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March 6, 1680 the Doors of First Baptist Church of Boston were nailed shut by court order because the Bay Colony was not tolerant of anyone who advocated for believers baptism.  Men and women were banished from the colony and others were put to death. The Baptists in Boston continued to meet outside in the freezing church yard for several weeks until one Sunday they found the doors unlocked so went in to worship with no repercussions.  ABHS has some of the original church records of First Baptist Church of Boston from 1771-1960.

March 4, 1681.  Britain’s King Charles II granted a charter to William Penn who founded Pennsylvania in order to offer religious freedom to those who settled there.  Baptists strongly upheld religious freedom and opposed a state supported church.  ABHS has many tracts and essays from early Baptists defending religious freedom.  The national headquarters of the American Baptists is in Pennsylvania.

 

One Hundred Sixty Six years ago, in 1851, on February 28, Libbie Cilley Griffin was born.  She became the first woman on record to be ordained by American Baptists in 1898 in New York state.  ABHS has her ordination certificate, marriage certificate and many of her sermons and other writings.  She was a Free Will Baptist missionary in India 1873-1876, and again in 1883-1893.

In 1813, On February 27, The Maine Literary and Theological Institution was founded in Waterville, Maine.  Later the name was changed to Colby College.  It is considered a pioneer in higher education because:

in 1833 Students organized the first collegiate anti-slavery society.
in 1871  Colby, previously an all-male New England college,  admitted women.
in 1975  They participated in the first intercollegiate women’s varsity ice hockey game.
in 1983 Colby became the first college to issue e-mail accounts to all students.

ABHS has files on Colby College from 1875 to 1960.

In 1824, on February 25, the Baptist General Tract Society was formed in Washington, DC.  The purpose was to publish Christian Literature and Sunday School materials.  Two years later the Society moved to Philadelphia.  In 1841 the first colporters were appointed to distribute the literature.  Out of this society came the American Baptist Historical Society (1853), The Board of Education and Publication (1888), and eventually the Publication arm was named Judson Press.  The picture above is one of the first colporter wagons.

On February 19, 1812, Ann and Adoniram Judson sailed for India as missionaries commissioned by the Congregational Church (see post on February 6).  Upon arriving in India, they asked the British Baptist William Ward to baptize them by immersion.  Because of the political situation between England and the United States, Americans were unwelcome in India, so the Judsons traveled to Burma where evangelized to the Burmese.  They began translating the Bible into the local language, wrote tracts and made friends.  The picture above shows the house Judson’s lived in, drawn by Howard Malcom in

Seventy-five years ago on Feb. 19, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the order that all those of Japanese ancestry living on the west coast must relocate to internment camps. Even US citizens were subject to the order. Over 130,000 people were involuntarily removed from their homes to camps in Idaho, Nevada, Arizona, Arkansas, Montana and other states. ABHS has accounts of the those who continued to minister to their Japanese congregations in these camps.

On February 16, in 1747, Isaac Backus formed a church with 16 people in Titicut, MA.  He was going against legal requirements.  Backus spoke out for separation of church and state, and was one of the original trustees for Brown University, the first Baptist school of higher learning.  In 1751, Backus became the pastor of Middleborough Baptist church in Massachusetts.   The accompanying photo shown Backus listed as the pastor of Middleborough in the 1790-1795 Baptist Register.  

On February 15, 1679, Boston Baptists met for the first time in a meeting house secretly built as a ‘Brewery’.  ABHS has original church records from four churches in Boston: Bowdoin Square BC, 1840-1876; Central Square BC and Society, 1843-1915;  First BC, 1771-1960; and Trenton Street BC, 1908-1929.  Association Records from Boston date to the mid 1800s.

In 1884, on February 11, nine believers were baptized, the beginnings of the Baptist witness in Estonia. The first Estonian Baptist church was started in Haapsalu in 1884. From that time  Baptist churches have been  planted across the country. The period of Soviet dominion 1940 – 1990 seriously hampered the growth of Baptist churches since religious activities were allowed only in church buildings and leaders were regularly interrogated by the communist state.  Currently the Union of Evangelical Christian and Baptist Churches of Estonia numbers almost 6200 members worshipping in 84 local congregations.  This picture above is from Tartu Baptist Seminary, Tartu, Estonia

An International Scholarly Conference
in Recognition of the Centenary of Professor Rauschenbusch’s Death
will be held at Mercer University, Atlanta, Georgia, April 9-11, 2018

The Conference will coincide with the publication of a new 3-volume critical edition of Prof. Rauschenbusch’s Works by Mercer University Press, edited by William H. Brackney and an international committee of scholars; conference papers will be collected for a follow-up volume.

Confirmed plenary speakers for the conference include Gary Dorrien, Darryl Trimiew, Paul Raushenbush, Paul Minus, Christopher Evans, William Brackney, David Gushee, and Wendy Deichmann Edwards.

Scholars in church history, theology, ethics, economics, political science, law, sociology, American studies and other fields are invited to offer proposals for 30-minute papers (publication length: 4000-5000 words) to be read at this event. These proposals, due June 1, 2017, should include a brief summary of the argument to be made, the theoretical framework, and beginning bibliography, together with a short c.v. Send proposals to Dr. David Gushee (gushee_dp@mercer.edu, 678-547-6457).

Notice of acceptance will be made by July 1, 2017.     The conveners regret that we are not able to pay honoraria or expenses.  For further information about the conference, please contact David Gushee.

 

February 6, 1812, marks the day five young men were ordained for missionary service at the Tabernacle UCC Church in Salem, MA.  Adoniram Judson, Samuel Newell, Samuel Nott, Gordon Hall and Luther Rice were Congregationalists.  Adoniram had married Ann Hasseltine the previous day, and they sailed for India on Feburary 19.  After intensive Bible study during the long voyage, the Judson’s decided to become Baptists. Denied admission to India, they went to Burma where they both ministered until their deaths, Ann in 1826, Adoniram in 1850.  ABHS has Ann and Adoniram’s correspondence, and documentation of their work on Burma.

On February 5, 1631, Roger Williams arrived in Boston from London after 56 days at sea on the Lyon.  He was a Puritan, and later a  Baptist who was expelled by the Puritan leaders from the colony of Massachusetts because they thought that he was spreading “new and dangerous ideas” to his congregants. Williams fled the Massachusetts colony under the threat of impending arrest and shipment to an English prison; he began the settlement of Providence Plantation in 1636 as a refuge offering freedom of conscience. ABHS has many books about Roger Williams and many more of his writings and letters.

February 1, 1877 marks the date that the Woman’s Baptist Home Mission Society was organized with headquarters in Chicago.  ABHS has minutes of their meetings, beginning with the first meeting, and copies of the magazine Tidings, which they began publishing in 1881.

held in conjunction with the ABC/USA Biennial Mission Summit
Portland Convention Center, Portland, Oregon
June 29th, 2017

The Office of the General Secretary of ABC-USA and the Theologians Commission will host the fourth pre-biennial theology conference around the theme The Church’s Public Witness in an effort to foster ongoing, vigorous theological conversations among American Baptist theologians, pastor-theologians, and theological educators throughout the denomination.

The Theologians Commission invites proposals of presentations that address (American) Baptist notions of The Church’s Public Witness. Scholars in social ethics, systematic theology, biblical studies, church history, missiology, and practical theology are invited to offer proposals for a 20-minute presentation. Additionally, panels of three participants may be proposed. Presentations that explore the views and perspectives of under-represented groups are encouraged.

For an informational flyer, click here:  Theologians Conference Call for Papers

January 30, 1864. James Hickey began the First Church of Monterey, the first Baptist church in Mexico. ABHS has foreign missionary correspondence for several missionaries who served in Mexico like George Pixley and Albert Benjamin Howell.  In the beginning Mexico was considered part of the Home Mission effort, and the WAHMS sent many women missionaries (see left).

January 25, 1783: William Colgate (left), founder of American Bible Union, was born in England. He is noted for being a philanthropist and founder of the Colgate Company (1806). ABHS has his papers dating from 1820 to 1850. Samuel Colgate, William’s son, started a library that became part of the ABHS collection.

January 25, 1783: William Colgate (left), founder of American Bible Union, was born in England. He is noted for being a philanthropist and founder of the Colgate Company (1806). ABHS has his papers dating from 1820 to 1850. Samuel Colgate, William’s son, started a library that became the heart  of the ABHS collection.

January 24, 1811:  Sansom Street Baptist Church in Philadlephia was founded with William Staughton (left) as pastor.  ABHS has some of Sansom Street’s original church records and Staughton’s sermon notes (1807-1823) and correspondence (16 letters).