Union Baptists, 3

Continued from yesterday and the previous day.

The Union Baptist denomination existed for approximately 70 years (but see footnote i), from the time James W. Hunnicutt organized it circa 1841 until about the time Bushrod W. Nash died in 1911. The extent of its geography was mostly confined to Virginia and North Carolina. Its outreach was larger than its geographical presence. In addition to these two states, Hunnicutt may have been an influence in Pennsylvania, where he lived during the Civil War. (For more information on Hunnicutt, see the Encyclopedia Virginia and Forgotten Heroes of Southern History.) Nash preached in Bristol, Tennessee “at Mr. Burson’s church.”[i] Both Hunnicutt (before the War) and Nash (both before and after the War) visited other open communion Baptists in view of uniting them under one banner and one common cause. “…the effort of Rev. J. W. Hunnicutt, of Virginia, [was] to unite all the wings of the open communion Baptists in one grand, aggressive body, under the name and style of the Union Baptist Church.”[ii] Hunnicutt was the principal leader in the first 20 years, and Nash in the last 50 years.

I have been unable to detect the ministry of Hunnicutt among the Union Baptists after the War. Perhaps he became disconnected from them altogether. Under Nash’s leadership the Union Baptist Church gradually faded away, with many of the churches and members uniting under the banner of open communion and immersion – but not continuing as Union Baptists. C. C. Ware’s report says that Bethel Union Baptist in Lenoir County joined the Disciples in December, 1870 (Hookerton History). B. W. Nash can be found preaching at Bethel as late as May 1900. Presumably this is the same place, and, if so, some of the members had apparently remained true to the Union Baptist faith – or else the Disciples were allowing Nash to preach for them! (But in 1884 the Bethel where Nash preached is called a Baptist church.)[iii] Newspaper searches from 1900 to 1911 show B. W. Nash preaching at Bethel (1900), Lousan Swamp (1900, 1904), the chapel in Kinston (1903), and Airy Grove (1903, 1904).[iv]

The legacy of Union Baptists lives on in the Disciples of Christ and Free Will Baptists in North Carolina – and very likely even the Missionary Baptists, as some of these independent churches that dropped “Union” from their names gradually found their way into the larger Baptist body. At least one church – Hickory Grove “in the rich whortleberry section of Lenoir County…about 5 miles southeast from LaGrange” – joined the Methodist Protestant Church.[v] The latter being an exception, the desires of the organizers were at least partially fulfilled by union with other open communion immersing bodies of Christians. My distinct impression is that the Disciples garnered the largest number of Union Baptists, which further research might prove or disprove. Hunnicutt’s and Nash’s aim “to promote unity” among evangelical Christians was fulfilled in a way possibly neither hoped nor expected – in the demise of the Union Baptist Church.

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[i] Bristol News, Tuesday, May 13, 1879, p. 3. A footnote by the editor of Origins in North Carolina by Rufus K. Hearne states “It is interesting to note that, not long after this [after one group of Free Will Baptists united with the Union Baptists, rlv], a group of these Union Baptists migrated to Oklahoma, and, in 1954, the Union Baptists of Oklahoma became a part of the Oklahoma State Association of Free Will Baptists.” This considered, a portion of the Union Baptist Church existed well beyond the 70 years associated with Hunnicutt and Nash, for over 110 years.

[ii] North Carolina Disciples of Christ, Ware, p. 321.

[iii] Ibid, pp. 106-07. A History of Original Free Will Baptists, Michael R. Pelt, p. 158. The Daily Journal, Wednesday, February 27, 1884, p. 1; The Daily Free Press, Tuesday, May 29, 1900, p. 1

[iv] These are very brief news bites, and I have chosen not to document each of them. Anyone with the time and energy can search for them at Newspapers.com.

[v] “Scenes in My Early Ministry,” E. A. Barnes, North Carolina Christian Advocate , Thursday, October 25, 1906, p. 4; Nash mentioned at this church in The Daily Journal, Wednesday, July 26, 1882, p. 1.

Union Baptists, 2

Continued from yesterday

By the 1870s, B. W. Nash was re-energized in his attempt to bring together various Baptist bodies holding free grace, free will and free communion. He began publishing the Baptist Review around July of 1873 at La Grange.[i] At the same time he was promoting union among the Baptist denominations. His reach through the Review helped bring the establishment of the Southern Baptist Association in 1876. According to the Freewill Baptist Register, the Southern Baptist Association included the Mount Moriah Association in Alabama, Ogeechee and Chattahoochee Associations in Georgia, Mount Zion, Piny Grove, Cape Fear and Pee Dee Associations in North Carolina, as well as the South Carolina, Tennessee River, and Butts County Conferences.

By the 1880s, B. W. Nash had moved away from the descriptor “Union Baptists” to the simple name Baptist. In 1885 Nash wrote to the editor of the Goldsboro Messenger, “our denomination bears the name of Baptist only,” after which he delineates a series of historical events. About 1858 “the Union Baptist, of Virginia, with head quarters at Fredericksburg, sent out a minister in search of brethren of like faith and order.”[ii] Some Free Will Baptists united with the Union Baptists and adopted their name. The population and churches suffered during the Civil War and many were scattered. In 1867 the Grand Council of Union Baptists dropped “the name ‘Union’ and rall[ied] under the denominational name Baptist.” This came to be called the Mt. Zion Association of Baptists by 1876, and in 1883 two other associations united with Mt. Zion under the name “Union Association.” Another organization – the United Baptist Conference – was created to be composed of delegates from the Union Association and the Cape Fear Free Will Baptist Conference.[iii]

The best source to obtain the faith and practice of the Union Baptists probably is Hunnicutt’s A Summary of the Doctrines, Held and Maintained by the Union Baptists. Without access to that document, I provide the following references to the doctrines held by Union Baptists.

Describing the Union Association that was comprised of Mt. Zion, Piny Grove and Central Associations, Nash wrote that “The doctrines on which the organization is based, is, free agency, free grace, free communion and immersion as the only mode of baptism.” This straightforward statement seems to accurately summarize the faith of the Union Baptists from their beginning circa 1841.

The Cape Fear Association, a Regular or Missionary Baptist Association that required immersion of members received from the Union Baptists, indicate that the Union Baptists held the doctrine of apostasy: “The Union Baptists are followers of Hunnicutt, are advocates of loose communion and of the privilege of falling from grace.”[iv]

The Union Baptists apparently did not hold feet washing as an ordinance, or else their leaders were willing to sacrifice it for union. The Union Baptists participated in the Union Convention in December of 1867, held at Hookerton in Greene County, North Carolina – which included delegates from the annual meeting of the Disciples of Christ, from the Free Will Baptist Conference, and from the Grand Council of the Union Baptists. Delegates from Grand Council of Union Baptists were B. W. Nash, Irvin Jones, Alfred Moore, Sylvester Carrow and C. C. Stilly. At this convention the delegates both the Union Baptists and Disciples favored the following resolution:

Resolved, 4th, That while we do not regard the washing the saints’ feet as an ordinance of the Christian Church, still we look upon it as a good work, designed to teach the Lord’s people the great lesson of humility; and that all Christians should be at liberty to assemble when, where, and as often as they please for this purpose.

“The 4th Resolution was voted for by the Disciples and the Union Baptists, and voted against by the Free Will Baptists.” [v]

B. W. Nash’s advertisement for his Baptist Review spells out a number of his beliefs:

It supports and defends the doctrine of free agency, and Personal Accountability. It advocates the doctrine of the unlimited atonement; and believes that salvation is attainable by all persons who hear and understand the gospel. It advocates the Union and Communion of all Christians at the Lord’s table regardless of Denominational or Sectarian distinctions. And vindicates the cause of Christian Union upon the basis of the New Testament. It recognizes Christians of all evangelical Churches as members of the Church of Christ; and advocates co-operation among the protestant denominations in the work of evangelization. It advocates Immersion as the only proper mode of baptism and believes as the only subjects. Our motto is:

FREE SALVATION, FREE COMMUNION AND IMMERSION.[vi]

In the Review, Nash also advocated for prohibition.[vii]

Nash’s references to the Grand Council or “headquarters” sending out “a minister in search of brethren of like faith and order” and his transferring from Virginia to North Carolina suggest the original government of the Union Baptists might have been more authoritative or “top-down” than the autonomy found in a typical Baptist church – though this remains to be seen.

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[i] Goldsboro Messenger, Thursday, July 17, 1873, p. 3

[ii] This minister may have been Nash himself, but the way he writes seems to suggest it was someone else.

[iii] “Union Association of Baptists,” Goldsboro Messenger, Thursday, October 15, 1885, p. 1.

[iv] “Cape Fear Association,” The Biblical Recorder, Wednesday, November 3 1869, p. 2

[v] North Carolina Disciples of Christ; a History of Their Rise and Progress, and of Their Contribution to Their General Brotherhood, Charles Crossfield Ware, pp. 104-106.

[vi] Wilmington Morning Star, Saturday, August 22, 1874, p. 4. As the most notable leader of this movement, Nash’s beliefs can be considered representative of the denomination as a whole.

[vii] The Daily Journal, Wednesday, July 26, 1882, p. 1

Union Baptists, 1

Two years ago Robert Picirilli (professor emeritus and former academic dean at Welch College, and member of the Free Will Baptist Historical Commission) produced, and Randall House published, Little Known Chapters in Free Will Baptist History. These are intriguing stories of interesting events in Free Will Baptist history – yet the kinds that are not well-known and don’t usually make it into a general denominational history. As I begin to look into Free Will Baptist history, I found that to me much of it was not only “little-known” but also unknown! One facet of the revelation was a 19^th century Baptist denomination called the Union Baptists of which I had never heard.

The Union Baptist Church was formed in Virginia by James Wesley Hunnicutt. It should not be confused with other Union Baptists that were a result of Civil War division.[i] Hunnicutt was born in 1814 in Pendleton District, South Carolina. Around 1832 he became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church and attended Randolph-Macon College at Boydton, Virginia.[ii] At some point Hunnicutt came to disagree with the Methodist practice of infant baptism and withdrew from the church. He had formed the Union Baptists by 1841, and in 1842 published A Summary of the Doctrines, Held and Maintained by the Union Baptists: To Which is Annexed a Recantation of Infant Baptism. Hunnicutt (and possibly others) formed congregations in Virginia and North Carolina.[iii] In 1845 he established in Richmond, Virginia a monthly titled Union Baptist Banner and Pioneer – “devoted to the interest of the Union Baptist Church.”[iv] He supported in the Union of the nation and opposed secession, and after the War took a Radical Republican position, which apparently damaged his credibility among the Union Baptist churches and the people of Virginia and Carolina generally. Henceforth Bushrod Washington Nash became the leading figure and promoter of the Union Baptists. Methodist minister E. A. Barnes described B. W. Nash as “an educated man—a true Christian and a first-rate preacher; he was gifted as an orator.”[v]

The grand mission of the Union Baptists was to urge “the necessity of union between all liberal Baptists.”[vi] Histories written by Disciples of Christ and Free Will Baptists often emphasize that the Union Baptists failed “to unite all stripes of Baptists into one denomination and so this movement ceased to have existence.”[vii] This is true, but another aspect is that they ceased to exist because individuals and churches themselves united with Disciples and Free Will Baptists and were no longer distinctly known as Union Baptists.[viii] This, apparently, was not exactly the goal of Nash, but certainly was a fulfillment of a primary portion of the rhetoric and goal of the Union Baptists.

Some of Nash’s work is documented in period newspapers and may have escaped the notice of historians generally. These, for the most part, express Union Baptist history from their point of view. B. W. Nash moved his center of operation from Virginia to North Carolina in 1858.[ix] He is found as a leader in the Free Will Baptist Conference that met at Lousan Swamp in November of that year. He preached the introductory sermon, was received as a member from the Grand Council of Union Baptists of Virginia, and, along with S. J. Carrow, was employed as an itinerant for the ensuing year. The conference was “in favor of uniting with the Union Baptists. A resolution changing from the name of a General Conference to that of a Grand Council.”[x]

In 1859 Nash is found at a Convention held in April at the Providence Church in Muscogee County, Georgia. This appears to be an ambitious attempt to unite Baptist bodies holding free grace, free will and free communion. Delegates were present from “several orders of Union, United, General and Free-will Baptist denominations,” including the Grand Council of Union Baptists of North Carolina, New Salem United Baptist Association, Chattahoochee United Baptist Association, and Mount Moriah (Ala.) Free-will Baptist Association. Attending this meeting were prominent leaders such as Ellis Gore of Alabama and James E. Broadnax & D. J. Apperson of Georgia. J. W. Hunnicutt of the Union Baptists of Virginia was present. Gore was elected moderator and Hunnicutt clerk. The General Baptists present at the meeting are not individually identified, and perhaps were only present as visitors.[xi] The meeting seems to have concluded with good feelings and general resolutions of unity; whatever unity was accomplished was probably halted by the gathering clouds of war and the torrent that burst from them.

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[i] This second group of Union Baptists owes their origin to the American Civil War. The national political conflict, secession, and war divided both Baptist churches and Baptist associations, especially in the Border States. Pro-Union Primitive Baptists often joined Union Leagues. The Primitive Baptists did not allow members to hold membership in secret societies. Considering the Union League a secret society, they often excluded these members from their churches or churches that held such members from their associations. The Mountain Union Association, formed in 1867, was the first “Union Baptist” association on this order and not connected to the Union Baptists formed by Hunnicutt.

[ii] Randolph–Macon College was founded at Boydton by Virginia Methodists in 1830. In 1868 it was removed to Ashland, Virginia, where it remains in operation today.

[iii] “Hunnicutt evangelized in Eastern North Carolina before the War Between the States. He established Churches in the counties of Lenoir, Beaufort, Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Pender, Sampson and Wayne. 6 In these ten counties, in 1858, there were fifty Union Baptist Churches with over four thousand three hundred members.” –North Carolina Disciples of Christ; a History of Their Rise and Progress, and of Their Contribution to Their General Brotherhood, Charles Crossfield Ware, St. Louis, MO: Christian Board of Publication, 1927, p. 102

[iv] Richmond Enquirer, Friday, August 22, 1845, p. 2. “The ‘Union Baptist Banner and Pioneer’ shall be devoted to the interest of the ‘Union Baptist Church,’ to a fair and full exposition of their doctrines, usages, &c., &c., and to an untiring Christian defence of the same. Its constant aim will be to promote unity among all evangelical denominations of Christians…” The ad was signed by “Jas. W. Hunnicutt.”

[v] “Scenes in My Early Ministry,” E. A. Barnes, North Carolina Christian Advocate , Thursday, October 25, 1906, p. 4

[vi] A History of the Cape Fear Conference of Original Free Will Baptists: 1855-2010, compiled and written by Gary F. Barefoot, Alan K. Lamm, Michael R. Pelt, Ricky J. Warren, Commissioned by the Executive Committee of the Cape Fear Conference, 2011, p. 3; According to the compilers, “The term liberal was used to designate those Baptists who emphasized the concept of freedom implied in the terms ‘free will’ and ‘free salvation’.”

[vii] A Brief History Of The Liberal Baptist People In England and America From 1606 To 1911, G. W. Million and G. A. Barrett , Pocahontas, AR:  Liberal Baptist Book And Tract Company, 1911, pp. 179-180 ; See also North Carolina Disciples of Christ, Charles Crossfield Ware: Nash “died in 1911. The last standing Church property of this group was old Lousan Swamp. It burned after the death of Nash. In its ashes is the last material vestige of Nash’s movement among the Baptists.” pp. 102-103

[viii] For example: “In 1870 most of the Union Baptist leaders made an ingenuous application of this Article. The

old order was broken up. Many of them came to the Disciples. In 1887, they had but fifteen churches and 535 members. Five years later they had lost two more churches and their membership had declined to 442. Nash continued with a remnant.” (North Carolina Disciples of Christ, Ware, p.102 )

[ix] “Union Association of Baptists,” Goldsboro Messenger, Thursday, October 15, 1885, p. 1.

[x] American Advocate, Tuesday, November 16, 1858, p. 3.

[xi] “Georgia Convention,” American Advocate, Vol. IV, No. 49, Thursday, June 2, 1859, p. 3.

Christ in the heart

"Christ in the heart is not defiled by the inward workings of depravity, and by the base thoughts that strive perpetually against his grace, any more than the gold of the Bank of England is defiled by the dark and damp cellars in which it is stowed. And what a mercy it is, that our corruptions cannot tarnish the grace of God; that our unbelief cannot mix with, and adulterate the faith of God's elect; that our despondency cannot spoil and ruin a gospel hope; that our deadness, darkness, coldness, and rebellion cannot mingle with and defile the love of God in the soul!" -- J. C. Philpot

Hark! ten thousand voices sounding

1. Hark! ten thousand voices sounding,
Far and wide throughout the sky;
’Tis the voice of joy abounding,
Jesus lives no more to die.

2. Jesus lives, His conflict over,
Lives to claim His great reward;
Angels round the Victor hover,
Crowding to behold their Lord.

3. Yonder throne for Him erected
Now becomes the Victor’s seat;
Lo, the Man on earth rejected,
Angels worship at His feet!

4. All the powers of Heaven adore Him,
All obey His sovereign word;
Day and night they cry before Him,
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord!

Written by Thomas Kelly (1769-1855)

On this day in 1843

November 11th, 1843 -- East Texas Church Draws Daniel Parker’s Ire -- “On this day in 1843, Bethel Church in Sabine County joined four other East Texas Baptist churches in organizing the Sabine Baptist Association. Representatives of the five founding churches met at Union (Old North) Church, four miles north of Nacogdoches. The other churches were Union and Mount Zion, Nacogdoches County, and Border and Bethel, Harrison County. The participation of the Sabine County Bethel Church, located between Milam and Sexton in the county’s ‘dark corner,’ drew the ire of Daniel Parker, under whose authority it had been constituted in 1841. Parker, his Predestinarian brethren in the Pilgrim Primitive Baptist Church, and the Union Association opposed missionary societies and boards, Bible societies, Sunday schools, and secret organizations, all of which were claimed to be purely devices of man with no scriptural authority for their existence. In August 1844, the Pilgrim Church called upon the Bethel Church to surrender its authority as a church, since it had ‘departed from the faith and order.’ Less than two months later, however, thirty-six persons were baptized into the Missionary Baptist faith at Bethel Church. The oldest Baptist church in Sabine County, it has remained in continuous operation since its founding, though its name has been changed to New Hope Baptist Church.”

See also Bethel Baptist Church at Texas State Historical Association.

[Note: “The oldest Baptist church in Sabine County, it has remained in continuous operation since it was founded, although the name has been changed to New Hope Baptist Church.” There is truth and error in this statement. In the Tennessee Baptist of October 29, 1853 (p. 4) B. F. B. – probably Benjamin Franklin Burroughs – wrote in an obituary for Mrs. Cynthia Yates that Bethel “church had become in gross disorder,” and “in April, 1853, sister Yates with the writer of this, and 24 others, withdrew from said Bethel church and in May of the same year, 19 of those who withdrew were constituted into a regular Baptist church, called ‘New Hope,’ of which sister Yates remained a consistent member until the day of her death.” So New Hope was a continuation of former members of Bethel who disagreed with the doctrinal direction the older church had gone. Apparently the Bethel Church ceased to exist.]

The Southern Baptist Association

Southern Baptist Association (Free-Will Baptist)

The Southern Baptist Association for the fellowship of Free Baptists in the South was formed in 1876. The association seems to have been the “brain-child” of Dr. S. G. Scoven and whomever was the editor of the Baptist Review circa 1874-ff, probably B. W. Nash.[i] Barring further discovery, it appears that Scoven, a medical doctor, was initially a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,[ii] before joining the Regular or Missionary Baptists.[iii] The new associational body was effected, through the adoption of Articles of Faith, a Constitution, and By-laws, (as well as the name) at Deep Creek Free Will Baptist Church in Emanuel County, Georgia in May 1876 – even though Scoven and the editor were the only delegates who showed up for the meeting! Deep Creek church members were conscripted as proxy delegates and business was attended. This group appointed the first session of the association to meet with Friendship Free Will Baptist Church in Wayne County, North Carolina in September, 1877.

Other meetings that followed include:

• 1878 New Hope Church, Williamsburgh County, South Carolina, Lark O’Neall, mod.
• 1879 Mount Moriah Church, Pinkins County,[iv] Alabama, Ellis Gore, mod.
• 1880 Ebenezer Church, Tatnall County, Georgia
• 1881 Concord Church, Columbus County, North Carolina
• 1882 Union Grove Church, Henry County, Alabama
• 1883 Union Church, Lee County, Mississippi, Z. L. Burson, mod.[v]
• 1884 Bristol Baptist Church, Sullivan County, Tennessee
• 1889 Columbus, Georgia

Appletons’ Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1879, Volume 4 (New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company, 1880, p. 70) reported on the association in this manner in 1879:

“II. Free-Will Baptist Church. ... The Southern Baptist Association has 66 churches, 68 ministers, and 3,108 members; it holds correspondence with the Chattahoochee, South Carolina, Tennessee River, and Butts County Conferences, and is represented by the ‘Baptist Review,’ La Grange, N.C.”

The report in Appletons’, though dated 1879 and printed in 1880, must be older information, probably taken from The Freewill Baptist Register, which says, “The Southern Baptist Association held its first meeting with the Friendship church, Wayne Co., N. C, in 1877. The next session was in South Carolina, and it embraced the Mount Moriah Association in Ala., Ogeechee in Ga., and Mount Zion, Ping Grove,[vi] Cape Fear and Pee Dee in North Carolina. The number of churches was 66, ministers 68, and members 3108. There were Chattahoochee, South Carolina, Tennessee River, and Butts Co. Conferences with which it held correspondence. The Baptist Review, published at La Grange, N. C, is the organ of this people.”[vii] The Baptist Review report gives the statistics as: 83 churches, 72 ministers, and 3,296 members. It appears that these statistics mean to represent the 1879 meeting.

The Weekly Transcript and Messenger report from the Baptist Review suggests the association ended in 1883. That year the Southern Baptist Association had grown to 121 churches, 102 ministers, and 4,440 members. Nevertheless, it was still meeting in 1889. The “Local News” in The Goldsboro Headlight tells that “Rev. B. W. Nash left the city yesterday evening for Columbus, Ga., to attend the Southern Baptist Convention which meets in that city to-morrow, lasting three days. We wish him a pleasant journey.”[viii] This is not the more well-known Southern Baptist Convention, which met in Memphis, Tennessee in May of 1889 – but rather the Southern Baptist Association.

It seems to have still existed in 1890, when the Philadelphia Free Will Baptist Church of Charlton County, Georgia adopted its “articles of faith, covenant and the constitution.”

“Early in 1887 in Charlton County, Georgia, Rev. Welch, a Free Will Baptist preacher, and Newton Roddenberry discussed creating Philadelphia Free Will Baptist Church.  The church accepted the articles of faith, covenant and the constitution of the Southern Baptist Association on October 4, 1890.”

I have not found any reference to the association after 1890, and do not know how long it continued to exist.[ix]

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[i] Geo. P. Rowell & Co’s American Newspaper Directory (New York, 1879, p. 259) lists the Baptist Review at La Grange, NC as a weekly 4-page paper established in 1875. In it “Rev. B. W. Nash” is listed as the “editor and publisher.” Nash probably was the author of the article about the Southern Baptist Association and the other person involved in organizing it. B. W. Nash apparently is Bushrod Washington Nash, Sr.

[ii] “Bethel Mission, Rev. S. G. Scoven, Missionary, is reported in an improving condition. “ – Minutes of the Georgia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Macon, GA: Telegraph Steam Power Press, 1861, p. 13

[iii] “…Dr. S. G. Scroven, of Emanuel county, Georgia, a minister of the closed communion Baptist order…” – “The Southern Baptist Association,” Weekly Transcript and Messenger (Goldsboro, North Carolina), Friday, May 6, 1887, p. 8

[iv] This probably should be Pickens County.

[v] Weekly Transcript and Messenger, Friday, May 6, 1887, p. 8; A news item in the Jonesborough, Tennessee Herald and Tribune (Thursday, November 1, 1883, p. 3) mentions Z. L. Burson going to the Southern Baptist Association at Tupelo, Mississippi, mentioning that he is the moderator and has been for about 4 years.

[vi] Probably “Piny Grove”.

[vii] The Freewill Baptist Register, Volumes 44-48 (Dover, NH, 1879, p. 79); “It then contained” in the 1879 issue of the FWB Register shows that these numbers refer to the year 1877, when the body held its first session. (1879, p. 74)

[viii] The Goldsboro Headlight, Wednesday, November 6, 1889, p. 5

[ix] It is hard to research “Southern Baptist Association” when so many references to it actually mean the Southern Baptist Convention (and in at least one case, above, where “Southern Baptist Convention” means the Southern Baptist Association).

Southern Baptist Association, partial report

Below is an excerpt about the Southern Baptist Association (Free Will Baptists)

“The Southern Baptist Association,” Weekly Transcript and Messenger (Goldsboro, North Carolina), Friday, May 6, 1887, p. 8

22 Mistakes, and other links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• 22 Mistakes Pastors Make in Practicing Church Discipline -- "They fail to follow the steps of Matthew 18 or 1 Corinthians 5, depending on the circumstance."
• 50 Side Jobs to Help You Make an Extra $500 or More This Month -- "Ready to fatten your bank account? We've found 50 ways to make money this month -- and most of them you can do on the side!"
• 10 Signs Your Church is Unhealthy -- "I am passionate about strong, healthy churches."
• 6 Destructive Trends Happening in the Church Right Now -- "The source of all of these factors, if they may be reckoned accurate, is a fundamental misuse of the Bible by the leaders entrusted with preaching and teaching it."
• 5 Myths about the Religious Service Exemption -- "The Religious Service Exemption allows churches to use music without permission in certain situations, but there are other areas where churches are still liable if they do not have the proper licenses."
• A Small Rural Church Is Hard to Kill -- "In a smaller church, the boundaries between family and church are thin and blurry."
• And So We Pray: Answering the Anger over Christians’ “Thoughts and Prayers” -- "The murdered victims were in a church. If prayers did anything, they’d still be alive, you worthless sack of [expletive]. (Star Trek actor Will Wheaton.)"
• Authorities: Texas church shooter had three gunshot wounds -- "Kelley, 26, was also shot in the leg and torso by an armed citizen, said Freeman Martin of the Texas Department of Public Safety, citing autopsy results."
• CNN: "Thoughts And Prayers Didn't Prevent Shooting" -- "In the wake of the horrific church shooting in Texas last Sunday, there is a growing chant by the Left, including---maybe particularly--- the so-called Religious Left, that "thoughts and prayers are not enough." I question the motives of many who have joined the chorus."
• Dozens rally against Mormon church doctrines at mass resignation event -- "But the 21-year-old Salt Lake City resident decided to resign and tell members of his ward, or congregation, on Sunday what led to his decision."
• Free Will Christian Baptist, Church of Christ -- "Robert Heaton and Wilson L. Gower organized the association in 1843, under the name Cumberland Association of Separate Baptists."
• Texas church gunman escaped mental health facility in 2012 after threatening military superiors -- "Devin P. Kelley’s young life was riddled with warning signs, mounting during and after his time in the Air Force..."
• Texas church gunman escaped mental health facility in 2012 -- "The man who killed more than 20 people at a small Texas church escaped from a mental health facility five years ago after sneaking guns onto an Air Force base and making threats against commanders, according to a police report."
• Politicians and Guns: Follow the Votes, Not the Money -- "The NRA doesn’t need to spend a lot to convince politicians to protect the Second Amendment."
• The British King Whose Corpse Exploded During His Funeral -- "The mortally wounded king journeyed to Rouen, where he spent six agonizing weeks dying with knights, noblemen, and clergy by his side."
• The truth about church shootings -- "...most attacks at houses of worship aren't really about religion, experts say."

God hath done whatsoever he pleased

Psalm 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psalm 135:6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.
Jonah 1:14 …for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.

It pleased God to create each seed, beast, fish, bird, and man just as he did.
1 Corinthians 15:38 but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

It pleased God to send his Son.
Matthew 3:17 and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
Colossians 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;
2 Peter 1:17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

It pleased God to bruise Jesus for our iniquities.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Galatians 1:15-16 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

It pleased God to set believers in the body as he sees fit.
1 Corinthians 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

It pleased God to accept the sacrifices of praise, goodness, and generosity.
Hebrews 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Folklore's Filter, and other music links

The posting of links does not constitute an endorsement of the sites linked, and not necessarily even agreement with the specific posts linked.

• Folklore's Filter: Race, Place, and Sacred Harp Singing -- "This dissertation examines the impact of folklorization on Sacred Harp's associations with race and place."
• Music Then and Now -- "At that time, musical instruments were not used in the church. In fact, they were not allowed in the church."
• Orin Adolphus Parris: At Home Across the Shape-Note Music Spectrum -- "We often think of Sacred Harp and gospel music as opposites...Yet Parris also believed that lyrical and musical styles from one shape-note genre could serve as great inspiration for a composition intended for another."
• Printable PDF version of the Sacred Harp Publishing Company Newsletter, Vol. 6, No. 1, Sept. 2017 -- "The oldest continuous event in Heard County, Georgia, is a Sacred Harp singing begun right after the Civil War on the third Sunday in June."
• Raymond C. Hamrick’s Contributions to Sacred Harp Singing and Scholarship -- "Hamrick’s singing voice was renowned, an accurate bass singer with a warm and round tone. Hamrick harbored an unquenchable curiosity..."
• Renaissance Knives Had Music Engraved on the Blades; Now Hear the Songs Performed by Modern Singers -- "...each knife had a different piece of music on each side, and that a set of them together contained different harmony parts in order to turn a roomful of diners into a chorus."
• Shouting Song (1982) -- "A documentary by Jean Youngblood Albright on Sacred Harp singing, white and black, in Alabama."
• Suggested Sacred Music by David Cloud -- "It is becoming popular to “adapt” contemporary praise songs by selecting ones with Scriptural lyrics and toning down the rhythm."
• The Hollow Square and the Intriguing World of Sacred Harp Singing -- "It was a bright autumn morning when I followed Linda to the delightfully cloistered community in north Jefferson County."
• 1895 minutes of the Haw Ridge Baptist Association -- "Sacred Harp editor W. M. Cooper was the clerk."

Great Commission preaching

Matthew 28:19-20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Our directive is to preach the gospel, to every creature. Our preaching should in harmony with the principles of this “Great Commission” command.

The ingredients or content of our preaching.

An ingredient is a constituent element of something, the component. The ingredients of our preaching are Jesus’ commands, the Word of God. Jesus says, “teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.”

The breadth or scope of our preaching.

Breadth is the extent or range of something. The extent of our preaching is “all” that He commanded. All 66 books of the Bible are inspired and authoritative. We should reach the entire Bible, the whole Bible.

The aim or purpose of our preaching.

An aim or purpose is the reason for which something is done. Preaching is to evangelize or make disciples – preach the gospel. When converts profess Christ, we baptize and then teach – instruct and exhort to obedience (to all the things Jesus commanded). If we do not evangelize and baptize, we have no one to disciple.

In fulfilling this command of our Lord Jesus Christ, we should preach the entire Bible, focusing on Christ and him crucified. Within the content, breadth, and purpose of our preaching, making “evangelistic” appeals is appropriate. Preaching through all of the books of the Bible is appropriate. Preaching what the Spirit moves to preach is appropriate. Preaching that exhorts believers to grow in Christ-likeness and knowledge of the Word is appropriate.

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor

“Jesus Christ…the first begotten of the dead” (Revelation 1:5)

Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor (8s.7s.) by George Hugh Bourne (1840- 1925)

1. Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendor,
First begotten from the dead,
Thou alone, our strong Defender,
Now lift up Thy people’s head.

2. Though the lowliest form doth veil Thee
As of old in Bethlehem,
Here as there Thine angels hail Thee,
Branch and flower of Jesse’s stem.

3. Paschal Lamb, Thy offering finished
Once for all when Thou wast slain,
In its fullness undiminished
Shall forevermore remain.

4. Great High Priest of our profession,
Through the veil Thou wentest in,
By Thy mighty intercession,
Grace and peace for us to win.

5. Life imparting heavenly manna,
Smitten rock with streaming side,
Heaven and earth with loud hosanna
Worship Thee, the Lamb who died.

Ash Grove

The tune Ash Grove in shape notes