For the past couple of months, I have been relating the story of how Baptist churches have joined forces to equip missionaries to carry the Gospel throughout the world. Last month we had the account of Adoniram and Ann Judson who, with their colleague, Luther Rice, galvanized American Baptist congregations and individuals to pool their resources so that these faithful servants could remain on the global mission field. This led to the formation of the "Triennial Convention," which later renamed to the Northern Baptist Convention, and eventually the American Baptist Churches, USA. I have made the point that mobilizing for missions is the strongest cause that has bound us together into a denomination, and I still maintain that it is the chief glue that holds us together. But there are other benefits for Baptists in forming associational relationships, and that story reaches back farther into history.
I was fascinated to learn from Robert G. Torbet that the earliest expressions of Baptist associations actually came from the British Isles in war-time. From 1642-1651, Civil Wars raged between the King and the English Parliament. These came to engulf Wales, Scotland, and Ireland as well. During this time, counties organized themselves to raise money and troops, but also to protect their cities from plundering forces. By 1653, as political tensions calmed down, regiments were told they could stand down in the outlying areas. In Ireland, a good portion of the forces raised were of the Baptist faith, and their churches had enjoyed a time of greater encouragement and mutual support during this time of coordination. Before this time, individual congregations had felt lonely and isolated, and they were not eager to return to such a life. Thus,the Irish Baptists decided to continue their association and began to make contact with Welsh, Scotch, and English Baptists who were also looking to maintain relationships with one another.
It’s important to remember this, because Baptists in America looked back to the associational model of the British and Irish Baptists when forming their own. They, too, needed each other. Please remember our discussions of previous months, when we discussed the painful persecutions Baptists faced in colonies which initially allowed no freedom of religion. Expressing their consciences concerning things like believer’s baptism caused many to be banished, imprisoned, and some to even lose their lives. They felt like strangers in a strange land--they needed other Baptists for reminders that they weren’t alone. And small congregations needed pastoral ministry, as well. That’s another big reason they turned to associational life.
In 1686, Elias Keach arrived in Philadelphia from England. The rebellious son of Benjamin Keach, a prominent London Baptist minister, he wanted to make a life for himself apart from his parents' rules and strict religion. The New World stretched open before him, but how to put down roots and start making a living for himself? He was no Christian, but he had grown up watching a minister go about his duties. He settled on a scheme that was deceitful and contradicted the very reason he left home: he would dress and pass himself off as a minister.
When local Baptists learned whose son he was, they excitedly asked him to preach for them. Elias gathered a congregation together and began to read a sermon which many believe to have been written by his own father. The Holy Spirit took hold of Elias' conscience as his father's words came from his own mouth. The depth of his hypocrisy and sin came crushing down on him; he ceased speaking mid-sermon. He stood there, trembling, as the congregation became concerned that he'd taken ill. When they asked him what was the matter, he burst into tears and confessed the whole charade to the people. He poured out a confession of his many sins and there, in front of them all, begged for God's pardon.
Upon the recommendation of some present, Elias traveled to the Cold Springs Baptist Church, also in the Philadelphia area, and sought the counsel of Elder Thomas Dugan. The compassionate, elderly pastor led him to a sure relationship with Christ. Elias was baptized and quickly grew in his faith. Though he'd started out as a fraud, Dugan and the rest of the church identified strong gifts and speaking abilities in the young man. They ordained him to the Gospel ministry. Keach returned to the people he'd initially deceived and began to preach his own sermons. He did so with a great amount of zeal, and soon he had baptized a sizable number of new believers. The congregation saw healthy growth, and in 1688 the "Lower Dublin Baptist Church" was constituted. This church, also known as "Old Pennepak" (or Pennepack as it's spelled today) still meets today. It celebrated its 335th anniversary in June of this year (2023), and is the oldest Baptist church in Pennsylvania.
Keach's prowess in the pulpit became widely-renowned, and so he also began to travel when he could. He preached in several southeastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey locations. Hundreds were baptized, all of them were initially under the Lower Dublin Church, until they formed four more congregations in their own right. Thus Old Pennepak became the mother-church of several others, and they remained in close association with each other. This nucleus of churches led to the foundation of the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1707. It is the oldest Baptist Association in the country, and still in operation today.
In my article covering distinctive Baptist beliefs (March of last year), I pointed out that Baptist congregations are locally autonomous; i.e., each congregation is its own unit of governance. We answer to no hierarchy of church officials. It might seem surprising, then, that Baptist churches would want to form groups of churches to make decisions together. But, the advantages in forming Associations became apparent to them. The Philadelphia Baptist Association churches had issues to navigate from the beginning. For example, they dealt with the question of whether "laying on of hands" should be given at baptism. It was a gesture symbolizing that the Holy Spirit was being imparted and separating the individual from the world. Apparently it was an issue debated with some passion, and churches dealing with it concluded that they should meet with the Association to seek the mind of Christ together. As Solomon wrote in Proverbs 11:14, "in the multitude of counselors there is safety."
Other matters included church discipline for erring members, whether to continue in fellowship with Baptists who own slaves, the remarriage of widows, musical instruments in worship services, and many others. Congregations decided to seek the wisdom God could bring them through the larger Baptist family in Christ. It should be said, though, that the associational model was different from the hierarchical, connectional plan followed by other denominations like the Methodists. Baptist congregations retained their local autonomy; associations would seek the mind of Christ on an issue and offer advice, but they did not have the power to make their resolutions mandatory. That remains the principle we follow today.
Some of the issues these early American Baptists faced are similar to our own. Churches often get into conflict, and those embroiled in all the painful drama have a hard time finding their way out of it. They sometimes need help from other Christians who have the benefit of objectivity to help mediate the situation. Just as now, they needed some method to qualify and credential candidates for the ministry. The Philadelphia Association would convene to test these candidates, to set educational standards for credentialing -- and to protect member churches from imposters like Keach had been at the beginning!
But because each congregation maintained its autonomy, sometimes the Association was unsuccessful in guarding them from trouble. For example, in the 1720s the Association warned a Baptist church in Piscataway, New Jersey to stay clear of a man who called himself Henry Loveall. The church insisted on installing him anyway. They soon learned, however, that they should have heeded their Associational brothers and sisters. The man was exposed as a complete scoundrel, far worse than Keach. Loveall's true name was Desolate Baker. He had escaped from England, dogged by charges of gross sexual immorality. Adopting a new name in a new country could not cleanse him of his personal demons, however: he was shown to be married to two women, had multiple affairs outside these marriages (including slaves and Native Americans--of particular scandal at the time!) and a case of syphilis into the bargain. Henry “Loveall,” indeed. At any rate, once these scandals were uncovered, the Piscataway church ejected him from their pulpit and, deeply wounded, had to search for another pastor. One would assume that they made better use of the Association's counsel at that point.
Forward to our own day, it is plain to see that the Associational benefits identified by early American Baptists are still in operation. This is why our denomination supports seminaries, and why our Associations set standards to credential candidates for ministry. The American Baptist Churches of Pennsylvania and Delaware set standards for ministerial ethics, and become involved when it is necessary to investigate ministers for misconduct. When charges are deemed credible, it is our Region's solemn duty to remove credentials so that a candidate doesn't have free reign to bring harm to other congregations. On a very positive note, our Region also administers the Academy of Christian Training and Service (ACTS), which provides lay ministers with educational resources and mentoring in order to license them for ministry. I teach a class for this Academy, as does Pastor Mark McCallion. We personally know several graduates of this program; they have gone on to be wonderfully effective pastors.
As Baptist churches continued to spread across the country, the effectiveness of the Philadelphia Baptist Association became widely known and emulated. Baptist Associations began multiplying first in the South, with the Charleston Association in South Carolina (1751) and the Sandy Creek Association in North Carolina (1758), and on into Virginia. New England began to see associations form in Rhode Island (1767), Connecticut (1772), and Vermont (1780). The first association to form in the Mid-Atlantic after Philadelphia was right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania, with the Redstone Association in 1776. New York saw associations formed in the 1790s. By 1800, there were 48 Baptist Associations in the nation.
It is clear that associational relationships among Baptist churches have been greatly blessed by God to plant and equip churches, and to prepare and resource pastors and missionaries. In these troubled times, it often seems a struggle just to keep individual congregations alive and active. But Baptist churches of the past found associations to be great helps to encourage and strengthen each other. It seems, from my viewpoint, that associations have been allowed to dwindle too much. I believe we need to rediscover their benefits; if they have been a powerful tool in God’s hands to build churches so far, I believe they can be today as well.
My sources for this article have been: Kidd, Thomas S.
and Hankins, Barry. Baptists in America: A History. New York, New York:
Oxford University Press, 2015; Kraft, Brandan, "Elias Keach: The Man
Converted by His Own Preaching" Web article, June 7, 2020, https://www.pristinegrace.org/article.php?id=20094; Torbet, Robert G. A History of the
Baptists (Revised). Valley Forge: The Judson Press, 1963; and Torbet,
Robert G. The Baptist Story (American Baptist Training Series, Advanced
Course) Valley Forge: The Judson Press, 1957.
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