What’s In A Name

(Holley Gazette, May, 1998)

“Records of the Baptist Church in Murray”

“Records of the Baptist Church of Christ in Holley Murray Orleans County NY”

“Records of the Baptist Church in Holley Orleans County”

These three suggested names appear on the first page of the church clerk’s records for October 1825. As Silas Everest was the first church clerk he was, most likely, the one who recorded them. There is no record which, if any, of these names was adopted for the first four years of our church’s existence.

But on January 20, 1830 the male members voted to incorporate under the name “The First Baptist Society of Holley and its Vicinity.” After its incorporation two sets of books were kept, the church clerk’s records and the “Proceedings of the First Baptist Society of Holley and its Vicinity.” For the next fifty seven years “society” records were kept along with the more detailed church clerk’s records. The society meetings dealt with the legal and fmancial affairs, while the church clerk’s records detailed the more human and spiritual aspects of the church.

The “society” structure of government changed when, January 10, 1887, the church voted to reincorporate and change the name to “The First Baptist Church of Holley NY.” One hundred and ten years later it is still the name under which we legally operate today. There seems to have been little difference in the way the church carried on its business subsequent to its being reincorporated. The new state laws, passed in 1876, were more specific in their application to Baptist churches. This is probably the reason for its being reincorporated.

Having been the recipients of much persecution in their early history, Baptists have jealously guarded their hard-won freedom of worship and autonomy of the local church. In the 18th and 19th centuries two competing types of church organizations developed, the “centralized denomination plan” and the “society.” Under the centralized denomination plan churches cooperated to launch various forms of ministry. This led to strong centralized authority such as that which was developed by the Southern Baptist Convention, formed in 1845. In the north a national convention was not established until 1907 when the Northern Baptist Convention came into being. The society method prevented any hierarchy from developing and each branch of ministry was independent of the other.

Even today in our “affiliations,” “associations” and “conferences” many Baptist groups tend to shy away from strong “denominational” ties. Our own North American Baptist “Conference”, as was our previous affiliation, The General” Association” of Regular Baptist Churches, illustrate this position. Quoting Curran in 1790 “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” May we guard our freedom of worship and local autonomy with this same vigilance.