First Baptist Church in America
Encyclopedia
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church congregation in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was founded by Roger Williams
Roger Williams (theologian)
Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
in 1638. The present church building was erected in 1774-1775 and held its first meetings in May 1775.
History
Roger Williams had been holding religious services in his home for nearly a year before he converted his congregation into a Baptist church in 1638. This followed his founding of Providence in 1636. For the next sixty years, the congregation met outside in nice weather or in congregants' homes. Baptists in Rhode Island through most of the 17th century declined to erect meetinghouses because they felt that buildings reflected vanity. Eventually, however, they came to see the utility of some gathering place, and they erected severely plain-style meetinghouses like the Quakers.Roger Williams was a Calvinist, but within a few years of its founding, the congregation became more Arminian
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
, and was clearly a General Six-Principle Baptist church by 1652. It remained a General Baptist church until it switched back to a Calvinist variety under the leadership of James Manning in the 1770s. Following Williams as pastor of the church was Rev. Chad Brown
Chad Brown (minister)
Reverend Chad Brown I was one of the first ministers of the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
, founder of the famous Brown family of Rhode Island. A number of the streets in Providence bear the names of pastors of First Baptist Church, including Williams, Brown, Gregory Dexter
Gregory Dexter
Gregory Dexter was a printer, Baptist minister, and early President of the combined towns of Providence and Warwick in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was in New England as early as 1638 when he had a five-acre lot assigned to him in Providence...
, Thomas Olney, William Wickenden
William Wickenden
William Wickenden was an early Anglo-American Baptist minister, co-founder Providence, Rhode Island, and signer of the Providence Compact. Wickenden Street in Providence marks where he originally settled in the seventeenth century and is named in his honor.-Immigration to New England:Wickenden...
, Manning, and Stephen Gano. In 1700 Reverend Pardon Tillinghast
Pardon Tillinghast
Pardon Tillinghast was an early pastor of the First Baptist Church in America and a public official in Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:...
built the first church building, a 400 square foot structure, near the corner of Smith and North Main Streets. In 1711 he donated the building and land to the church in a deed describing the church as General Six-Principle Baptist in theology. In 1736 the congregation built its second meetinghouse on an adjoining lot at the corner of Smith and North Main Streets. This building was about 40 x 40 feet square.
When it was built in 1774-1775, the current Meeting House represented a dramatic departure from the traditional Baptist meetinghouse style. It was the first Baptist meetinghouse to have a steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
and bell, making it more like Anglican and Congregational church buildings. The builders were part of a movement among Baptists in the urban centers of Boston, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia to bring respectability and recognition to Baptists.
Association with Brown University
Central to that movement was the creation of an educated ministry and the founding of a college. The Philadelphia Association of Baptist Churches sent Dr. James Manning to Rhode Island to found the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (later renamed Brown UniversityBrown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
) in 1764. Beginning in Warren
Warren, Rhode Island
Warren is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 10,611 at the 2010 census.-History:Warren was the site of the Indian village of Sowams on the peninsula called Pokanoket , and was first explored by Europeans in 1621, by Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins...
, the college then relocated to Providence in 1770. The college president, the Reverend Manning was called to be the pastor of the Providence church in 1771, and during his ministry the Meeting House was erected "for the publick worship of Almighty God and also for holding commencement in." Subsequent Brown presidents Maxcy
Jonathan Maxcy
Jonathan Maxcy was the second president of Brown University ; the third president of Union College; and the first president of the University of South Carolina.Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts on September 2, 1768, Maxcy was educated at an academy in Wrentham, Massachusetts and...
and Wayland
Francis Wayland
Francis Wayland , American Baptist educator and economist, was born in New York City, New York. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington, D.C., Wayland Seminary was established in 1867, primarily to educate...
also served as ministers at the church. The Brown family that soon gave its name to the University were prominent members of the Church, and descendants of founders of the Church, as well as, the Rhode Island Colony (the second pastor of the congregation after Roger Williams was Rev. Chad Brown
Chad Brown (minister)
Reverend Chad Brown I was one of the first ministers of the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
). Although the university is now secular, in honor of its history and tradition, the Meeting House continues, as it has since 1776, to be the site for Brown University's undergraduate commencement.
Construction began on the building in the summer of 1774, and it was the biggest building project in New England at the time. Due to the closure of the Massachusetts ports by the British as punishment for the Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party
The Boston Tea Party was a direct action by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government and the monopolistic East India Company that controlled all the tea imported into the colonies...
, out-of-work ship builders and carpenters came to Providence to work on the Meeting House. The main portion of the Meeting House was dedicated in mid-May 1775, and the steeple erected in just three days in the first week of June. Notable additions to the Meeting House have included a Waterford crystal chandelier given by Hope Brown Ives (1792), a large pipe organ given by her brother Nicholas Brown, Jr.
Nicholas Brown, Jr.
Nicholas Brown, Jr. , was a Providence, Rhode Island businessman and philanthropist who was the namesake of Brown University.-Biography:...
, the younger (1834), the creation of rooms for Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
, fellowship hall, and offices on the lower level (1819–1859), and an addition to the east end of the Meeting House to accommodate an indoor baptistery
Baptistery
In Christian architecture the baptistry or baptistery is the separate centrally-planned structure surrounding the baptismal font. The baptistry may be incorporated within the body of a church or cathedral and be provided with an altar as a chapel...
(1884). The building was designated a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1966.
Today
In addition to weekly worship services, the Meeting House has hosted concerts, talks, and lectures by world-renowned artists, performers, academics, and elected officials. Brown University continues to hold Commencement services at The Meeting House to this day.Dan Ivins began his ministry in February 2006 as interim and was then called as settled minister on December 24, 2006. In 2001,history professor J.Stanley Lemons wrote a history of the church, entitled FIRST: The History of the First Baptist Church in America
Affiliations
The First Baptist Church in America is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches of Rhode Island (ABCORI) and the American Baptist Churches/USA (ABCUSA). The church actively supports the Rhode Island State Council of Churches, the National Council of ChurchesNational Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
, the World Baptist Alliance, and the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty. Many members have served in various denominational, academic, and divinity school positions, including the presidency of Brown University.
Settled ministers (sometimes simultaneous pastorships)
- Roger WilliamsRoger Williams (theologian)Roger Williams was an English Protestant theologian who was an early proponent of religious freedom and the separation of church and state. In 1636, he began the colony of Providence Plantation, which provided a refuge for religious minorities. Williams started the first Baptist church in America,...
, 1638–39 - Chad BrownChad Brown (minister)Reverend Chad Brown I was one of the first ministers of the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Providence, Rhode Island...
, 1639-before 1650 - Thomas OlneyThomas OlneyThomas Olney was an early minister at the First Baptist Church in America and a co-founder of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.-Immigration to New England:...
, 1639–1652 - William WickendenWilliam WickendenWilliam Wickenden was an early Anglo-American Baptist minister, co-founder Providence, Rhode Island, and signer of the Providence Compact. Wickenden Street in Providence marks where he originally settled in the seventeenth century and is named in his honor.-Immigration to New England:Wickenden...
, 1642–1670 - Gregory DexterGregory DexterGregory Dexter was a printer, Baptist minister, and early President of the combined towns of Providence and Warwick in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. He was in New England as early as 1638 when he had a five-acre lot assigned to him in Providence...
, 1654–1700 - Pardon TillinghastPardon TillinghastPardon Tillinghast was an early pastor of the First Baptist Church in America and a public official in Providence, Rhode Island.-Biography:...
, 1681–1718 - Ebenezer Jenckes 1719-1726
- James Brown 1726-1732
- Samuel Winsor, 1733–1758
- Thomas Burlingame 1733-1764
- Samuel Winsor, Jr, 1759–1771
- James Manning, 1771–1791
- John Stanford, 1788–1789
- Jonathan MaxcyJonathan MaxcyJonathan Maxcy was the second president of Brown University ; the third president of Union College; and the first president of the University of South Carolina.Born in Attleboro, Massachusetts on September 2, 1768, Maxcy was educated at an academy in Wrentham, Massachusetts and...
, 1791–1792 - Stephen GanoStephen GanoStephen Gano was a physician and early pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island.-Early life and Revolutionary War service:...
MD, 1792–1828 - Robert Pattison, 1830–36
- William HagueWilliam HagueWilliam Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
, 1837–40 - Robert Pattison,1840–1842
- James GrangerJames GrangerJames Granger was an English clergyman, biographer, and print collector. He is now known as the author of the Biographical History of England from Egbert the Great to the Revolution .-Life:...
, 1842–1857
- Francis WaylandFrancis WaylandFrancis Wayland , American Baptist educator and economist, was born in New York City, New York. He was president of Brown University and pastor of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence, Rhode Island. In Washington, D.C., Wayland Seminary was established in 1867, primarily to educate...
, 1857–1858 - Samuel Caldwell, 1858–1873
- Edward G. Taylor, 1875–1881
- Thomas Edwin Brown, 1882–1890
- Henry Melville King, 1891–1906
- Elijah Abraham Hanley, 1907–1911
- John F. Vichert, 1912–1916
- Albert B. Cohoe, 1916–1920
- Arthur W. Cleaves, 1922–1940
- Albert C. Thomas, 1941–1954
- Homer L. Trickett, 1955–1970
- Robert G. Withers, 1971–1975
- Richard D. Bausman, 1976–1982
- Orland L. Tibbetts, 1983–1986
- Dwight M. Lundgren, 1983–1996
- Kate Harvey Penfield, 1987–1995
- Clifford R. Hockensmith, 1997–1999
- James C. Miller, 2000–2005
- Dan Ivins, 2006-