STONINGTON UNION BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, (CT) NOT CALVINIST?

 Churches known  as "The Three Baptist Churches of Stonington Ct. who formed the Stonington Union Baptist Association, evidently were Non Calvinist churches. Elder Valentine Wightman started First Baptist, Groton, in 1743, and he was a General Baptist (Arminian). FBC Groton, along with the three churches of Stonington, were the only Baptist churches in Connecticut at the time. Elder Wait Palmer, a General Baptist was chosen as first pastor. Elder Palmer baptized and discipled Shubal Stearns, who founded Sandy Creek Baptist Association. In 1724, Wightman, along with his brother Daniel ordained and installed Rev. Eyres as the first pastor of the First Baptist Church in New York City. Read about that here . This would mean the First Baptist Church of New York had as it's first pastor, one who was in theological agreement with General Baptists, and may not have been founded upon Calvinist principals. It is rare that a Regular Baptist church that was highly calvinistic, would view the ordination of an elder by a General Baptist to be valid, especially one who was ordained pastor of a Regular or Particular Baptist church.

 . In The Baptists of Connecticut, by Thomas Armitage, it says the church was "liberal minded". The casual historian will have passed over this remark but it is a very important one. "Liberal" Baptists were those who held the atonement to be general in nature, as I have shown before. You can read bout it here .

First Baptist. Stonington was also pastored by three generations of Wightmans. There can be no doubt that they did not hold Calvinist views. 

Second Baptist Church had as its first pastor elder Simeon Brown, who was baptized by Elder Wait Palmer, a General Baptist. it was organized in 1765.

Third Baptist Church was founded in 1843 but some sources say 1846.  This church was founded by African American members dismissed from First Baptist  to form a church "of the same faith and order", and was a full member of the association. Read about it here .

From this we can see that the first Baptist churches in Stonington, as well as the first Baptist association in Connecticut, were Non Calvinist. 

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