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27-776: The Smithville Seminary was a Freewill Baptist institution established in 1839 at the location of the modern Institute Lane in Smithville-North Scituate, Rhode Island . Renamed the Lapham Institute in 1863, it closed in 1876. The site was then used as the campus of the Pentecostal Collegiate Institute , later the Watchman Institute , and then became the Scituate Commons apartments. It was placed on

54-592: A Quarterly Meeting . In 1792 a Yearly Meeting was organized. The "Randall" line itself split into two groups in 1835: 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

81-466: A library and reading room on the second floor, and a large room on the third floor which might serve as a chapel , while the other two buildings served as separate male and female dormitories . The two-mile-long Lake Moswansicut could be seen from the third-floor chapel. The buildings were designed by Russell Warren , the leading Greek Revival architect in New England in the 20th century, After

108-578: A prominent General Baptist theologian and writer, and had signed the 1663 edition of the General Baptists' Standard Confession of Faith. The earliest Free Will Baptists in America developed from English General Baptists in Carolina, who were dubbed "Freewillers" by their enemies and later assumed the name. Two distinct branches of Free Will Baptists developed in America. The first and earliest

135-824: A request for help to the General Baptist Association in England. Though no help was forthcoming, Paul Palmer , whose wife Johanna was the stepdaughter of Benjamin Laker, would labor among these people 25 years later, founding the first "Free Will" Baptist church in Chowan, North Carolina in 1727. Palmer organized at least three 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

162-532: Is not of someone sinning occasionally and thus accidentally ending up "not saved," but instead of someone "repudiating" his or her faith in Christ. Thus " once saved, always saved " is rejected by the denomination. On Perseverance of the Saints from the official Treatise: "There are strong grounds to hope that the truly regenerate will persevere unto the end, and be saved, through the power of divine grace which

189-505: Is pledged for their support; but their future obedience and final salvation are neither determined nor certain, since through infirmity and manifold temptations they are in danger of falling; and they ought, therefore, to watch and pray lest they make shipwreck of their faith and be lost." Free Will Baptists observe at least three ordinances: baptism , the Lord's Supper , and the Washing of

216-624: Is the condition for salvation; hence, Free Will Baptists hold to conditional security . An individual is " saved by faith and kept by faith." In support of this concept, some Free Will Baptists refer to the Greek word translated "believeth" found in John 3:16 in the King James translation. This is a continuous action verb and can thus be read, "that whosoever believes and continues to believe shall not perish, but have everlasting life." The concept

243-573: The Church of England , followed Brownist notions of self-governance of local churches . The notion of free will was a systematic rejection of the Puritan movement , due to its overall religious beliefs and lack of social mobility. Free Will Baptists can be traced to General Baptists from England who settled in the American colonies in the late 17th century. The first Baptists, who originated with

270-923: The Greenville Public Library . Freewill Baptist In 1702, Paul Palmer would go on to establish the movement 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 , specifically Maine , Massachusetts , and New Hampshire . From their beginning, Free Will Baptists, in common with many groups of English Dissenters and Separatists from

297-472: The National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The buildings on the knoll were built in 1839 and comprised a large three-story central building with columns and two wings. The wings, with 33 rooms each, were separated by 20 feet from the main building and connected to it via two-story covered passageways. The central building housed classrooms, offices, staff apartments, and dining facilities,

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324-699: The 19th century. While the movement in the South was struggling, a new movement rose in the North through the work of Benjamin Randall (1749–1808). 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" (Randall would combine the words "free" and "will" into a single word) Baptist church in New Durham, New Hampshire . By 1782 twelve churches had been founded, and they organized

351-820: The Free Baptists. The "Randall" line of Freewill Baptists grew quickly. However, in 1911, the majority of the Randall Line churches (and all the denominational property) merged with the Northern Baptist Convention . Those churches that did not merge and remained Freewill Baptist joined with other Free Will Baptists in the Southwest and Midwest to organize the Cooperative General Association of Free Will Baptists in 1916. Fraternal relations had existed between

378-572: The General Baptist persuasion. 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 finally organized a General Conference in 1921. Many Baptists from Calvinistic Baptist backgrounds, primarily Separate Baptists , became Free Will Baptists in

405-892: 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) and the Cooperative General Association (a mixture of Randall and Palmer elements 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

432-849: The Rhode Island Association of Free Baptists. At the time, the Free Baptists already had two academies, one in New Hampshire (the New Hampton Institute ), the other in Maine ( Parsonsfield Seminary ), and the Rhode Island Baptists desired to have one of their own. Reverend Hiram Brooks was asked to start the school, and raised $ 20,000, all of which he put toward buildings. The entire commitment of these monies to brick and mortar rather than an endowment fund may have caused financial difficulties for

459-527: The Saints' Feet , a rite occurring among some other evangelical groups but not practiced by the majority of Baptist denominations. Free Will Baptist congregations hold differing views on eschatology , with some holding premillennial and others amillennial views. Churches advocate (voluntary) tithing , totally abstaining from alcoholic beverages , and not working on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath . The National Association of Free Will Baptists

486-407: The close of the renamed Lapham Institute, the campus became the site of the Pentecostal Collegiate Institute from 1902 to 1919 and, eventually, the Watchman Institute in 1923. The site became part of the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The buildings were also renovated in the 1970s and converted into apartments known as Scituate Commons. Smithville Seminary was founded in 1839 by

513-402: The institution, as it was unable to support itself through tuition revenue. The first principal was Rev. Hosea Quimby , who had come from the Maine academy to serve at Smithville. Quimby worked for the school, even buying the property when financial trouble struck, until in closed temporarily in 1854 with only 20 students (in 1845, it had an enrollment of over 300 representing 7 U.S. states). It

540-525: The largest of the Free Will Baptist groups to this day. Free Will Baptist congregations believe the Bible is the very word of God and without error in all that it affirms. Free Will Baptist doctrine teaches that God desires salvation for all and sent Jesus to die for everyone. Still, Free Will Baptists believe God has given man the freedom of choice to accept or reject Christ's sacrifice. Faith

567-480: The ministry of Thomas Helwys near London in 1611, 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, name, and an acceptance of the Arminian doctrine . Benjamin Laker was an English Baptist who arrived in colonial Carolina as early as 1685. Laker had been associated with Thomas Grantham ,

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594-681: The new Lapham Institute was named. In addition to its connections to what would later become Rhode Island College , the school had connections to Bates College in Maine , another Free Baptist institution. Its first principal, Benjamin F. Hayes , was called to a professorship at Bates, and his successor, Thomas L. Angell , was also called to a professorship there after two years as principal in North Scituate. George H. Ricker then took over as principal for seven years before being called to Hillsdale College in Michigan in 1874. His successor

621-600: The state's Education Commissioner re-established the Rhode Island Normal School and cut program funding for other institutions. In 1863 the school changed hands and changed its name after a minister and former professor at the school, returned in 1861 to find much of the campus dilapidated and in disrepair. With the Free Baptist Association unwilling or unable to help, William Winsor recruited Congressman Benedict Lapham , after whom

648-405: Was Arthur G. Moulton, a trustee of Bates, who died just over a year after taking the position. He was followed as principal by W.S. Stockbridge, under whom the school finally closed in 1876. William Winsor was the last benefactor of the institute, and when no one replaced him, the school went bankrupt without an endowment to support it. In 1883 Winsor donated the library of the Lapham Institute to

675-642: Was part of the organization of the Chowan church and ministered among the Carolina churches for over 60 years. From one church in 1727, they grew to over 20 churches by 1755. After 1755, missionary labors conducted by the Philadelphia Baptist Association converted most of these churches to the Particular Baptist positions of unconditional election and limited atonement. By 1770, only four churches and four ministers remained of

702-483: Was revived the next year when Quimby rented the property to a Samuel P. Coburn, who became principal, and enrollment again reached over 100 that year. The property was sold to Reverend W. Colgrove in 1857, who operated it for another two years before it closed again, this time for three years. The site of Henry Barnard ’s first Rhode Island Teachers Institute in 1845, the school began giving normal instruction for teachers with public funding in 1867, but ceased in 1871 when

729-463: Was the General Baptist movement described above, known as the Palmer movement in North Carolina, from which the majority of modern-day Free Will Baptists have their origin. The later movement was the Randall movement, which arose in the late 18th century in New Hampshire. These two groups developed independently of each other. In 1702, a disorganized group of General Baptists in Carolina wrote

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