USA > Virginia > Henrico County > Henrico County > The first century of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia. 1780-1880 > Part 11
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several Baptist Churches of the city.
Mrs.
John A. Belvin was the first Chairman of the Committee for the First Church. Mrs. H. A.
Tupper is the present Chairman.
The Com-
mittee has raised $1,396.40. The first Vice- President of the Society was Mrs. J. L. Burrows, whose decease was tenderly lamented by the Society. Mrs. H. A. Tupper succeeded to the office. Mrs. J. K. Connally of this Church, was
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the first Corresponding Secretary; and Mrs. J. Temple has been the only Treasurer. Be- sides the support of Miss E. Moon, the Society donated $700 for the house of Miss L. Moon. Recently it has contributed to the support of Mrs. Crawford, of Tung Chow. The handsome amount raised by the Society is $5,405.57.
Young Ladies' Missionary Society.
This Society was formed, May 20th, 1875, as a sewing society. Its first object was City Missions. Aid was afforded to the Venable Street Church. Subsequently its energies were directed to State Missions. A. Bagby, of West Point, and G. Gray, of Craig County, were assisted. November 12th, 1878, Miss Sallie Stein, missionary to China, was adopted by the Society, at a salary of five hundred dollars per annum. Before her departure from this country, the Society advanced to her $355.94. It is proper to state that a missionary society of the Macon, (Ga.,) Baptist Church, of which our former Pastor, E. W. Warren, is the pastor, has contributed fifty dollars to the treasury of this Society. The officers have been as follows :
Presidents-Miss Nettie Pleasants, Miss Sie Pleasants, Miss Sallie Knight, Miss Lelia Berry.
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Vice-Presidents-Miss Sie Pleasants, Kate McCurdy, Lelia Berry, Mary T. Wortham, Ida Hill, Annie G. Tupper.
Treasurers-Mrs. D. O. Davis, Mrs. E. J. Bosher, Mrs. Furman Tupper.
Secretaries-Misses Sophie Bosher and Sallie Hundley.
The amount raised by the Society in five years is some twelve hundred dollars. The Board of Foreign Missions reported to the Southern Baptist Convention, at its past meet- ing, that the action of this Society was " heroic."
Rooms, Officers, Advocates.
I. The rooms of the Board of Foreign Mis- sions were in this house for more than twenty- five years.
2. All the Presidents of that Board, except one, and all of its Treasurers, have been of this Church. The Recording Secretary, a Deacon of this Church, has held his office since 1851, and is the only surviving member of the original managers now on the Board. The Correspond- ing Secretary, who has just published a history of the "Foreign Missions of the Southern Bap- tist Convention," is a member of this Church. With three exceptions, every officer of the
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Board, from its origin to the present, has been of this Church.
3. Need I say that the Church has numbered among its membership some of the warmest friends and ablest advocates of Foreign Mis- sions ?
I have referred to Archibald Thomas, James C. Crane, James Thomas, Jr., and others not of the ministry. Time would fail me to enumerate the many more of this class. I have also re- ferred, among the Pastors, to Joshua Morris, John Courtney, and John Bryce. Only a word with regard to the others. Andrew Broaddus preached every Annual, or Sunday Sermon, of the Dover Association when present, from 1797 to 1843, and significant was his specifying men of such renowned missionary character in an exclamation of his valedictory address to the Rappahannock : " Where are Straughan, and Semple, the brother of my soul, and Luther Rice ? Where are they ?" Henry Keeling was first Vice President of that Foreign Mission body, the Baptist Convention of Virginia, and was one of the founders of the Southern Bap- tist Convention. John Kerr, described by Dr. Jeter as " vigorous in his efforts " for missions, was chosen, in 1836, by the Baptist Convention
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of North Carolina, as the most suitable men to preach the funeral sermon of that apostle of modern missions, Luther Rice. Of Isaac T. Hinton, Dr. Burrows says : "Under his pas- torate here, various societies for missionary and benevolent purposes were formed;" and J. B. Taylor, " whose life was missions," says he was most faithful in proclaiming salvation " to desti- tute churches," and in the then missionary field of New Orleans, he was in his zeal, " self- sacrificing and consuming." J. B. Jeter was the soul of our missionary boards, and may be called the Father of the Southern Baptist Con- vention. What shall I say of Pastors Manly and Burrows and Warren ? There are no truer friends and abler advocates of this cause, as may be said also of the present pastor, J. B. Hawthorne, and our absent brother, the President of the Foreign Mission Board, J. L. M. Curry.
At the close of this period, we may set up our Ebenezer, saying, "Hitherto hath the I.ord helped us."
SUMMARY.
The Church, including Societies and Sunday- school, gives annually to missions some thirty-
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two hundred dollars. From 1813 to 1880 the contributions for this cause, so far as they appear in various records and can be estimated, aggre- gate some $60,310.61. But the moral influence of the Church, in favor of spreading the gospel, has been far greater than its monetary power. Born not only from above, but amid the throes of the human mind, which brought forth the three great forces of modern civilization, viz. : government guaranteeing civil and religious liberty ; the Sunday-school institution; and the present enterprise of Foreign Missions-the Church was expected to embody no little of that aggressiveness which is a prime factor in the progress of the nineteenth century. The expectation has not been disappointed. The Church has kept abreast of the missionary spirit of the age, in its long race of one hun- dred years. But, " Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us ; but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and thy truth's sake."
WHAT OF THE FUTURE ?
At the next Centennial Celebration of this Church, Foreign Missions will, in all probability, be a thing of the past. Our Home Field will then be commensurate with our planet. But
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before this consummation, much labor must be performed. At the present rate of our contribu- tions, some three thousand dollars per annum, our contribution to the world's redemption in the one hundred years would be three hundred thousand dollars.
Dr. John A. Broadus says the Baptists of the South should give this year to missions a million of dollars. What is our proportion ? What should be our aggregate reported at the next centenary gathering ? " Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin that doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."
Let our unceasing prayer be: "Lord, increase our faith ; Lord, grant thy Holy Spirit." And in the day of final accounts, may it be said of The Old First Baptist Church of Richmond, with regard to the execution of the great com- mission to God's people: "SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD."
ORIGIN AND HISTORY
OF
. THE FIRST AFRICAN CHURCH.
BY ROBERT RYLAND.
FIRST AFRICAN CHURCH.
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A BOUT the year 1838 the First Baptist Church of Richmond, then under the pastoral care of Rev. J. B. Jeter, deter- mined, after mature consultation, to build the house of worship, which they now occupy, on the corner of Broad and Twelfth Streets. To this they were urged by several motives. Their old house was becoming too small for the con- gregation. It was not situated in an eligible place. Its architecture, long the sport of its neighbors, was far behind the times. The mixed character of the audience, composed of white and colored people, was thought to mili- tate seriously against the progress of the Church. The colored element was so large, that only a small part of it could be furnished with sittings. Its spiritual oversight was still more difficult to be managed. A large propor- tion of this class, being slaves, could not be
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reached and disciplined, except by persons of their own color. Few of them could attend the church-meetings. And the instructions of the pulpit could not be always adapted espe- cially to their wants. It was quite evident, also, that the new edifice could not be so de- signed, either in size or structure, as to admit the mixed congregation, with any convenience to either class. The interests of both, there- fore, imperatively demanded their permanent separation. But how could this be effected ? Could the Church afford to give up the old house and lot to the blacks, at the very time that she was erecting a new house on a new lot at a cost of some forty thousand dollars ? If she should conclude to relinquish half the appraised value of the old property to the colored brotherhood, would they be able and willing to pay for the other half, at a time when they were just assuming the expenses of sepa- rate worship? Questions still more grave and delicate were yet to be solved. Would the law of the State allow a distinct organization for colored worshippers ? And if the measure were strictly legal, would public sentiment, on some subjects far more potent and more jealous than law, quietly acquiesce in the arrangement?
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These were the preliminary points that had to be adjusted before any decisive plans could be matured. They all required a clear head and a steady hand. And such were the head and hand of the Pastor. His prominent coad- jutors were Richard C. Wortham, James Sizer, Richard Reins, Samuel Hardgrove, and Archi- bald and James Thomas, all but one of whom have gone to their final reward. It was first ascertained, by consulting able jurists, that the law allowed colored persons to be organized for separate worship, provided a white minister should always conduct the worship. On this point, public sentiment was somewhat divided. Some persons were strongly opposed to the measure. Others were coldly in favor of it, but a large majority were indifferent, or at least not disposed to express any opinion, till they could see how the plan would work. The First Church determined to allay prejudice and to guard against danger by appointing a Com- mittee of eighteen discreet brethren to act as supervisors of the African Church. Of this committee, twelve were from the First, four from the Second, and two from the Third, now Grace Street, Church. These were to elect the Pastor, and two of them were to be present
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with him at all the gatherings for public wor- ship. Like all other Committees, this was more easily appointed, than it was induced to attend to the duties prescribed. It is but just, however, to add that some of the appointees, especially of the First Church, did attend regu- larly, in their turn, at all the meetings of the African Church on the Lord's Day.
The pecuniary questions were not so hard to settle. It was decided to have the property appraised and to have it deeded to the colored people, as soon as they should pay rather more than half its estimated value. It was assessed at $13,500. One of the brethren of the First Church, well skilled both in giving and in urg- ing others to give, agreed to collect three thou- sand dollars of this fund from leading citizens of Richmond, outside of Baptist circles. And the colored brethren were informed that they could occupy the old house, as soon as it should be vacated by the whites, and that, on their payment of the remaining forty-five hundred dollars, which they thought they could raise, the property should be deeded to Trustees, to be held by them for the exclusive and perpetual use of the First African Baptist Church. Both these pledges were redeemed, and in the year
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1849 the property was conveyed to its present incumbents, who had paid $5,000.19, principal and interest.
Dr. Jeter drew up the Constitution of the. African Church. It was more Presbyterial than congregational in its features. It provided for the selection of thirty Deacons from the colored members, and of a white Pastor, by the Super- vising Committee, subject, however, to the approval of the whole colored membership. This Board of Deacons, in which vacancies were to be filled by a popular vote, was to be, .in conjunction with the Pastor, the permanent ruling power in the body. But should its de- cisions be unsatisfactory to a certain number of its constituents, provision was made for an appeal to the Supervising Committee. Only twice was such an appeal ever taken. The salary of the Pastor was fixed at five hundred dollars per annum, to be raised by penny col- lections at every meeting. But if these should prove inadequate, the three white Baptist churches assumed the responsibility of supply- ing the deficiency. They were never called on for any aid in this regard, simply because it was not needed.
The humble writer of this paper, then con-
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nected with the Richmond College, was chosen Pastor of the new organization. The motives that led him to accept the appointment were various : 1. He had been preaching every Lord's Day to country churches, but their re- moteness was sometimes inconvenient, requir- ing his absence from home and College about two days of the week. 2. He felt that the separation of the two classes would remove a great impediment from the path of the First Church, and thus indirectly advance its pros- perity in all coming time, and that he had no right to excuse himself from the duty of helping forward so important an object. 3. Since the passage of a law by the Virginia Legislature, forbidding all colored preachers to minister to their people in divine things, he felt that all the: ministers of Christ, and especially those of his own denomination, were called on to put forth new efforts to evangelize the people of color. In fact, slavery, as it existed in all the Southern States, had long been a burden to his mind. Not that he believed it to be, semper et ubique a sin, but that some grievous sins were closely and constantly connected with it. The separa- tion of husbands and wives, and of parents and young children, for mere gain, and the prohibi-
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tion to teach colored children to read the word of God, except under very limited conditions, he regarded as glaring wrongs. He had always seen in slavery, however, the mysterious hand of God leading the African to Jesus, and thus making the wrath of man to praise him. But that negroes, without exception, should be forbidden to preach, however qualified and sanc- tioned by their respective churches, this seemed not only to violate freedom of conscience in regard both to the whites and the blacks, but to attempt to contravene the manifest pur- pose of God in permitting the institution of slavery. In common with all his thoughtful fellow-citizens, he had long been oppressed with these reflections, but the whole subject was too delicate and embarrassing to admit of ventila- tion. The Virginia pulpit has an instinctive aversion to the discussion of politico-religious subjects. And now that Providence had opened a way, for his personal efforts, to elevate an unfortunate race, and thus to mitigate, in some degree, their servitude, this was a real solace to his heart. 4. In addition to these induce- ments, he had long regarded the Christianiza- tion of the millions of Africa as likely to be brought to pass only by the conversion of the
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Americo-African, and by his mission, with the true faith, to the land of his forefathers. If the gospel must be preached " to every creature," how could one, with the vows of Heaven upon him, refuse to enter so promising a field of use- fulness ? If it was his duty to aid the Foreign Mission Board, according to his humble mea- sure, in sending the word of life to the heathen nations abroad, how could he decline to preach that word, at his own door, to a people, many of whom-not all-were practically heathen ? These arguments were too weighty and far- reaching to be counterbalanced by the odium that would certainly be connected with the office of a "nigger preacher." He entered this field on the first Sunday in October, 1841, and was cordially received by the whole congregation. The revised list of actual members contained about one thousand. The thirty Deacons, who constituted the ruling element of the Church, were an intelligent, godly, and highly respected body of men. He verily believes that, in all their religious convocations, they, each and every one, had at heart only their own spiritual culture, the salvation of their people, the peace and order of society, and the glory of God.
Having been often asked what course he
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pursued in discharging his pastoral functions, he has always replied: "I treat the colored people from the pulpit, and in all my presidings as Moderator, and in all my official intercourse, exactly as I would a white congregation, i. e .: with the greatest possible respect." If they were slaves, he thought of them as Christ's freemen, -if free, as Christ's slaves. In truth, brethren, the gospel knows no white, no black, no rich, no poor, no bond, no free, no North, no South, no East, no West. The gospel was devised for man, and man needs the gospel.
There were, however, some strongly marked peculiarities in the congregation, to which the Pastor, of course, aimed to adapt his teachings. He sought to be instructive, rather than pathe- tic-to dwell on the distinctive doctrines and precepts of Christianity, rather than on its metaphysical refinements-to preach out of their minds their dreams and fancies, their visions and revelations, and all their long cher- ished superstitions-and to preach into their minds a knowledge of the great facts of their religion, with its consequent doctrines, obli- gations, and privileges. That this mode of teaching was not wholly ineffectual was shown by the two following representative cases :
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An intelligent-looking man, whose name I did not know, came to me at the close of a meeting one day, and said, with evident con- cern : " Brother Ryland, you've preached away nearly all my religion. What is left is hanging by a single thread." "What is that thread?" I inquired. "Jesus Christ died to save sinners. They must trust alone in him," he answered. " Well, that thread," said I, with a smile, "is strong enough to hold you up."
A lad, about twelve years of age, was pre- senting himself as a candidate for baptism. Among other questions, I asked him why he wished to be baptized. "In Mark xvi. 16," he replied, "Jesus says, 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' I believe in him, and now I wish to obey his command."
Especially did the Pastor labor, with all the plainness and point which our language affords, to impress on them the law of chastity. This he regarded as their great necessity, and he had reliable testimony from themselves that a great revolution on this subject was wrought among them during the years of his ministry with them.
He wrote a Catechism, of fifty-two lessons, for the benefit of the entire congregation. The
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questions were so formed as to require the answer, "yes," or "no," and a passage of Scrip- ture was then quoted to prove the answer. It is believed that much good resulted from mem- orizing at least one proof-text on the various topics introduced into the lessons.
It had long been the habit of many of the attendants to come late to meeting. This habit was not only hurtful to those who indulged it, but it disturbed the quietness of the audience and interrupted the preaching. At first, the pastor thought that the employers might have detained their house-servants so long, as to pre- vent their reaching the sanctuary in time. On inquiry, he found that most of the families, who permitted their servants to come at all, allowed them ample time to secure punctuality. He found, moreover, that when there was a mar- riage to be solemnized, or something amusing to be exhibited, everybody was in time. After trying by moral suasion, very urgently, but in vain for several years, to break up this annoy- ance, he induced the Deacons to pass an order that the church-yard gates should be locked forty-five minutes after the time to begin wor- ship, so as to exclude incomers after the sermon began. This measure seemed harsh, but its
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effect was most salutary. Very few were really kept out, and loiterers were taught a valu- able lesson. The evil being, to a great degree, corrected, the rule was, after six months, sus- pended.
During the last four or five years of his con- nection, the Pastor taught a Sunday-school for children and youth on Lord's Day morning. Although only oral instruction could be lawfully given, yet many valuable ideas were imparted to the four hundred attendants. Many beauti- ful hymns taught, and many striking portions of Scripture committed to memory, could not have failed of happy results.
There were several ministers of respectable gifts in the Church, who, at the request of pri- vate families and by the connivance of the offi- cers of the law, often attended funerals in the city and the adjacent country. But it was thought to be the wisest and kindest course, to keep all the services at the Church strictly with- in the provisions of the law. These brethren, therefore, were never invited to occupy the pulpit. But, as a sort of recompense for this slight, they, and others, were called on to pray, several times, at each religious service. Many of these prayers exhibited great fervency and
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power, and afforded the highest degree of com- fort, both to those who offered them and to those who heard them. The singing by the choir was performed with scientific skill and Christian heartiness, but when the vast con- gregation poured out its full soul in the old- fashioned songs, the long and loud bursts of praise reminded one of the "sound of many waters." There is no doubt but that to these devotional accompaniments-prayer and praise -was due the largest part of the spirituality of the Church, and of the success of the ministry in winning souls. A colored brother was never known to refuse to pray in public when called upon. He did the very best he was able to do, and the Master asks no more. "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
There were usually at our College some twenty or twenty-five young men, studying for the ministry. And, like theologians generally, most of them were not burdened with money. Partly to help their pockets and partly to im- prove their gifts, as well as to get assistance in his arduous work, the Pastor often invited these young men to officiate for him in the afternoon. At the close of a sermon by one of these, Deacon Simms, an excellent man, was requested
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to follow with prayer. He offered up a devout petition to God for his blessing on the truths just delivered, and for large grace "on our stripling young brother that is trying to learn how to preach."
The good order of the congregation was re- markable-for its size, it was wonderful. Dur- ing the twenty-four years of his ministry among them, the Pastor did not see a single instance of a group of persons, young or old, engaged in talking and laughing during public worship.
The financial business was divided among several Committees, who, having collected the funds and distributed them to their appropriate objects, made to the Church quarterly reports of their respective doings. These reports were uniformly entered on the church records. The Pastor, who also acted as clerk, recollects no instance of a single report being not ready when called for, or having an error in the ad- ditions-or a conflict between the "balance in hand" at the close of one quarter and its en- trance on the report for the next quarter. He believes that no defalcation occurred, or was even suspected, in the handling of these funds. His salary, with the exception of the first two years, when the training process was incom-
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plete, was cheerfully and promptly paid at the close of every quarter. "Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
In the year 1846, the Second African Church was constituted under the auspices of the Sec- ond Baptist Church. So far as my knowledge extends, this body has enjoyed a high degree of prosperity. One of its leading members once complained to me so bitterly of his pastor that it seemed proper to suggest that he should be requested to resign. "We have offered him his resignation," said he, "but he would not accept it."
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