January 3, 2021

Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives
Baptists and the American Civil War (with foot Note from Tom: Lincoln’s War of Northern Aggression)

1862 – The New Year brought both peril and promise to Baptists of a divided nation. In the southern Confederacy, some churches, pressured by the loss of male members, the battlefield-wrought devastation, nearness of Union forces, and/or financial struggles, faced closure.

Such was the case with Tidewater Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. With the Union Navy tightening its control of Mississippi’s coastline, life was disrupted for many coastal residents. This month, in 1862, Tidewater Baptist, founded in 1832, fall victim to such Union pressures. Shuttering its doors, the church remains closed throughout the war years. Church records remain silent until 1872.

Meanwhile, far to the northwest, another Baptist congregation is celebrating new beginnings. On May 6, 1855, a group of pioneering Baptists had met in the county courtroom at the corner of Front and Salmon Streets in Portland, Oregon. During this meeting, the First Baptist Church of Oregon Territory had been formed. Establishing a Sunday school the following Sunday, two months later the church had been represented in the local Independence Day parade.

In the years following, the congregation met in rented facilities. During 1861, as Civil War disrupted life to the East and South, First Baptist Portland, OR congregation began construction of their first building. The same month, church members held their first meeting in the building, gathering in the church basement. In the coming months, the turmoil of the distant war and local problems prevent completion of the facility. Finally, the sanctuary was completed in 1870. The total cost of about $12,500.

Not all Baptists, then or later, were equally affected by the Civil War. Many congregations in early 1862 faced a daunting future and some closed to never reopen. Others recovered, while still others, physically removed from war-time destruction, even now, march forward to a better future

Dr. Dale R. Hart, from: “History, First Baptist Church Ocean Springs, Mississippi (previously Tidewater Baptist)

Note from Tom: Have you ever wondered how in this same era that England & France emancipated all their slave without any war? Or have you ever read Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and found it only freed slaves in the southern states and not the northern states? Did you know the largest slave holding city in the world was NYC? And did you know all northern slaves were not released until as late as 1901? Ever ask yourself what was the real cause of the Northern War of Aggression? Your propaganda filled secular state government history books will never provide the answer to these perplexing questions.