The Grace Proclamator

and Promulgator

"To testify the gospel of the grace of God." Acts 20:24

**PUBLISHED AS A MISSION PROJECT OF PILGRIMS HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH**

February 1, 2002

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In this Issue:

SANDY CREEK CHURCH, SHUBAL STEARNS, THE SIX-PRINCIPLE SEPARATE BAPTISTS AND WOMEN PREACHERS

SOVEREIGN GRACE LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH DIRECTORY

BOUQUETS AND BRICKBATS

CHILDREN'S CENTER: NEW LAND AND LOCATION

ALERT! ALERT!

THE SANDY CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH

Part I

SANDY CREEK CHURCH, SHUBAL STEARNS, THE SIX-PRINCIPLE SEPARATE BAPTISTS AND WOMEN PREACHERS

By Wayne Camp

TEXT: 1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

1 Timothy 2:11-12 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

I recently received e-mail from a very sincere brother who told me that he had researched and traced the church of which he is a member from Kentucky to Ephesus. He went even further and made a claim that I had never heard before. But, let me give you his words.

“I traced these churches from Lexington, KY, to Ephesus; and yes, there is a name for name, pastor to pastor succession of churches in the Baptist lineage.”

Needless to say my heart skipped a beat or two. I have made many pleas for such a lineage and finally one is going to come to me. I promptly wrote and told him that if he had done this and could validate the links in this succession, I would publish it on the pages of this paper regardless of how many issues it took.

After about three weeks, I received the same linage that others have published. There was nothing new in it except that he claimed, “Paul goes to Rome and finds a group of these Jerusalem church members and organizes them into a local body. A local body but part of the whole body originally begun in Jerusalem.” Aside from the fact that there is no way a local, organized body in Rome could be a part of the whole body begun in Jerusalem (unless one holds to a universal church concept), the Brother made a claim that I have never heard before—that Paul organized the church in Rome.

It just happens that I am currently preaching through the book of Romans on Wednesday evenings. And just recently I had pointed out to the congregation that this church was in existence before Paul ever went to Rome. He writes in his epistle to the church in Rome that he had long desired to come to them but was hindered from doing so. Romans 1:13 Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.

For a long time I have wanted to research the chain that several churches have published under the heading of “Our Church Heritage,” “Our Baptist History,” “Antecedent History Pertaining To Church Lineage,” “History of the Primitive Baptist Church from Apostolic Times until its Establishment in America,” “Baptist Succession Back To Christ,” “Links From The First Church in Jerusalem To __________ _________ Baptist Church, Somewhere, Kentucky,” “Extended History Of ________ Missionary Baptist Church,” “The Missionary Baptist Church of __________ ___ and Her Succession Traced Back to the Church Jesus Organized in Galilee,” “The History of ____________ Baptist Church,” or some other similar title. These are some of the “chains” that I have accumulated in recent years and kept for reference. All but two or three of the above named “chains” go through the Sandy Creek Baptist Church of Guilford County, North Carolina.

Just for the record, I believe in true church perpetuity. But, those who rattle these chains that are fraught with several extremely questionable links bring much discredit on the doctrine of perpetuity.

After I received yet another from the kind Brother in Kentucky, I decided it was time to take a look at a few of the links in this chain that is so widely published.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE!

When I read this statement from H. Leon McBeth, I was shocked. “Some women also preached among the Separate Baptists in the South. Martha Stearns Marshall, sister of one Separate leader and wife of another, was known to preach quite fervently.”

When one starts out to research a matter he may be as surprised at what he finds as some of our readers will be when they read this article and others that will follow. Such research can also be depressing for it is sad that many have latched onto these rattling chains without investigating the links to see if they are valid. In all of the files that I have named above (except two or three) and others unnamed, various churches, including several Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptist Churches and two Primitive Baptist Churches, trace their history through the Sandy Creek Separate Baptist Church in Guilford County, North Carolina.

I was surprised and shocked when I began reading to learn that Shubal Stearns’ baby sister, Martha, was allowed to preach, pray in public services, assist in the administration of communion and exhort the congregation of the Sandy Creek Separate Baptist Church. It was a shock to learn further that Shubal Stearns, Daniel Marshal, and most Separate Baptist Churches made a practice of allowing elderesses in their churches who exhorted, preached, led in public prayer, assisted in the administration of the Lord’s Supper, and other duties normally reserved for male members.

Some Baptist historians have sought to downplay this matter. While admitting that women preached and exhorted in the Sandy Creek church and other Separate Baptist churches, they assert that they were not ordained and were careful not to usurp authority over the men.

I have, from very early in my ministerial life, taught that women were to obey our texts in the churches. I have been accused of being a male chauvinist and a woman hater because of my stand but I still believe it to be true to the Scriptures. It has been my contention that women should not teach when men or present. I have contended that only male adults should lead in the public prayers in the church services. I have argued strongly that women are not to speak out in business meetings of the church.

When it comes to women preachers I think that any church that has women preach in their services are at best very irregular and unbiblical. At worst they are plainly heretical. I believe it is even wrong for a woman to say “Amen” in a public worship service. I am not alone in this position.

Needless to say, I was somewhat shocked when I recently learned through research that the Sandy Creek church, through which so many trace their history, encouraged and allowed women to preach in their services. The evidence is abundant and irrefutable on this matter. As God is my witness, I did not know this before I started this recent research. I did not even know that Sandy Creek was a Six-Principle Separate Baptist Church who observed the “nine rites”. I just assumed that it was a Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptist Church since so many of our churches proudly claim it as a link in their “Links From The First Church in Jerusalem To __________ _________ Baptist Church, Anywhere, USA.”

SCRIPTURE PROHIBITS WOMEN PREACHERS

It is not the purpose of the article to refute the notion that women can preach as long as they are not pastors and are not ordained. It would be impossible for a woman to preach in the mixed congregation and obey our texts. 1 Corinthians 14:34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. Paul also insisted that only male adults lead in the public prayers. 1 Timothy 2:8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. For “men” in this verse Paul uses the Greek word aneir [anhr] which means that those “men” in this verse are male adults as opposed to women and children.

I have gathered irrefutable evidence that the Sandy Creek Church and most Separate Baptist Churches did have women to preach.

THE TESTIMONY OF ELDER JOHN SPARKS

Elder John Sparks has written and the University of Kentucky has published a book about Shubal Stearns and his influence on Appalachian Christianity. In that book Sparks confirms that Martha Stearns, youngest sister of Shubal and wife of his assistant, Daniel Marshall, did regularly preach in the Sandy Creek church. He wrote,

Stearns's wife Sarah appears to have been an equally enthusiastic Separate, as were his brothers Peter and Ebenezer, his sisters and brothers-in-law Enos and Elizabeth Stimson and Jonathan and Rebecca Polk, and even his parents. Martha, the "baby" of the family, was especially so, and it is perhaps a testimony of her oldest brother's fondness for her that he often let her take part in worship services in ways usually reserved for men. Described as "a lady of good sense, singular piety and surprising elocution," Martha "in countless instances melted a whole concourse into tears by her prayers and exhortations." On June 23, 1747, Martha married Daniel Marshall, another New Light exhorter from the nearby town of Windsor and the son of Thomas and Mary (Drake) Marshall. Approximately the same age as Shubal Stearns and thus twenty-odd years older than Martha, Daniel Marshall had been wed previously to Hannah Drake, possibly a cousin, who had died relatively young and left him with one son, Daniel. Marshall himself had been converted at the age of twenty and had served the parish church at Windsor capably for many years as a deacon; he appears to have been industrious in a secular fashion as well, successfully managing a large, productive farm in the lower Farmington River valley. After his exposure to the Great Awakening, however, Marshall became as dedicated a New Light enthusiast as were so many in the Stearns family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . At any rate, after 1747 Marshall and his young wife began a phenomenally active joint ministry that would endure through nearly forty years of labor together, the births of several children, and countless ups and downs. It began, oddly, with a then common interpretation of certain biblical prophecies in light of the prejudices contemporary to the age. (John Sparks, The Roots of Appalachian Christianity: The Life and Legacy of Shubal Stearns, Pp. 30-31). [Editor’s Note: This book can be purchased at Amazon.com or from the University of Kentucky Press, http://www.uky.edu/UniversityPress/appalachianrootspr.htm

THE TESTIMONY OF H. LEON McBETH

Of the role of women in the Sandy Creek Church and among Separate Baptists, H. Leon McBeth writes,

Women assumed a larger church role among the Separate Baptists than among the Regulars. In describing the Sandy Creek church, Morgan Edwards said, "Ruling elders, eldresses, and deaconesses are allowed." Similar statements were made about most of the Separate churches. Eldresses and deaconesses assisted at baptisms, especially of women, at the Lord's Supper, and some of the other church rites, as well as visiting among church families, especially in cases of illness among other women. Some women also preached among the Separate Baptists in the South. Martha Stearns Marshall, sister of one Separate leader and wife of another, was known to preach quite fervently. Described as "a lady of good sense, singular piety and surprising elocution, in countless instances [she] melted a whole concourse into tears by her prayers and exhortations." Margaret Meuse Clay and Hannah Lee also preached among the Separates. This aroused opposition among Regular Baptists, who called the Separates "a disorderly set, suffering women to pray in public." This extensive ministry of women later proved to be one barrier that delayed the merger of Regular and Separate Baptists. (H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, Pp. 231-232).

Notice that McBeth, after relating the various activities of women in the church at Sandy Creek and among the Separate Baptists in general, names three women who were known to have preached among the Separates during those early years. They were, Martha Stearns Marshall, Margaret Meuse Clay, and Hannah Lee.

(TO BE CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE)

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SOVEREIGN GRACE LANDMARK BAPTIST CHURCH DIRECTORY

We are continuing to work on updating a directory of Sovereign Grace Landmark Baptist Churches. We appreciate the many who have already contacted us with address and other changes. Basically we are asking for the following information:

Church name, address and phone.

Pastor’s name, address and phone.

E-mail address.

Church WebSite URL

Publications

Bible Schools, Colleges or Seminaries

Preachers in church not pastoring.

Sponsored Missionaries

The directory will be found at this URL:

DIRECTORY OF SOVEREIGN GRACE BAPTIST CHURCHES

Recent corrections have been posted. Please check these for correctness. Any assistance you can give on getting this as correct as possible will be greatly appreciated.

My e-mail address is found several places in the online version of the directory. My USPS address is:

Wayne Camp

2065 Tompkins Ln

Millington, TN 38053-5107

When updated we will print the directory as well as have it posted on the Internet.

For those pastors and churches that do not have Internet access, just send me the requested information and we will check it against the information we have from a previous directory and make necessary corrections.

Bouquets and Brickbats

WWW: It's difficult to believe you use the Bible to condemn others for being Christians and using "HATE" when you do the very thing you preach against! You preach hate!

Bob Williams

EDITOR’S RESPONSE:

Dear Bob,

It is true. I do preach hate, among many other things, including love.

First, I preach that God hates all workers of iniquity. Psalm 5:5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.