USA > Massachusetts > Suffolk County > Boston > Concise history of the Baldwin Place Baptist Church, also calendar of the present members, 1854 > Part 1
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Gc 974.402 B65cal 1822089
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01105 8903
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/concisehistoryof00cald_0
A
CONCISE HISTORY
OF THE
BALDWIN PLACE BAPTIST CHURCH,
TOGETHER WITH THE
Kasten Boston
ARTICLES OF FAITH AND PRACTICE.
ALSO AN
ALPHABETICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL CALENDAR 1
a
OF THE
PRESENT MEMBERS.
THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY CHICAGO
PREPARED BY THE PASTOR OF THE CHURCH.
1 .
BOSTON: 1
WM. H. HUTCHINSON, PRINTER.
1854.
1822089
1:
D [ Caldicott, Thomas Ford] 1803-1863.
28441 .14 A concise history of the Baldwin place Baptist church, together with the articles of faith and practice. Also an alphabetical and chronologi v. calendar of the present members. pared by the pastor of the church. Boston, 1854.
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PHELP CARD
Note signed: T.F.C.
0
1061
NOTE .- In the compilation of the following History, the writer acknowledges his indebtedness to Dr. Baldwin's Sermon of June 1, 1824, and to Dr. Stow's Centennial Discourse, particularly the latter; the description of Dr. Baldwin's Character and Labors, and the account of Mr. Knowles's Pastorate, being from the pen of Dr. Stow.
T. F. C.
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HISTORY.
IN the year 1742, some of the members of the First Baptist Church became dissatisfied with the preaching of its pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Condy. They felt con- vinced that he either did not know the truth as it is in Jesus, or that he failed to preach it according to the views of Baptists. So deep were their convictions on this point, that four of them addressed to him the fol- lowing letter.
" To the Rev. Mr. Condy, Minister, and to the Breth- ren of the Baptist Church, Boston :-
" We, the subscribers hereunto, having withdrawn for sometime from the public worship and communion with the said Church, do hereby lay before you the reasons why we absent ourselves.
"1. We have, for a considerable time, been dissatis- fied with Mr. Condy's doctrine, being, for our parts, of the opinion, from the many discourses which we have heard him deliver from the pulpit, and from conversa- tion with him at several times, that he is what we call an Arminian, in that, as we apprehend, he holds to General Redemption, is a Free-Willer, holds a Falling from Grace, and denies Original Sin. We mean by his denying original sin, that he softens, moderates and ex-
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HISTORY OF THE
plains away the guilt, malignity, corruption and deprav- ity of human nature, exactly in like manner as the High Arminian clergy ever do.
"2. We conceive we have just grounds to think that he denies the doctrines of Election and Predestination. If Mr. Condy does not deny these two last-mentioned doctrines, we freely confess that we do not now, nor ever did, nor could understand the scope, drift or design of his sermons, nor of his conversations, when we have heard him discourse on those points of our faith last mentioned. And what further confirms us in our appre- hension that he denies or does not hold election, is this : he publicly owned, at a church meeting, that he never had preached it and believed he never should ; at the same time alleging this as a reason for his conduct, that if he should preach up election, he should thereby offend the greater part of his church. This excuse we look upon as no sufficient reason for his declining to instruct his people in this important doctrine, but rather ought to have animated him, if he believed the truth of the doctrine himself, to set his church right in an article of such importance, and the more so, if it was, as he suggested, that the greater part of his church would be disgusted thereat. We hope we need not take up your time nor our own, in proving to Mr. Condy, or to you, that it is the indispensable duty of a faithful minister of Christ to declare to his church the whole counsel of God, be who will, or how many soever offended thereat; so that we are ready to conclude, as we but now hinted, that Mr. Condy does not believe the said doctrine of election himself.
"3. We are enough dissatisfied with his way of think- ing on that great, that most solemn doctrine of regen-
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eration ; he positively denying that we are passive therein, and whenever we have heard him discourse on the new birth, which we don't remember to be often, we say, to our apprehension, his sermons or discourses thereon were so defective, so ill-grounded, so intermixed with Arminianism, or man's free agency and cooperation therein, and at all times so widely different from what our Lord taught and intended thereby, that we cannot avoid questioning, in our own minds, whether he has ever experienced the saving operation of that most im- portant doctrine in his own soul.
"4. We were sufficiently affrighted at a declaration of Mr. Condy, in one of his sermons, wherein he affirmed that Christians cannot know or distinguish the opera- tion of the Spirit of God upon their souls, from the ope- ration of their own minds. This assertion we look upon to be of the most dangerous tendency,-a striking at the root and main evidence of the Christian's consolation and hope,-a rending of foundations,-a miserable affront to a great number of texts in God's Word. And were there any truth in this presumptuous assertion of Mr. Condy's, would it not make St. Paul himself a downright vision- ary and enthusiast, for affirming to the Christians of his time that the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits that we are the children of God? In a word, we look upon this assertion which we complain of, to be a direct inlet or introduction to Deism and Infidelity, though by no means do we think that Mr. Condy intro- duced it among us with that view.
" What is above-mentioned, which, for method's sake, you observe to be reduced under respective heads, is, upon the whole, the substance of what administered
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HISTORY OF THE
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occasion for our uneasiness and withdrawal from Mr. Condy's ministry.
"Your case and contentedness under Mr. Condy's preaching, your acquiescence in, and attachment to, his doctrines, must necessarily oblige us to conclude, that either yourselves are of the same way of thinking with him, or that for your parts you never observed that he preached in such a delinquent manner as we have now suggested, or else that the above exceptions on which we ground our uncasiness and separation, arc of so trivial a nature, and so inconsiderable, as not to merit your attention, or our separation. .
"We proceed, purposing to be as brief as is consist- ent with the weight of this affair, and our being rightly understood. What we have further to observe, we shall sum up as followeth, and which we desire you will be pleased to attend to.
" If you are, as some of you have often declared, de- sirous of our return to our places in the Church, we do then humbly, and in Christian meekness, and in all sim- plicity of soul, request of Mr. Condy and you, the breth- ren of the Church, for Christ's sake, for the sake of the Baptist Church, and for our sakes, to draw up a Dec- laration of your Faith as to these following articles :-
" 1. Eternal Election ;
"2. Original Sin ;
" 3. Grace in Conversion ;
"4. Justification by Faith ;
" 5. The Saints' Perseverance.
" These we take to be main, essential points. These are the good old Protestant doctrines, taught and re- corded in the articles of the Church of England, which our first reformers from Popery contended so earnestly
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for against their implacable, bloody adversaries, the Pa- pists, and the popishly-affected English clergy of their times. As to other articles of less consequence, if we are not all exactly like-minded, we shall waive such inferior points, and not make a separation for matters of small moment. The Baptist Church, where you at present worship, was founded on this principle-Free Grace-or, to vary the phrase, your godly ancestors, the first found- ers of the said church, were strict Calvinists, as to the points afore-mentioned, nor would they, by any means, as we can prove, suffer a Free-Willer or Arminian, if they knew a person so to be, to join with the church.
"It is high time, we think,-and we hope you will so think, also,-to know what are the principles of the present Baptist Church in Boston, especially, as it is · feared and rumored that this church is, in part, gone off from the faith once delivered to the saints-the faith by which your pious predecessors overcame the world, and which, in them, it is abundantly manifest, worked by love. This, by the grace of God, they held fast in one spirit, and with one mind, being in nothing terrified by their adversaries. In this faith your dear godly fathers lived, we know, exemplary, and died triumphantly.
" We would not be understood to think or mean, by what has been said, that truly because the Baptist Church were once Calvinistical, or that because your godly ancestors were of these and such opinions, there- fore you are obliged to be so too, without searching, proving and thinking for yourselves. By no means. We utterly disclaim such unworthy sentiments. On the contrary, we would have all men use the like liberty as we do, namely, to judge for ourselves. But then, please to observe, if you are indeed, upon further conviction,
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HISTORY OF THE
gone off from those principles afore-mentioned, or if you really never held those points of faith before hinted at, or hold other opinions reverse to them, we say that you ought, we think, in such case, in point of duty, if it is desired of you, generously, openly and above-board, to declare your principles, that so, those who may hereafter have an inclination to join with your church, or others who may perhaps have mistaken your sentiments, and so have withdrawn from you-that such persons, we say, may know your terms of church communion, and there- by, if they approve them, be induced to cleave unto you. We are now willing to return to our former places with you, if we can find that your principles and practices correspond or are the same with those on which (by the grace of God) our church was first founded. But if your articles of faith are in fact opposite, or contrary to those on which this church was at first established, you cannot, we think, justly blame or upbraid us for separating from you (no, the schism will be somewhere else) and uniting with others who are like minded with ourselves, as to the articles above-mentioned.
" Now the Lord give you understanding in all things, and may your hearts be directed into the love of God, and be ready always to give an account of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
JAMES BOWND. JOHN DABNEY. THOMAS BOUCHER. ' JOHN PROCTER.
" Boston, Sept. 29, 1742."
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BALDWIN PLACE BAPTIST CHURCHI.
Appended to this letter, as recorded, is the following additional paragraph, with the sign manual of two other persons :-
" We, the under-written signers, by the grace of God, are fully convinced of our duty to submit ourselves to the sacred ordinance of believers' baptism, and have been desirous to join in full communion with the Bap- tist Church in Boston. But apprehending, from the many sermons which we have heard Mr. Condy preach, that his principles are corrupt and contrary to the great doctrines of grace laid down in the gospel, we dare not, in conscience, apply to him for baptism, nor dare we attempt to join with his church, until we know what principles they are of.
EPHRAIM BOWND. THOMAS LEWIS."
Receiving no reply to the above, and seeing no pros- pect of a remedy, in the month of October they assembled in the house of Mr. James Bownd, situated at the corner of Sheafe and Snowhill Streets, for the purpose of main- taining worship among themselves.
Having followed this course for some months, perceiv- ing no prospect of a change at the First Church, and finding that others besides themselves were desirous of the organization of a second church, it was deemed by them a plain indication of their duty; accordingly, on the 27th of July, 1743, seven individuals (as will be scen by the following extract) met and organized the Second Baptist Church, as follows. However, these brethren not knowing but they were the only persons who still adhered to the doctrines and principles upon
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HISTORY OF THE
which the First Baptist Church was founded, felt that they ought to retain that name, which, by the sequel, it will be seen, they did, and it was not until the lapse of many years that they consented to be called the Second Baptist Church.
In the year 1839, in accordance with a joint petition of the church and society to the legislature, the name was changed to that by which it is now known, namely, the Baldwin Place Baptist Church.
" BOSTON in N. England, July 27, 1743. ( Wednesday, 9 o'clock, A. M. S
" We, the subscribers hereunto, (being, by the grace of God believers, baptized on confession of our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and members of the First Baptist Church, in Boston, New England, ) having, for several weighty and important reasons, (which are set forth in a letter dated September 29, 1742, directed and sent to Mr. Jeremiah Condy, by him to be read and communicated to those who adhere to him and his notions of religion,) withdrawn ourselves from the said Condy and his asso- ciates, because we are fully persuaded in our own minds that the said Condy either never held, or if he ever did hold the great doctrines of grace laid down in the gospel, he is gone off or departed from the same, together with those persons who still adhere to him, as is more partic- ularly set forth by us in the afore-mentioned letter, which said letter Mr. Condy and his brethren have contemned and thrown aside, and have all along denied and still persist in a refusal to give us Christian satisfaction as to those important objections and other very material points laid down in the said letter :-
" We, therefore, through grace, being still inclined
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and enabled to hold fast those great, though now much exploded doctrines of Election, Justification by Faith alone, Particular Redemption, Final Perseverance, and Original Sin, or the total depravity and absolute enmity of all mankind (by their fall in Adam) to God and the Gospel of his Son, until irresistible grace doth change the hearts of those who are the elect of God, on which great and essential principles the Baptist Church in Boston was first founded, and on which last mentioned principles, as they are fully set forth and enumerated in that Con- fession heretofore put forth by the baptized Churches in England, entitled ' A Confession of Faith put forth by the Elders and Messengers of many Congregations of Christians, baptized upon confession of their faith, in Lon- don and the country,' we, the said subscribers hereunto, do now solemnly and in the presence of the great God our Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifer, covenant, engage, profess and declare ourselves to be established, purposing by the Lord's grace enabling us, to continue in the same unto our lives' end. We do therefore, we humbly hope, in the fear and love of God, and we trust with a single eye to the interest of Christ, and for the further increase, welfare and flourishing estate of our said Baptist Church, proceed in the manner and form following, having first set our names hereunto, that is to say-
JAMES BOWND. JOHN PROCTER. EPHRAIM BOSWORTH."
" Wednesday, P. M.
"John Dabney and Thomas Boucher, who were bap- tized in England upon confession of their faith, and who , were sometime since in communion with Mr. Condy and
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HISTORY OF THE
those who yet adhere to him, but being fully convinced that it was their bounden duty to withdraw from them for the reasons afore-given, have this day, as well as at sundry times heretofore manifested their desire to us the afore-named subscribers to be admitted as members in full communion with us, whom they look upon and acknowledge to be the First Baptist Church in Boston, professing themselves to be like-minded with us as to all the doctrines contained in the Confession of Faith afore- mentioned, and we being satisfied as to the truth of their declaration of their being like-minded with us as to principles, and being well acquainted with their Christian-like conversation and behaviour, do unani- mously consent and agree to receive, admit and accept of them as united brethren and fellow-members of the First Baptist Church in Boston.
" Witness our subscription hereunto, the said 27th of July, 1743.
JAMES BOWND. JOHN DABNEY. THOMAS BOUCHER. JOHN PROCTER. EPHRAIM BOSWORTH."
" Our loving friend, Ephraim Bownd, whom we all look upon and esteem to be a believer in Christ, and who was heretofore baptized on confession of his faith, by Elder Moulton, Pastor of the baptized Church of Christ in Brimfield, having testified his desire to join with us and to be admitted as a brother and fellow-member with us, the First Baptist Church in Boston, declaring himself to be fully of our opinion as to the doctrinal points ex- hibited in the afore-mentioned Declaration of Faith, put
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forth by the baptized Churches as aforesaid, and we be- ing fully satisfied as to his faith, and thoroughly acquaint- ed with his life and conversation, do unanimously, and with hearts flowing with joy and thanksgiving, admit and receive him as a dear brother in Christ, and a fellow- member with us of the said First Baptist Church in Boston, signified by our setting our hands hereunto.
JAMES BOWND. JOHN DABNEY. THOMAS BOUCHER. JOHN PROCTER. EPHRAIM BOWND. EPHRAIM BOSWORTH."
" Thomas Lewis, who was not long since baptized by our loving and much esteemed brother in Christ, Elder Wightman, Pastor of the Baptist Church in Groton, in Connecticut, having declared his carnest desire to be united with us, and to be accepted as a brother and mem- ber with us, we do, with one voice, being well informed of his Christian walk and conversation, readily and heartily receive him into fellowship and union with us, members of the Church aforesaid.
" Witness our hands-
JAMES BOWND. JOHN DABNEY. THOMAS BOUCHER. JOHN PROCTER. EPHRAIM BOWND. THOMAS LEWIS. EPHRAIM BOSWORTH."
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HISTORY OF THE
" Wednesday, July 27, 1743, five of the clock, afternoon, the church meeting opened at brother James Bownd's house, and proceeded as follows :-
" It is desired that brother Proctor would act as Scribe to the meeting until such time that we have elected our respective church officers.
" After prayer made and a suitable conference had with each other, it was unanimously agreed that the fol- lowing declaration, mind and intention of us the afore- named brethren of the First Baptist Church in Boston, should be minuted down and recorded, as followeth :-
" That whereas, by the declension of the afore-named Mr. Jeremiah Condy, from many of the fundamental principles held and maintained by our godly fathers and predecessors, the first founders of the Baptist Church in Boston, and by us also, the afore-named subscribers, held and maintained, we have for that reason been obliged in point of conscience to withdraw from any worship and communion with the said Condy and his associates, who still abide with him, and, as we have abundant reason to think, are like-minded with him, and stand culpable of the like delinquency and declension from many great and fundamental truths laid down in the Gospel ;-
" And whereas, it is now near a twelve-month that we have been waiting to observe whether the said Mr. Con- dy and his adherents would accede to or comply with the proposals we laid before them in the letter so often before referred to, and which we were so ardently desir- ous from our very souls that they would listen and respond to, but all in vain and to no purpose, to our great grief and anguish of soul ;-
" And further, being well informed that there are many pious and well-disposed persons, sound in the faith and
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order of the Gospel, who are desirous to submit them- selves to the sacred ordinance of believers' baptism, and to join themselves in full communion with us, and we also ourselves longing to have the Lord's Supper to us administered according to our Lord's command, and the stated times appointed for the celebration thereof by our Church ;-
" We do therefore, unanimously, and with one heart and mind, further proceed and say, that, from the obser- vations which we have made on the conduct, gifts and graces which shine and abound in our beloved brother Ephraim Bownd, and from many fervent prayers, sermons and other spiritual discourses which have many times been uttered and delivered by him in our hearing, to our great consolation and joy, we now do look upon it to be . our bounden duty not to slight or disregard so great a gift as the Lord in his mercy has been pleased to raise up for us in our low estate, but thankfully adoring the rich goodness of God to us ward, to prize, countenance and encourage the same by calling our said brother Ephraim Bownd to the Eldership and ministerial office among and over us ; and we do hereby invite, request and call our said much respected and beloved brother Ephraim Bownd, to the Eldership and pastoral charge over us, the said First Baptist Church in Boston, requesting of him his speedy answer and acquiescence to this our Call, es- pecially considering that several persons for many months last past have been waiting to submit to the ordinance of Baptism, and are still waiting and longing for that ordinance and for the Supper, but are kept off and put back for want of an administrator ; and it is desired that our brother Boucher immediately inform our said brother Ephraim Bownd, with this vote and request of the
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Church. And O, that it would please the Lord Jehovah, our Strength and our Salvation, to look upon us and bless us with all the increase of God."
" Wednesday, the 27th of July, from five of the clock in the afternoon until nine at night, the meeting continues, and the further proceedings of the said meeting are as followeth :---
" That is to say-Brother Boucher, who was desired to deliver the Church's message and invitation to our said brother Bownd, returned and reported that he had deliv- ered the same. Some time after brother Bownd came in, and after prayer publicly made by him for direction, and some retirement to think upon the Church's Call, accepted of the same.
"It is to be observed that some months before the above date, we set apart a day of fasting and prayer, to implore counsel and direction from our ascended Saviour how we should proceed in our low and forlorn estate, beside many weekly meetings of prayer for the same purpose.
" Upon brother Ephraim Bownd's acceptance of the Church's calling of him to the Eldership as aforesaid,
" Voted, That the first Wednesday in September next be set apart by prayer and fasting for the ordination or laying on of hands on our said beloved brother Ephraim Bownd to the pastoral charge over us the said First Bap- tist Church in Boston, and the place by us appointed for the solemnization thereof is Greenwich, New-town, in the Colony of Rhode Island, for the sake of those Elders who by us are invited to assist at the said ordination, and who live remote and at a great distance from Boston ; and further, it is unanimously agreed that Elder Wight- man, of Groton, in Connecticut, Elder Green, of Leices-
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ter, and Elder Moulton, of Brimfield, be sent or wrote to to assist with their respective messengers at the time and place aforesaid.
"N. B. The said Elders, Wightman, Green and Moul- ton, we apprehend to be sound, clear and zealously af- fected to the doctrines of Free and Sovereign Grace, and absolutely averse to the l'elagian and Arminian Tenets."
On the same day they drew up and adopted the follow- ing Church Covenant, " for the information, perusal and subscription of all such baptized believers whose hearts the Lord shall incline to join with us" :-
"THE CONGREGATING OR EMBODYING COVENANT.
" We, whose names are hereafter written, viz., some that it hath pleased God, through the riches of his grace, to call out of darkness into his marvellous light, and to reveal his Son in us, whereby we know that the Lord is our God, and having shown unto us our duty and privi- lege as believers, viz., not only to separate from the world both as to doctrine and practice and worship, but also to congregate and embody ourselves into church state ; and being through grace well satisfied concerning our mutual nearness to the Lord, and standing together in the per- son of Christ, and being brought in some blessed meas- ure into oneness of spirit, being baptized by one Spirit into one body, and being agreed in the great and sublime truths of the Gospel, we do therefore, in the name and fear of the Lord, give up ourselves unto the Lord, and to one another, by the will of God, to walk together as a Church of Christ, in the fellowship of the Gospel, and in the observance and practice of the laws and ordi- nances which Christ hath appointed his New Testament 1
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