First Baptist Church in Newport
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The United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial (previously known as the First Baptist Church in Newport, Second Baptist Church in Newport and the Second Baptist Church in America) is a historic
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
church in
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
, USA that was founded in 1638–1644. It is one of the two oldest Baptist congregations in the United States and is currently affiliated with the
American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainli ...
. The current meeting house of the church was constructed in 1846.


History


17th century

Around 1638
Roger Williams Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...
founded the
First Baptist Church in America The First Baptist Church in America is the First Baptist Church of Providence, Rhode Island, also known as the First Baptist Meetinghouse. It is the oldest Baptist church congregation in the United States, founded in 1638 by Roger Williams in Pr ...
in nearby Providence, after being exiled from Massachusetts in 1636. In 1638 John Clarke, a minister, from Great Britain, started leading worship in nearby
Portsmouth, Rhode Island Portsmouth is a town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 17,871 at the 2020 U.S. census. Portsmouth is the second-oldest municipality in Rhode Island, after Providence; it was one of the four colonies which merged ...
(Newport County) after he and his congregation were exiled from Massachusetts after disagreements with the Puritan leadership. By 1644 Clarke's group moved to Newport where the current church was founded and the first meeting house was constructed at Green's End within that same year, which was the first church building of any denomination in the colony. The congregation used the building until 1708 when the first meeting house in Newport was constructed on Tanner Street in Newport on the corner of Calendar Avenue, adjacent to the cemetery, which was established on land donated by Clarke. In addition to Clarke,
Obadiah Holmes Obadiah Holmes (1610 – 15 October 1682) was an early Rhode Island settler, and a Baptist minister who was whipped in the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his religious beliefs and activism. He became the pastor of the Baptist Church in Newport, ...
and
John Crandall Elder John Crandall (15 February 1618 – 29 November 1676) was a Baptist minister, born in Westerleigh, Gloucestershire, England and was one of the founding settlers of Westerly, Rhode Island. Biography English roots Crandall was born in 1618 ...
were active in the leadership of the church in the seventeenth century. In 1656, while Clarke was in England — advocating for the Colony's royal charter and
religious liberty Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freedom ...
— a group of congregants broke off from the church to found the Second Baptist Church in Newport, which followed
Six Principle Baptist The Six-Principle Baptists is a Baptist Christian denomination in United States. History The history of General Six-Principle Baptists in America began in Rhode Island in 1652 when the historic First Baptist Church, once associated with Roger ...
(
Arminian Arminianism is a branch of Protestantism based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609) and his historic supporters known as Remonstrants. Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the ''Re ...
) principles in contrast to Clarke's more
Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
theology. (Second Baptist would eventually reunite with First Baptist in 1946, hence its present name.) In December 1671, two members of the church — Samuel and Tacy Hubbard — withdrew and joined with Stephen Mumford, a
Seventh Day Baptist Seventh Day Baptists are Baptists who observe the Sabbath as the seventh day of the week, Saturday, as a holy day to God. They adopt a covenant Baptist theology, based on the concept of regenerated society, conscious baptism of believers by immers ...
(SDB) from England, and others. Their new congregation was the first SDB church in America.


18th century

From 1731 to 1748 John Callendar, a prominent clergyman and author, served as pastor of the church. In 1737 Hezekiah Carpenter and Josiah Lyons donated the current land on Spring Street for a meeting house which was constructed that year.


19th century

The current meeting house was constructed as a replacement in 1846, and the earlier building was eventually moved, then demolished.


20th century

According to the United Baptist Church's website " 1943, the Rev. Lester Revoir, who became the pastor of the nearby Second Baptist Church on Clarke Street, in 1942, added to his responsibilities by becoming the pastor of the First Baptist Church. Three years later, in 1946, the First and Second Baptist Churches merged to form “The United Baptist Church, John Clarke Memorial", the present name of the church." The church steeple was replaced with a smaller version after the 1938 Hurricane.


21st century

The church's current meeting house is located at 30 Spring Street in Newport, Rhode Island and services are held weekly at 10 a.m. with Bible studies held during the week.


See also

*
Baptists in the United States Baptists in the United States make up a large number of all Baptists worldwide. Approximately 11.3% of Americans identify as Baptist, making Baptists the third-largest religious group in the United States, after Roman Catholics and non-denominati ...


References


External links

* {{coord, 41.490296, -71.312000, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-RI, display=title Baptist churches in Rhode Island American Baptist Churches USA 1644 establishments in Rhode Island Religious organizations established in the 1640s 17th-century Baptist churches