Free Will Baptist

In 1702, Paul Palmer would go on to establish the Free Will Baptists in North Carolina and in 1727 formed the Free Will Baptist Church of Chowan. Many Calvinists became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century. With the establishment of Free Will Baptists in the South, Benjamin Randall developed the movement in the Northeastern United States.

Free Will Baptists, as a sub-group originating from the General Baptist (Arminian) strand of the Baptist tradition, follow the notion of self-governance of local churches, like other Dissenters from the Church of England.

History

Free Will Baptists can be traced to General Baptists from England who settled in the American colonies in the 17th century. The early Baptists, who initially started to develop with the ministry of Thomas Helwys at London in 1612, were General Baptists. That is, they believed that the atonement of Jesus Christ was general (for all) rather than particular (only for the elect). It shares a common history and title of the Arminian doctrine.

Benjamin Laker was an English Baptist who arrived in colonial Carolina as early as 1685. Laker was a signer of the second edition (1663) of the Standard Confession of Faith, and had been associated of Thomas Grantham, a prominent Reformed Arminian Baptist theologian and author. The earliest Free Will Baptists developed from English General Baptists in Carolina, who were dubbed "Freewillers" by their opponents and later assumed the name.

Two distinct branches of Free Will Baptists developed in America. The first and earliest was the movement described above, known as the Palmer-line in North Carolina, from which the majority of Free Will Baptists today have their origin. The later movement was the Randall-line, which arose in the late 18th century in New Hampshire. These two groups developed independently of each other.

Palmer-line

In 1702, non-organized General Baptists in Carolina wrote a request for help to the General Association of General Baptists in England. Though no help was forthcoming, Paul Palmer, whose wife Johanna was the stepdaughter of Benjamin Laker, established the first "Free Will" Baptist church in Chowan, North Carolina in 1727. Palmer organized at least two other churches in North Carolina. His labors, though important, were short.

Leadership would descend to Joseph Parker, William Parker, Josiah Hart, William Sojourner and others. Joseph Parker was part of the organization of the Chowan church and ministered among the Carolina churches for over 60 years. The movement grew to over 20 churches by 1755. After 1755, missionary labors conducted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association turned most of these churches Calvinists. By 1770, only four churches and four ministers remained Free Will Baptists. By the end of the 18th century, these churches were commonly referred to as "Free Will Baptist", and this would later be referred to as the "Palmer line of Free Will Baptists". The churches in the Palmer line organized various associations and conferences and organized a general conference in 1921. Many Baptists from Calvinist backgrounds, primarily Separate Baptists, became Free Will Baptists in the 19th century.

Randall-line

While the movement in the South was struggling, a new movement rose in the North through the work of Benjamin Randall. Randall initially united with the Particular Baptists in 1776 but broke with them in 1779 due to their strict views on predestination. In 1780 Randall formed a "Free" or "Freewill" Baptist church in New Durham, New Hampshire (Randall would combine the words "free" and "will" into a single word). By 1782 twelve churches had been established, and they organized a Quarterly Meeting. In 1792 a Yearly Meeting was organized.

The "Randall-line" line split into two groups in 1835:

• The "Bullockites", after Jeremiah Bullock (sometimes spelled "Bulloch" and "Bullochites"), which branched out to a small number of churches in Maine and New Hampshire.
• The "Buzzelites", after John Buzzell.

The Bullockites, mostly under the name "Freewill Baptists", continued in Maine into the early 20th century, while the Buzzellites disappeared shortly after their founding.

In 1841, Randall's Free Will Baptists merged with a similar group, the Free Communion Baptists, to form the Free Baptists.

The Randall-line of Freewill Baptists grew quickly. In 1911, the majority of the Free Will Baptist churches in the Northeast merged with the American Baptist Churches USA. Those churches that did not merge joined with other Free Will Baptists in the Southwest and Midwest to organize the Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists in 1916.

Union

Fraternal relations had existed between the Northern and Southern Free Will Baptists, but the question of slavery, and later the Civil War, prevented any formal union until the 20th century. On November 5, 1935, representatives of the General Conference (Palmer-line) and the Cooperative General Association (a mixture of the Randall and Palmer line at the west of the Mississippi) met in Nashville, Tennessee, to unite and organize the National Association of Free Will Baptists. The majority of Free Will Baptist churches organized under this umbrella, which remains the largest of the Free Will Baptist groups to this day.