Twelve black Primitive Baptist churches in Edgecombe today

By C. RUDOLPH KNIGHT

A hallmark of Baptist polity is the strong autonomy of individual congregations, a characteristic that has eased, and to some degree encouraged, the many divisions within the Baptist faith that have emerged over time.

If unresolvable conflicts over basic doctrines and practices arose within a congregation, the usual outcome was that the group that disagreed with the church’s current direction would splinter off and form a separate autonomous congregation.

This was the case in the 1700s as Calvinist“Particular” Baptists emerged separately from Arminian or “General” Baptist congregations. Another division among the Baptists occurred in the early 1800s, with the rise of the missionary movement.

In the early 1800s, benevolent and missionary activists became increasingly prevalent among Baptist and other denominations. Although many Baptists strongly supported missionary activity, those who were staunch Calvinists strongly opposed it and as controversy erupted over the issue an anti-mission movement quickly emerged.

Baptists involved in the anti-mission movement became known as Primitive Baptists. The title “Primitive” refers to the original or pure church and faith of the apostles. Their cardinal doctrine is a rigid predestinationism and they reject all auxiliaries not in scripture including seminaries, Sunday schools, and Bible societies in addition to missionary organizations because these outreach programs are viewed as vain and offensive to basic church doctrines.

Primitive Baptist ministers are not formally trained but are simply respected elders of the local congregation to whom God has given the gift of preaching. They are often unsalaried outside of donations from the congregation and so usually have an additional occupation. The local congregation ordains potential preachers only after they have demonstrated their ability. Proving that their vocation is truly inspired from God, Primitive Baptist ministers do not prepare sermons in advance, but provide a spontaneous oration.

According to J. Kelly Turner and Jno. L. Bridgers Jr. in the“History of Edgecombe County, North Carolina,” the conclusion of the Civil War brought many problems for Edgecombe County to solve. One of these was that of the religious freedom of the Negro. In July 1869, the Baptist Association met in Tarboro, and the question was discussed. The argument both for and against erecting distinct Negro churches became very warm. A resolution was introduced and was accepted that the white membership, as before, should control the church discipline and government.

This meant that the Negro, although he possessed political freedom, was to be restricted in his religious liberty. It soon became evident that this did not meet the approval of the Negroes. They grew restless as their desire increased for a separate church organization. Several of the white members were anxious to grant letters of dismission to the colored members in order that they might join some other church or organize themselves into a distinct church of the same faith. On the other hand, the majority disapproved of this plan.

Between 1870 and 1875 the agitation in the churches reached its climax. It became evident that something definite must be done in order to remove the restlessness of the Negro members.

In 1873 the association met at Cross Roads Church, where the question was again called up for discussion. Elder Bennett Pitt, a strong leader of the church, exerted his influence against the Negroes, and the church voted against the measure. It is probable that the Negroes would have rebelled at this time had it not been for some of their white friends and a church regulation that prohibited a member, who was dismissed, from joining any other church without the consent of the congregation. Moreover, many of the members of the white churches were of different views.

Abraham Wooten found a white member of the Baptist Church who was in sympathy with the plan of the Negro organization, and told Wooten if he would petition for a church letter of dismission to join any other church of the same faith and order he would recommend his dismissal. Accordingly, in 1877 Wooten applied for his church letter. It was granted. In 1878 Wooten was ordained in Washington, D.C. as an elder. Wooten returned to Edgecombe County following his ordination invested with new power and fixed purposes. In September, 1879, he erected a church of his own liking. His membership was taken from the white churches. In 1878 Elder John Bell from Washington visited Edgecombe County and preached to the colored people.

In the fall of the same year Bell and Wooten constituted a church in Pitt County, called the Radecue Baptist Church. When Wooten was asked by J. Kelly Turner why the name Radecue was used, he answered, “It signified that God’s people were few in number.”

In 1890 the Negro church in Princeville was built. A church monument with the image of Wooten carved on it was erected to the memory of the Radecue Baptist Church in Princeville. The members that constituted this church came from Autry’s Creek, Sparta, Tyron’s Meeting House, and Tarboro white churches.

Today there are 12 active African-American Primitive Baptist churches in Edgecombe County. They are:

Mount Zion (Princeville), Bethelhem Association Center (Pinetops), Living Hope Church (Macclesfield), Few in Number (Pinetops area), Antioch (Kingsboro), Weaver Chapel Church (Conetoe), Savannah (Conetoe area), Willis Church (Old Sparta), Glorious Hope (Dunbar), Harper (Roberson School area), Seven Springs (Rocky Mount) and Mount Galilean (West Edgecombe area).

For African-Americans, there are no more important places associated with community, history, and identity than their churches.  Especially in the countryside, rural churches, often with adjacent historic cemeteries and/or schools, are extremely valuable places to study and document African-American culture and heritage. With this in mind, the Phoenix Society is in the progress of locating and documenting the history of these important African-American churches in Edgecombe County.



C. Rudolph Knight is a retired educator from Edgecombe Community College. Look for his monthly reports on Edgecombe County's African-American history on the Community page.

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