the flesh – must at least be approaching the realm of what is forbidden and is better avoided than indulged in. Why not fence it off and leave it alone?

Regulative Principle and Confessions of Faith. The Normative Principle of Worship looks to accept what is not forbidden. The Regulative Principle looks for what is sanctioned. We find no biblical sanction for pleasing our imaginations with imaginary pictures of Jesus Christ. The 2nd London and Philadelphia Baptist Confessions affirm the Regulative Principle in this way: “But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures” (Chapter 22, paragraph 1). Chapter 7 of the 1st London Baptist Confession (1644) puts it this way: “The rule of this knowledge, faith, and obedience, concerning the worship and service of God, and all other Christian duties, is not mans inventions, opinions, devices, laws, constitutions, or traditions unwritten whatsoever, but only the word of God contained in the Canonical Scriptures.” It was then revised thusly in 1646: “The rule of this knowledge, faith, and obedience, concerning the worship of God, in which is contained the whole duty of man, is (not men’s laws, or unwritten traditions, but) only the word of God contained [viz., written] in the holy Scriptures; in which is plainly recorded whatsoever is needful for us to know, believe, and practice; which are the only rule of holiness and obedience for all saints, at all times, in all places to be observed.” In our church statements we assert, “The sufficiency of Scripture for all matters of faith and practice”

The Great Commission. We Baptists use this terminology frequently to describe the authoritative sending of the church by their Head, Jesus Christ (especially as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20). The command of Jesus Christ specifies, directs, and limits the work of the Lord’s churches. Coupled with the Regulative Principle, we find making pictures of Christ is not part of “all things commanded.”

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, John 4:24. A picture of Jesus, to me, seems to add nothing to spirit or to truth. Jesus dwells with us by his Spirit, not in a picture.

When the people of Israel were gathered before Horeb and God spoke, they saw no image. “Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female…” Deuteronomy 4:15-16. Even when Jesus came in the flesh, he made no attempt to appeal to man by the way he looked – “he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” Isaiah 53:2.

Let us allow the Bible to be our source of knowledge about Jesus. Leave the displaying of pictures and images for those who do not hold a “Scripture Alone” position.

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Addenda: Benjamin Keach’s Catechism and the 2nd Helvetic Confession

Keach’s Catechism.

Q. 56. What is required in the second commandment?

A. The second commandment requires the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances, as God has appointed in His Word.

(Deut. 32:46; Matt. 28:20; Deut. 12:32)

2nd Helvetic Confession.

Chapter IV, Of Idols or Images of God, Christ and The Saints, Paragraph 2.

IMAGES OF CHRIST. Although Christ assumed human nature, yet he did not on that account assume it in order to provide a model for carvers and painters. He denied that he had come “to abolish the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5:17). But images are forbidden by the law and the prophets (Deut. 4:15; Isa. 44:9). He denied that his bodily presence would be profitable for the Church, and promised that he would be near us by his Spirit forever (John 16:7). Who, therefore, would believe that a shadow or likeness of his body would contribute any benefit to the pious? (II Cor. 5:5). Since he abides in us by his Spirit, we are therefore the temple of God (I Cor. 3:16). But “what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (II Cor. 6:16)

Lake County's Castle

Santa Rosa, California Press Democrat, Tuesday, June 20, 1989, page D1

The Castle, No. 2

Santa Rosa, California Press Democrat, Tuesday, June 20, 1989, page D4