Recently a celebration of the three hundredth anniversary of the Philadelphia Baptist Association was conducted by the First Baptist Church of Charleston South Carolina. The celebration appeared to be billed as a Baptist family celebration intimating that all factions of Baptist in America could claim kinship with the Philadelphia Association of Baptists. An invitation to participate was extended to many different groups of Baptists, including Primitive Baptists. For a Baptist church to honestly celebrate the Philadelphia Associations birth date the church must be able to trace her roots in doctrine and practice back to the doctrines and practices of the original churches of the Philadelphia association. The Charleston First Baptist church claims to be the church that was started in Kittery, Maine in 1682 which later moved to Charleston, South Carolina. The information concerning this celebration was provided on a website which for some reason has since been deactivated. (www.baptisthistorycelebration.org)

When I first became aware of this celebration, although it had already occurred, I thought that it would be a prudent thing for the true Old line Primitive Baptist to respond, in an appropriate manner, to the organizers of the event. Especially after learning that Elder Lasserre Bradley Jr. was on the planning committee and also represented the Primitive Baptists. His participation in the event was an arrogant assumption on his part that he can speak for the true Primitive Baptists, he does not. In my estimation anyone who has denied the practices of the Primitive Baptists as Elder Bradley has cannot be trusted in speaking for the true church. There were also some from the Baptist reform (Calvinistic) movement participating in the celebration. Elder Bradleys recent interface with the reform movement and his apparent move back toward Calvinism himself would further justify being opposed to his speaking for the Primitive Baptists.

In the study of Primitive Baptist history it will be revealed that the true Church has been ignored or misrepresented more often than not by prominent Baptist historians. More than once an influential Baptist Church whose history many times involves their having once been a Primitive Baptist Church will distort history in their favor. While that may not be the case with the First Baptist Church of Charleston, I imagine that a study of the facts concerning that Church would reveal that they are not the same church in doctrine and practice as the one started in 1682. If they cannot show that they are then they have no right to celebrate as the original church established in 1682. It would be a pleasant surprise if indeed they are still holding to the same principles and practices of the church started in 1682. My skepticism comes from the fact that while there were some Baptist who held Arminian views (General Baptist) prior to the late 1700s there were none that practiced as do the modern missionaries do today. In some writings the first Baptist Church of Charleston is given credit as the mother church of the southern Baptist convention, which adds to the skepticism

The history of the Flint River Primitive Baptist Church of north Alabama which was the first organized Baptist church in what is now the state of Alabama provides a good example of an attempt by others to ignore or distort Baptist history. Having been raised near Flint Church and where I attended services for many years with my father and mother who were members of Flint River Church; I have been privileged to learn a portion of the history of Old Flint Church. Flint River Church and Flint River Association published rebuttals more than once to the false claims of those who tried to distort history. The record will bear out that Flint River Primitive Baptist Church was constituted October 2, 1808 and that Enon Baptist Church was constituted in June of 1809. In the year 1838 the Flint River association declared non-fellowship with the modern missionary movement, its societies, auxiliaries and supporters. In 1840 the Flint River Association Churches withdrew fellowship from Enon church for advocating a perversion of the articles of faith. Enon later became known as the First Baptist Church of Huntsville, Alabama, a Missionary Baptist church.

In the year 1908 which was the centennial year of Flint River Church, the missionary Baptist planned a celebration claiming the years 1808 - 1908 as their anniversary dates. They sent out a leaflet in which they stated correctly that Flint River Church was constituted in 1808 but also stated that she had been out of existence for many years. The missionary Baptist committee leaflet ended with the following statement: "We recommend therefore, that the Baptists of Alabama, for the year 1907-1908, do undertake to raise for missions one thousand dollars for every year of the century." This statement added insult to injury since they not only reported Flint Church dead when she was still alive but also promoted practices contrary to Flint Rivers heritage. In the booklet The history of Flint river Church/Flint River Association 1808-1955, approved by Flint River Church and the Association, the following can be found: When Flint River Church saw this report she was justly offended, because she was reported dead, when she was yet alive, and had a continuous existence ever since her first organization and because a people who differed from her and opposed her in almost every particular claimed her as their ancestor and proposed to celebrate her organization in a manner that was highly offensive to her:"

Flint River church by the hand of their Clerk B. B. Lawler responded to the writers of the leaflet, pointing out their mistakes. He also in an article published in the Primitive Baptist gave this analogy: "Any attempt by the Missionaries to celebrate this year is like a man wanting to celebrate his golden wedding when he has been married twenty years to one woman and thirty years to another one." More of his article can be read in the above mentioned booklet.

The Sesquicentennial celebration (1805-1955) of Huntsville, Alabama occurred in the year 1955. The first Baptist Church of Huntsville, Alabama again attempted to identify herself as having originated from the meeting in Brother James Deatons home in the Big Cove on October 2, 1808. There was erroneous information to that effect published in the sesquicentennial edition of the Huntsville Times newspaper and also in a commemorative album issued by the city of Huntsville. The following excerpt from the booklet mention above gives the response of the Flint River Association and Flint River Church to this new attempt to distort history: "The enfringement of birth-right in the centennial celebration of Flint River Baptist Church in 1908 gave rise to the inclusion of "Who are the Primitive Baptist" in her celebration minute. [Therefore again] "In session October, 1955, at Beans Creek Church, Huntland, Tennessee, the Flint River Primitive Baptist Association ordered a reprint of the Centennial minute. [And in response to false published information:] "A clarifying article was authorized by the Flint River Primitive Baptist Church and was published in the Huntsville Times shortly after the Sesquicentennial Celebration."

The sad part of this historical record is that Old Flint River Church is presently (2007) in danger of losing her identity by accepting practices and fellowshipping others that practice things that Flint church never approved of until recent years. "They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us." I John 2:19