nineteen hundred and forty-six - Amazon Web Services

THE ROMANCE OF A CENTURY 679
THE ROMANCE or BAPTIST BEGINNINGS IN THE SOUTH
T*JL7 a Z Pe ^ C l ion , in , the North that led t0 the organization of the first
Baptist church m the South.
William Screven, a Baptist from Somerset, England, settled in Kittery, Maine,
where he worked as a carpenter and by personal work won several to Christ
and organized a Baptist church in 1682.
Screven was arrested thrown in jail. He was told he would have to cease
preaching or leave the colony. He too loved liberty better than life. His faithful
with h?^ SGe and agreed to sel1 their belongings and leave the colony
., The5 ^ id 1 so ' and after a few weeks settled on Coopers River near the present
city ol Charleston, South Carolina. Here they were joined by Baptists who had
been driven from England by persecution, and by others from near St. Augustine,
£londa. Together they constituted the first Baptist church in the South, 1683
t rom this church or to this church came many great ministers and missionaries,
among them Oliver Hart, Richard Furman, Basil Manly, Sr., E. T. Winkler.
Chorus:
FAITH OF OUR FATHERS
Faith of our fathers! living still
In spite of dungeon, fire, and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
Whene'er we hear that glorious word!
Faith of our fathers!,holy faith!
We will be true to thee till death!
THE ROMANCE OF BAPTIST BEGINNINGS IN GEORGIA—1772
The story of the first Baptist church in Georgia is similar and equallv
romantic.
• -£ amel ^ Ma r rsha11, a Ba P tist preacher from South Carolina, came into Georgia
in 1772., On Kiokee Creek, near Augusta, Georgia, he preached in the woods to a
few settlers. As he bowed in prayer a constable arrested him and cited him to
appear for trial in Augusta the following Monday.
At the trial Marshall was found guilty of preaching the gospel without being
authorized by the established church. He was told to leave at once and never to
come into Georgia again as a Baptist preacher.
Marshall's wife addressed the court; "May it please your honor, I would like
to ask if we should obey God or man? God has commanded us to preach his
gospel, and we shall do it. He is calling upon you and this constable now to
forsake your sins and cry for forgiveness. Will you do it? Now is the time."
So thrilling and effective was this appeal that both the judge and the constable
were converted. The first church in Georgia was established on the spot
where Marshall was arrested, and the constable who made the arrest was baptized
into its fellowship.
It was most fitting and significant that our great liberty hymn should have
been written by an American Baptist, S. F. Smith.
Chorus:
AMERICA
My country, 'tis of thee,
Our Sweet fathers' land of God, liberty, to Thee,
Author Of of thee liberty, I sing:
Land where To Thee my we fathers sing: died,
. Long Land may of the our pilgrim's land be pride, bright
With From Freedom's ev'ry mountain holy light; side
Protect Let us freedom by Thy might, ring!
Great God, our King!