Baptists and Disciples in North Carolina, 1840s-90s

Beginning in the late 1840s and culminating in the '70s, the Churches of Christ in North Carolina and certain leaders among liberal Baptist churches in the state set out to promote the unity of all believers through greater cooperation.[1] At the 1849 meeting of the Disciples held at Kinston that year, the delegates appointed John P. Dunn and Josephus Latham, both considered "irenic" ministers, to attend the next gathering of the Chowan Baptist Association. The same meeting of the Disciples was attended by Dr. S. J. Wheeler, a leader among the Baptists of the region. Wheeler announced plans for the opening of a Baptist girls' school. The news was welcomed by the Disciple delegates who recommended patronage of the school, offered to supply two trustees, and invited Wheeler to solicit support among Disciple congregations. In 1854, John T. Walsh, a Disciple itinerant minister, preached for many of the Baptist churches in the Chowan Association by their invitation. Yet nothing like complete merger ever occurred. Not all Baptist leaders favored these developments. Staff writers for the Biblical Recorder, an arm of the Baptists in North Carolina, published several articles criticizing the Disciples. Walsh fired back in the pages of his monthly magazine.[2]

The relationship between Disciples and Union Baptists in North Carolina presents a different picture. Between the late 1850s and early '90s, Disciple beliefs completely took over most Union Baptist congregations. In 1858, ten counties in eastern North Carolina were home to a total of fifty Union Baptist congregations with 4,300 members. By 1892, only thirteen of those churches survived with 442 members. The majority of the congregations and individuals lost by the Union Baptists had been absorbed by the Disciples.[3] And most of the Union Baptist ministers defected to the Disciples. Among them was Isaac L. Chestnutt, Meta's older brother.[4]

Notes

[1] Charles Crossfield Ware, North Carolina Disciples of Christ (St. Louis, MO: Christian Board of Publication, 1927), 98. Ware explains that at the time, members of these congregations were called Disciples of Christ, while congregations were called Churches of Christ.

[2] Ibid., 98-100.

[3] Ibid., 101-02.

[4] Ibid., 106.