USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky Baptists : From 1769 to 1885, including more than 800 biographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 59
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ior wisdom. [Taking a bunch of keys from his pocket]. Here is the key to my corn crib, this one will admit you into my meat house, and this third one unlocks my money drawer. Take them, and dispose of my possessions as you think most to the glory of God." Laying the bunch of keys on the clerk's table,
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he resumed his seat. The church did not take possession of his keys, and his wit saved him from exclusion, or a humiliating confession of guilt.
The support of their ministers was generally neglected by the Baptists of Kentucky, as it had been in Virginia and North Carolina, from the first settling of the country, and there was a strong prejudice against preachers having a fixed salary for preaching. But the principle that ministers, who devoted them- selves to preaching the gospel, should be supported by the churches they served, was never denied by the early Baptists of Kentucky. And we know that this principle was carried into practical effect at Bryant's Station, Clear Creek, Forks of Elk- horn and other churches, where some of the pastors received fixed salaries, and others received a reasonable support, even before Kentucky became a State. The origin of the prejudices against salaried, or "hireling preachers" has already been stated. Some of the preachers, themselves, partook of the popular prejudice, and others, it is to be feared, held their peace upon the subject, because they feared to incur popular indignation, and others still, whose ignorance wholly unfitted them for the ministerial office, declaimed against "hireling preachers," as some of the same class still do, solely for the purpose of gaining popularity.
This evil was not so sensibly felt in the early history of the country. The emigration of ministers from the older States, furnished a full supply of preachers, who, in struggling, with intense enthusiasm, for the coveted boon of religious liberty, had acquired the habit of enduring hardships and poverty in preach- ing the gospel without charge. The people in the new country were illiterate, and it required little more preparation for the pulpit than the acquisition of the simple knowledge of the plan of salvation, good strength of lungs, and a pathetic intonation of voice, with a character of sincerity and piety, to meet their re- ligious wants. These hardy, honest preachers labored or hunted all day, and all the week, and then told the simple story of the Cross, in their own cabins, or those of their neighbors, or, in their rude meeting-houses, on week nights and Sundays; and in this way the people were supplied with the bread of life. But when the country became older, and the people were bet- ter educated, it required a better informed ministry. In order
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History of Kentucky Baptists.
to have this, the ministers must not only have a better mental training, but they must also have time for study, while they are engaged in their holy calling. Living, also, becomes necessarily more expensive, and it requires more of the time and thought of the householder, to provide for the wants of his family. But, unfortunately, the Baptists of Kentucky kept up the early habit of neglecting the support of their ministers, almost entirely. The subjects of theological education and ministerial support be- gan to be discussed with much interest, among them, and it is probable that the Baptists of Kentucky would have made improvements in these important measures at a much earlier period than they did, if it had not been for the potent opposi- tion of Alexander Campbell, who had gained a great influence over them in the manner before related, and who, in 1823, be- gan a most furious attack on theological education and a "hire- ling clergy," and kept up the disgraceful onslaught, till he was excluded from the fellowship of the Baptists, in 1829.
By this time the illiterate, suspicious and covetous, among the Kentucky Baptists, had all their old prejudices and suspic- ions aroused and intensified against "hireling preachers." Georgetown College had been erected, in 1829, by a few noble Christian men, with an especial view to the educating of young ministers. But the same evil influences rendered it almost use- less, during the first ten years of its existence. It appeared as if all the powers of darkness had arra yed themselves against the Baptist churches in Kentucky, at this gloomy period, for their utter annihilation. Wise and good men felt that something must be done speedily, or the denomination would fall to pieces of its own discordant weakness, or descend to a contemptible imbecility, that would render it a curse, rather than a blessing to mankind.
In this hour of peril, the ever to be honored Silas M. Noel, whom God seems to have raised up, to be used as his instrument for delivering his people from destruction, in the time of their extremity, took the lead in an enterprise, designed to unite the discordant elements of the fractured and discouraged denomina- tion, and to engage them in the more active and consecrated service of the Master. This design was to bring the ministers and leading members of the churches together in solemn coun- cil, when they might devise measures upon which they could
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unite in restoring peace and confidence among the churches, and in building the waste places, and extending the borders of Zion.
As carly as 1813, Dr. Noel proposed to the Baptists of Ken- tucky a plan for forming a "General Meeting of Correspondence," in which ministers and other members of the churches should meet together from all parts of the State, at least once a year; for the purpose of consulting together, as to the best means of of advancing the Redeemer's Kingdom. The proposal was made through the first number of the Gospel Herald, edited by Mr. Noel, and issued in August of that year. The subject was taken up by Elkhorn Association, and de- ferred to the next meeting of that body, that the churches might have time to consider it. The Association took up the subject again, in 1814, and, after discussion, rejected the propo- sition. The subject seems not to have been agitated again, till 1827, when it was proposed, through the columns of the Bap- tist Recorder, edited by Spencer Clack and George Waller, John S. Wilson favored the movement, at this time. But the great excitement on the subject of the Campbellistic heresy, inter- posed an insuperable barrier to carrying it into effect, at that time.
In 1831, the subject of a "General Meeting" was revived. But now, a new difficulty appeared. It was manifest that such a meeting, or convention, in order to effect the ends pro- posed, must be a Representative body, But for such a body hing there was no constituency. It would not do to depend on the churches and associations to represent themselves in a conven- tion in their present demoralized condition. The missionary societies, that had so warmly and liberally supported foreign und domestic missios, before the Christian Baptist "stopped" heir operations, had been dissolved, The first thing to be lone in the new enterprise, therefore, was to form a constitu- ncy for a convention.
Dr. Noel published a call for a meeting of the friends of the nterprise, to be held in Frankfort, on the 11th of December, The personal influence of Dr. Noel, if no higher a hotive, brought together a large assembly. By the request of ic meeting, S. M. Noel delivered a discourse, on the necessity y coulet a common effort amorg the friends of religion, to send the
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gospel speedily and statedly to all the destitute places within the limits of this State, from the TEXT, " Let us nse up and build." Neh. 2-18.
In the afternoon, a society was formed of 153 members, under the style of the "Frankfort Association, auxiliary to the Kentucky Baptist Convention (expected to be instituted)." The association issued an "Address to the Baptists of Ken- tucky," setting forth the objects of the proposed convention, and urging them to form similar associations as speedily as prac- ticable. The following preamble and resolution was passed :
" Whereas, we consider it all important to the interest and well being of the Baptist denomination in Kentucky, that a com- mon effort be made to supply the destitute churches and waste places with evangelical preaching, at stated intervals ; and to ascertain our strength in regard to churches, ministers and asso- ciations, with our annual increase or decrease, to be published for the use of all; and to strengthen our hands, by promoting a better acquaintance among churches and ministers; and to give to each and every church, according to her necessities, the ben- efit of such gifts as have been bestowed upon us, by encourag- ing a system of traveling preaching, in addition to our present plan: Therefore, Resolved, That we invite our brethren and friends throughout the State to co-operate with us by forming similar associations, and to meet by their representatives, in a State convention, that some plan or system may be devised and adopted, to effect the purposes and objects above stated."
Two other associations having been formed, a call was made for a meeting of representatives from the three associations and such churches as might choose to represent themselves.
The meeting was held at Bardstown, commencing March 29, 1832, and continued three days. The following is a list o the organizations represented, together with the names of their representatives :
Frankfort Association-Silas M. Noel, George Blackburn James Shannon, Henry Wingate, George Woods, Georg Ramsay.
Little Union Church, Spencer county-Aaron Bridges.
Green River Church, [now Lonoke] Hart county-Alber G. Maxey.
2d. Church, Louisville-J. B. Smith.
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Georgetown Association-J. S. Bacon, U. B. Chambers, G. W. Eaton, Wm. F. Nelson, P. J. Burrus, John Bryce.
Cox's Creek Church, Nelson county-Isaac Taylor, Joshua Hobbs, Abner King.
Lexington Association-R. T. Dillard, F. F. Sieg, H. C. Thompson.
Salem Church, Bardstown-Samuel Carpenter, A. Graham, George Penny, Henry Gore.
Zoar Church-James E. Duvall, J. S. Eaton.
Ist Church, Louisville-Silas T. Toncray, John Delph, Thomas Parrent.
· Mill Creek Church, Nelson county-Thomas Linthicum, Thomas Lewis.
Bloomfield Church, Spencer county-James Porter, William Davis, S. Clack.
In addition to these, the following ministers, being present, were invited to seats: George Waller, David Thurman, Jacob Lock, Joshua Morris, William M. Brown, and perhaps some others. The whole number of delegates was 34. Silas M. Noel was elected moderator, and Henry Wingate clerk. The meet- ing adopted the following :
CONSTITUTION OF THE KENTUCKY BAPTIST STATE CONVENTION.
ART. I. This convention shall be known by the name of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.
2. It shall be composed of those, and those only, who belong to or are in correspondence with the General Union of Baptists in Kentucky.
3. Any church, auxiliary society or association belonging to the Baptist connection, shall be entitled to three representa- tives qualified as in Article 2.
4. The representatives of the churches, societies and asso- ciations, when assembled in convention, shall have no ecclesias- ical jurisdiction over the churches or associations, nor act even is an advisory council in cases of difficulty between churches ; hor shall they interfere with the constitution of any church or ssociation, nor with the articles of general union.
5. The convention, when met, shall elect a moderator, hree corresponding secretaries, clerk, treasurer, and as many
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other members as the convention may, from time to time, think necessary ; who, together with said officers, shall be an execu- tive board ; a majority may constitute a quorum for business. During the recess of the convention, its business shall be trans- acted by the executive committee, who shall have power to fill vacancies in their own body, and shall submit a report of their - proceedings to each annual meeting.
6. The convention shall, annually, collect and publish a statistical account of the churches and associations in this State, devise and execute plans for supplying destitute churches and neighborhoods with the gospel of Christ, and have the power to disburse monies, contributed by the churches and associations, in the manner specified by the contributors, provided special instructions are sent.
7. All monies contributed by the churches, associations and others to aid traveling preachers and to advance the benev- olent views and objects of the convention, generally, shall be specifically appropriated to those purposes.
8. The convention shall send forth men of tried integrity and usefulness to preach the gospel.
The two only remaining articles relate to the time and place of meeting, and the amending of the constitution. A brief cir- cular letter was appended to the minutes of the Convention, explaining the objects of the institution, as set forth in the constitution. The sum of $190.6834 was placed at the disposal of the convention, and, after passing some unimportant resc- lutions, it adjourned to meet at New Castle the following October.
The only important business transacted at the "adjourned meeting " at New Castle was the adoption of Rules of Deco- rum and the report of a special committee that had been charged with the duty of establishing a weekly newspaper, as the organ of the convention. This duty had been discharged by the establishment of the Cross and Baptist Banner, the first Baptist weekly that was published in Kentucky. The first number had been issued previous to this meeting of the Convention. Uriel B. Chambers was its editor, and assumed all the pecuniary responsibility of its publication, taking the profits of the paper as a compensation for his labors.
The first annual meeting of the Kentucky Baptist conven
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Unpopularity of the Convention.
tion was held at Lexington, beginning May 25, 1833. George Waller preached the introductory sermon. There were present 26 delegates, representing 10 auxiliary associations and 3 churches. The report of the executive committee was en- couraging. Forty commissions had been issued, ten of which had been accepted by the missionaries. Ninety weeks of mis- sionary labor had been performed, and between 400 and 500 had been baptized. The receipts of the committee, during the year, amounted to $595.5212, which was overdrawn by the mis- sionaries, leaving a small indebtedness on the committee.
The second annual meeting of the convention began in Louisville, October 18, 1834. Alfred Bennett of New York preached the introductory sermon. Only 15 delegates were present. Only three churches were represented, the other twelve delegates being from auxiliary associations. The report of the executive committee was gloomy and discouraging. They lament the death, from cholera, of David Thurman, Herbert Waggener, James H. L. Moorman and David Kelly, all friends of the convention, and the last two, in its employ, as mission- aries, at the time of their death. The Treasurer's report showed the receipts for the year to have been only $339. 1712. It was sufficiently manifest, that the convention, which was unpopular from the beginning, was constantly becoming more so. The friends of the organization made strenuous efforts to sustain it. Bnt their efforts were in vain. It was manifestly falling to pieces. Some of the district associations passed resolutions against it, while others were silent on the subject. A new paper, called the Baptist Banner, was started in Shelbyville, edited by J. S. Wilson, M.D., and issued semi-monthly as a rival of, if not in opposition to, " the Cross and Baptist Weekly Journal," the organ of the convention.
An adjourned meeting of the convention was held at Frank- fort in January, 1835. John S. Wilson preached the introduc- aptis amb entio tory sermon. Ten ministers and seven delegates were present. It appears from the wording of the minutes, that the preachers present were not delegates. The finances of the convention unian were less satisfactory than at the previous meeting. For the : pap purpose of enabling the Executive Committee to employ more missionary labor, a call for $1,000. to be raised by $10 sub- conve scriptions, had been made through the papers. The conven-
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tion endorsed the call by a resolution, and $140 of the amount was subscribed, before the convention adjourned. A commit- tee to devise a more efficient plan of itinerant preaching, ap- pointed at the previous meeting of the convention, and consist- ing of John S. Wilson, George Waller, U. B. Chambers, John Scott, Silas M. Noel, and Samuel Haycraft, now made a lengthy I report, in which they lay down seven propositions, or prin- ciples. The first four, they aver had been received by the churches. The remaining three, they attempt to sustain by copious quotations from the scriptures. The four conceded pro- positions are as follows:
First, That the church is the only, and consequently, the highest ecclesiastical authority and government delegated to men by Jesus Christ, the King of saints.
Second, That all other associations or councils, are not only subordinate to the authority of the churches, but can act in no other capacity than to advise or help them in doing good.
Third, That this advice or help, has been long found highly important ; for concert or united strength, has accomplished, by the blessing of God, a thousand-fold more, in the triumphs of the Redeemer's Kingdom than could have been done without it.
Fourth, The special call by the Holy Spirit of God to the work of the ministry; and by the voice of God in the church, the consecrating and sending forth of such men to the great work.
An attempt is made to sustain the following propositions, by scripture quotations :
Ist. That it is the duty of the church to support the min- - istry.
2d. That the call to the ministry includes all the time and talents of the person called.
3d. That [there is] subordination and coincidence in the ar- rangements for systematic labor."
It is difficult to determine exactly what ideas are intended to be conveyed by the language of this third proposition. In- deed, it seems to be the purpose of the writer, as if conscious that he was treading on dangerous ground, to advance very cautious- ly. The scripture texts he quotes to support the proposition would indicate that he was attempting to support the Episco
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pal theory of ministerial co-operation. And the following sen- tence, with which he closes his argument, still further confirms his readers in the belief that he is advocating English Episco- pacy : " Either by office, or by common consent, we see, some one fill the place of Helper, to all the other ministers, as to their arrangements for combined and efficient labors ; and, although we have now no living Apostles, yet the prinicple they acted on must be as necessary now, as then."
We cannot avoid the conclusion, that the term Helder is but another name for Apostle, or, in Episcopal parlance, Bishop, and we are still more fully convinced of this, when we examine the plan of ministerial co-operation, deduced from the above seven propositions, or, rather from the last of the seven. The following is the plan recommended by the committee, and adopted by the convention :
"Let the State be divided, so as to make an Eastern, a. Middle, and a Western division. Let the convention now, and at each Annual Meeting here- after, elect, without nomination, by private ballot, one brother for each division ; who, in point of ' holiness, wisdom, zeal, and Christian influence' in the ministry, shall, by each voter, be thought best qualified to ' help' all the ministers and churches in his division; who shall be denominated the Helping Evan- gelist in the-division of Kentucky. His duty to consist in giv- ing himself 'wholly' to the work; visiting cvery United Bap- tist minister in his division (if possible) at his own house; and by patient continuance in conversation and explanation, help him to engage, in addition to his pastoral duties (if any), with right views and feelings, in the field of evangelical labor ; con- sulting with him as to his wants for himself and family, his means of support, his income (if any) from the brethren, what difficul- ties are left, his prospects of doing good, etc., etc. And if ad- visable, on condition of his devotion to the work as agreed on, and making full report thereof to the Helping Evangelist, he, in behalf of the convention, is to engage to supply those deficien- cies, and make a faithful record of the whole agreement in a book. Feeling at liberty to vary the stipulation in each case, to suit each minister's peculiar circumstances ; always having an eye to the great principle of "economy, self denial and hu- mility," so essential to please God and be profitable to men ;
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all which " to be binding on the convention." Consult, also, and assist in determining the field of labor, make arrangements for great meetings of several days continuance, and if possible to attend the most of them."
Some other particulars are given as to the manner of car- rying out the minutia of this utopian scheme, but they are not necessary to a correct understanding of the plan. How such men as composed this committee could make such a report, or how a Baptist convention could adopt it, must remain one of those knotty questions, with which the phantasms of the human mind is constantly puzzling us.
After the adoption of the Report, the Convention proceed- ed to elect W. C. Buck, Helping Evangelist for the Eastern di- vision, George Waller for the Middle division, and W. C. War- field for the Western division, We are curious to know how these Apostles or Bishops succeeded in guiding the labors, and supplying the wants of "all the united Baptist preachers" with- in the bounds of their respective dioceases, without the aid of civil government, or access to the public treasury, But we shall probably never have our curiosity gratified. The Conven- tion, very properly, dissolved soon after this extraordinary transaction. If it ever published the minutes of another meet- ing, we have not been able to hear of them. This last line of policy, these noble men of God adopted, appears to us a great blunder, and it proved fatal to the already tottering Convention. Yet, they were men of wisdom, prudence, and undoubted piety, and probably made fewer mistakes than would we, under similar circumstances. They doubtless saw their blunders, when it was too late to prevent their evil effects, and were compelled to abandon their cherished Convention. But the cause of Christ was as dear to them as ever, and its wants were as palpable. The Convention had accomplished some good. The atten- tion of the churches had been called to the critical condi- tion of the denomination. The great loss of numbers, sus- tained by the recent schism, was partially estimated. The need of discipline in the discordant churches, had been pointed out. The great destitution of preaching, in large areas of the country, had been made manifest. The Antinomian spirit, and its ruinous tendencies, existing in a majority of the churches, had been forced on the minds of the more intelligent. And,
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Confronting Difficulties. :
above all, the weakness and inefficiency of the ministry, in the existing state of affairs, had been made painfully palpable. " Something must be done," said Dr. Noel, before the Conven- tion was organized. And now that it had failed to accomplish the 'something" needed, and had been dissolved, the same emi- nent servant of God, and many of his godly compeers were re- peating, -"something must be done." No isolated efforts that could be made, could succeed in restoring harmony and pros- perity to the denomination. There must be simultaneous effort, and in the spirit of union and mutual confidence and sympathy, as nearly all over the State as possible, before the desired ends could be attained. A few undaunted spirits, whose names shall be recorded on a subsequent page, determined to make an ef- fort to establish a General Meeting among the Baptists of Ken- tucky. God helped them, and they succeeded. But before giving, a history of that event, we may give a brief review of the condition and wants of the denomination, at that period.
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