The history of the Charlestown Baptist Church, located in Clark County, Ind., is very strange and sad, but also very interesting at the same time. 34; November 22, 1799.-The Constitution-We, the Church of Christ, on Owens Creek, County Knox, and the area northwest of the Ohio River, in the Illinois Grant, was incorporated as a church on the principles of the Baptist confession accepted in Philadelphia, in the year of the Lord, 1765. About AD 183 the name of the church was changed and called "Silver Creek" instead of "Fourteen Mile".
The articles of faith upon which the church was founded were removed from the constitution, and the result was a schism in the church. Each party met in the church on the usual day for business, but the minority, aggrieved by the action of the majority and its continued insistence on the same, retired to the "Shade" on the 25th of April, 1829. near the great basin, not far from the meeting-house; :lnd here this minority was given the shameful epithet, "71ze Sink-hole Elect.". In June 1837, this "branch" petitioned the Salem Baptist Church to be incorporated as a Baptist church in Charlestown, Ind.
The organization was then called the "Charlestown Regular Baptist Church." The church was organized by the Bethel Association, which then met with the church, and Deacons John McCoy and John McDaneld were messengers.
PART II
Answer-The church thinks it contrary to the gospel and good order for its members to follow false teachers." 34; Order a.-No business that must be done privately, but which the church considers to be of a private nature be considered. ". The mind of the church taken to know what the crime amounted to Decided by a majority that he be excommunicated.
Royce McCoy shall be free to exercise a public gift within the confines of the Church.” Then he visits Kentucky and is asked to preach there, which he does. 34. The only power is with the church.' It is then asked, "Is the laying on of hands essentially necessary for the ordination of ministers. The church says no; but would not object to a course that this or any other church might take."
ISSS (First Saturday) - At Memphis' request, the church agrees to send aid to "establish a church in that place." April 1, 1843 - A request was made that the Church do so. "consider the work of the Baptist Indian Missionary Society. A motion was made to decide the opinion of the church whether Brother Stott [James] is ripe for ordination or not."
II, rS09-"Agreed that in the future the deacons will be willing to pay the ration of ministering brethren who come to visit the church." Answer: The church does not say." It was then presented to the church that a member of the Hebron Church had sued a member of this church at law. 34; Agreed that when it was thought best for the advancement of the matter of religion1, the church holds its meetings alternately in the country in a suitable place."
Robinson, the agent of Franklin College, appealed on behalf of the Colleges, and the church gave him a collection.". 34;a just distribution of the church expenses to be paid each month by the members.".
PART III
The Bethel Society has met with the church five different times and has been entertained by the church since it assumed the name. The church then united with the Brownstown Association, and appeared on its minutes under the name of "Silver Creek Church," until within a few years ago. It still exists, but a membership of only 01le, and has a church building within three miles of the present location of the Charlestown Baptist Church.
34; the financial concerns of the church by raising the necessary funds for temporary expenses," and was held until declared vacant by the church. 28. 1829, John McCoy was released from the office at his own request; and July II, 1829, after the first division, he became and John McDaneld elected to office by minority Lewis McCoy was elected June 1, 1844, to fill the office vacated by John McDaneld, who was dismissed by letter April 6, 1844.
Harrod requests that the church remove him from his position as an elder," and the church adjourned the matter "for further consideration." Aug. John Pettet, James McCoy, Royce McCoy, James Downs and David Drummonds until 1829. John Fisler and wife received letters of dismission on May 26, 1814, to unite with the "Fourteen Mile Church" (this being another church of the same period). named after the organization of 1798, and situated in the same vicinity.) John Petti't was expelled July 9, 1803.
Now the congregation has a regular sermon one Sunday in each month, and sometimes a sermon by one of the students from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Ky. An "evergreen" Sunday school (a Bible school every Sunday of the year) is a point of no little interest and marks some progress for the church. Awaiting His good pleasure, we hope to be admitted, one by one, into our "Father's Triumphant Kingdom;" and join the "General Assembly and Church of the First Born, whose names are written in the Book of Life." For this purpose, we pray, labor and wait; seeing the coming of our Lord and Savior.
APPENDIX
It grieves us to discover that too much of the same spirit ~ seems to be stirred up and stirred up among us, so that it threatens the destruction of the churches. At the April meeting, 1829, of this church, a majority of the church practically renounced their former Creed by vote (though the minutes of that day read somewhat differently), and at the same time (and also before) repudiated it. the practice of the laying on of hands in ordination, without immediately plunging the minority into difficulties and distress". The minority in these dire and urgent needs, with uplifted hands and hearts, solemnly appeal to God, the Divine Author of We exist, for the justice of their cause and the rightness of their course.
In the end, we have to say, no matter how painful the task is, that we are absolutely sure that we are trying to live together longer under the existing circumstances. And let every member of the church be more fervent in prayer, and let him constantly look to the Great Leader of the Church for guidance and protection, in the hope that the Lord will visit his Zion again in his own time with sweet tender mercies. Ro.vcc l\TcCoy, for adoption by the Lost River Association in 1832, but was rejected by a maioritv vote of the hody at a meeting of that vcar.
It was then published at the request of the friends of Mi"ions, with the addition of t.he See page 9'] Immediately after this Circular rejected, will he find the action of the Society relative to it, copied from the minutes of that body for that year.
CIRCULAR LETTER
Let us, when we have opportunity, do good to all men, especially to those of the household of faith. Consider it a privilege and a duty to meet with them, talk with them, and encourage them in the good ways of the Lord. Then let fathers, and especially mothers, be actively and lovingly engaged in instructing their children and youth in the joyful teachings of the gospel.
Here:' is also a profitable field for active and diligent labor of the ministry, and forms an important part of their duties. Give all the encouragement you can to the preaching of the gospel among 'the churches and in needy neighbourhoods; if you pray, try to always pray for preachers, and that the Lord will increase their number, their zeal and faithfulness. Yet every preacher called by the Lord feels bound to preach and do everything in his power to make the glorious gospel known. 0 brothers, would it be wrong?.
They objected to the last clause of the first section, "guard your heart with all diligence." They objected to part of the second section, "and begin and end every day with prayer and other exercises of piety;" and they said they would be hurt with any of their brethren if they made it a fixed rule to pray night and morning. Objected to a part of the fourth section, "have any of your poor neighbors or acquaintances a Bible, try to supply them with one; " and said they did not care a cent whether their neighbors had a Bible or not .
The balance of the let was objected to everywhere; and after a second reading in the Association it was presented by some as "a disgraceful thing", &c. Royce McCoy was rejected by the majority of the Association in 1832 as a result of the Association's man-made institutions. day, or spirit of mission contained within it. McCoy has acted wrongly in permitting the publication of the said letter to be done because of the Society's counsel, * * and the publisher as a Baptist in connection therewith violated gospel practice and should be dealt with by the church to which he belongs.
UBRARY
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