“Theology at the very least then is biography. And biography at its best is theology.”
At present, I have the privilege of serving on the American Baptist Churches of Maine’s Committee on the Ministry. This committee features representatives from each association in the region and is primarily responsible for reviewing candidates for ordination in the American Baptist Churches of Maine (ABCOM; a region of ABC-USA). The committee is engaged in other ministry-related endeavors, one of which is an Orientation to ABCOM. Part of this orientation entails a brief historical survey of the Baptist presence in Maine, and my task is to draft the survey transcript.
While the orientation is primarily geared toward incoming ministers, it will be offered to all who would like to learn more about what it means to be an American Baptist in Maine. I would like to share a draft of the transcript with you, entitled “Our Story: The History of Baptists in Maine.”
It is my hope that knowing our history –truly the history of God’s work through Maine Baptists– will help you partner with God in the word He is doing. As this is a work-in-progress, I invite any feedback to be shared directly (jonah@freeportbaptist.org).
Baptist theologian James McClendon once wrote, “Christian beliefs are not simply propositions to be catalogued or juggled like truth-functions in a computer. Rather, they are living convictions which give shape to real lives and real communities. Theology at the very least then is biography. And biography at its best is theology.” The best way to understand Baptist identity and theology then is to look at Baptist history.
“Getting a foothold for a permanent settlement on the coast of Maine was a long and arduous task,” writes Halton Merrill. “Sailors and fishermen had visited Maine’s islands and coves for nearly two centuries before the first settlement was attempted. Such settlement was doomed to failure, because of hardship, severe weather, and resistance from the Natives.” Despite such repeated failure, however, “the Maine settler was determined.” Puritanism was established in Maine as early as 1652, when the Massachusetts Bay Colony purchased the province of Maine from Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Anglican clergymen served the province until 1652; not until Maine became an official state in 1820, was greater religious freedom made possible.
A Baptist church had been established in Boston in the 1600s. Those whose beliefs differed from Puritan theology, however, faced such difficulty that many looked to settle in other areas to practice their religion. William Screven from the Baptist church in Boston thus ventured north to Kittery, Maine but met stifling persecution there. Despite such persecution, however, enough Baptists gathered in Kittery to warrant the formation of a Baptist Church. Thus, the first Baptist church in Maine was formed in Kittery in 1681.
Inflamed with evangelistic and missionary zeal, Hezekiah Smith of Haverhill, Massachusetts later travelled into New Hampshire and Maine preaching at whatever homes would welcome him. In 1772, he arrived at North Yarmouth, where he preached at a number of homes leading to the establishment of a Baptist church there. As Baptist churches began to arise in Maine, they asked for help from the Haverhill Baptist church in Massachusetts; and a man by the name of Isaac Case was sent to establish churches and associations in Maine. Case was sent on a preaching circuit throughout the state; and he and lay preacher, Elder Potter, helped found churches in the Nobleboro, Alna, and Bowdoin area (to mention just a few). Between 1804-1850 over 120 churches were planted in Maine, and many trace their origin to the work of Case and Potter.
Maine Baptists didn’t want to be known simply as “frontier preachers.” They wanted to show the world that they were fully vested, serious, and educated. Education was of vital importance in Maine’s early Baptist history. Pastors began to see the need for formal theological education among the clergy and the laity. John Tripp was called as pastor of Hebron Community Church and while there he founded Hebron Academy (elementary and high school) and Waterville Classical Institute. In time these would join with Hootton Academy and would eventually become Colby University (now Colby College in Waterville, ME).
During the Second Great Awakening (early 1800s), the famous Anglican evangelist George Whitfield preached in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and was heard by a man named Benjamin Randall. Randall later preached throughout New Hampshire working especially among the Baptist churches there. Randall’s preaching was not Reformed/Calvinistic like many Baptists in New England (Regular Baptists) but emphasized God’s offer of salvation and one’s free will in accepting it. Randall’s churches became known as Free Will Baptist Churches, and over time Free Will Baptists and Regular (Calvinistic) Baptists came together (1912-1916) to form the United Baptist Convention of Maine. Such unity gave rise to new ventures, such as Bates College, the first Free Will Baptist educational institution.
The founding of educational institutions was very important for Maine Baptists. Several missionaries were developed at the Waterville Institute, including George Dana Boardman, a key figure who helped develop the Maine Baptist Missionary society in 1804. After being trained in Waterville, Boardman travelled to Burma for missionary work. He died on the mission field and his widow married the famous Baptist Adoniram Judson.
After Boardman, the next Maine Baptist to engage in foreign missions was Sarah Cummings of North Yarmouth. Cummings was the first single woman appointed as a foreign missionary in Baptist history. She was baptized in 1824 and sailed to Burma the year after Boardman’s death (1832). Her missionary activity was so fruitful that an account of her work was written in the Burmese language and was published by the mission press at Rangoon. After serving the Karens for 16 months, Cummings died of jungle fever in August 1834.
What we now call ABCOM was once called the Maine Baptist Missionary Society. This society raised funds for foreign and local missions. A man by the name of John Mason Peck helped raise money to reach Native Americans with the Gospel. Moses and Thomas Merrill (of FBC Sedgwick) later travelled to Michigan and Nebraska to minister to Native Americans there. Such outreach efforts helped unite Maine’s separate societies into one unified missionary society.
As associations began to develop from 1820 on, concerns arose regarding a variety of social issues. Churches thus sought the advice of other Baptists in such matters. As issues became more public and Baptists distinguished themselves, societies began to form within the Baptist movement. One of the first societies, the Baptist Publication Society, distributed literature/material to churches so that congregants could receive proper Biblical and theological instruction. Other societies include the Abolitionist Society, which arose during the Civil War years. Its purpose was to provide information, Biblical and cultural, about what was happening within the US slave trade and how it needed to end. An Educational Society also arose, which sought to support the various educational institutions which had arisen in Maine. A Temperance Society even developed, as the consumption of alcohol was a matter of public and religious discussion.
“Nine full pages were required in the 1929 Yearbook to describe the missionary activities of Maine Baptist women. The emphasis upon their work had come a long way in twenty-five years,” writes Walter Cook. Until 1907 there was no state women’s missionary organization. This changed, however, on October 3 of that year, when articles concerning the formation of a State Women’s Missionary Society were discussed and adopted in Portland. Anna Sargent Hunt was the society’s first president and each of the three phases of missionary work (foreign, home, and state missions) was represented by its own secretary. The work of this society was varied and fruitful and became a pillar of Maine Baptist life.
The history of Baptists in Maine is an unfinished story. It requires you, the next generation of Maine Baptists, to take the baton held and passed by our forebears, and to run your leg of the race with boldness and faith. We welcome you to this mission field that is our great state of Maine. And we hope that in time your names will feature in our story too. Godspeed.
Jonah Bissell
Pastor