First Baptist Church, New York

We know from history that there were three attempts to start a Baptist church in New York. The first attempt to plant a church was made in the year 1709 by a Baptist minister from Rhode Island by the name of Wickenden. We know two things about the ministry of Wickenden.  First is that he preached in New York for about two years with no apparent success from a human standpoint. We also know he stood firm on the principle of freedom of conscience and suffered for his stand. In 1712, he was imprisoned for three months for preaching the gospel message without a license.

Mr. Whitman from Connecticut came to New York in 1712 and preached until 1715.  During that time the work grew with several professions of faith, baptisms and at least one man named Mr. Ayres, surrendering to preach the Gospel. In 1724 the group of people soon organized into a church. Their first official act was to call Mr. Ayres as their pastor. He remained pastor until 1731 when he moved to Newport, Rhode Island. Shortly after this, the church went through hard times and ceased to exist.

The third and lasting work was the First Baptist Church, New York City. This work originated in 1745, when Jeremiah Dodge, a member of the Fishkill Baptist Church, moved to New York and opened his house for public worship. According to an article written by S. H. Cone, 1846  "Elder, Benjamin Miller, of New Jersey, preached here in that year, and baptized Joseph Meeks, who continued to be a very valuable member of the First Church until the 6th of October, 1782, when he died, aged 73 years. Robert North, and a few others who had belonged to the Arminian Church, having learned the way of the Lord more perfectly, now united with brethren Dodge and Meeks to sustain the Baptist cause. Mr. John Pine, a Licentiate of the Fishkill Church, preached for them until l750, when he died.”  In 1753 the mission work decided to become a branch of Scotch Plains Baptist Church, New Jersey. Benjamin Miller had first preached in the mission work in the home of Jeremiah Dodge and baptized their first converts.  The Lord blessed the mission work and it grew under the preaching of Benjamin Miller. On March 14, 1760, the mission was able to begin meeting in a church house they had built. The church then called a friend of Benjamin Miller to be their pastor, Brother John Gano, pastor of Morristown Church, New Jersey. He agreed to the call if they would give him liberty to fulfill previous commitments, which they did.

On June 19, 1762, the records show "twenty-seven members of Scotch Plains, having received previously letters of dismission, were publicly recognized as an independent Gospel Church. Brethren Miller and Gano conducted the religious exercises upon this interesting occasion; the latter was received into the fellowship of the Church, the same day upon the credit of his letter of dismission from the Yadkin Church, and entered immediately upon his pastoral charge. Many flocked together to hear him preach Christ crucified; in two or three years, the number of members exceeded two hundred; the meeting house was considerably enlarged, so as to measure fifty-two feet by forty two, and was then too small for the congregation."

The records of Scotch Plains Baptist Church show the following to be the charter membership of First Baptist Church New York:  John Carman, Jeremiah Dodge, Andrew Thompson, Samuel Edmonds, John Degray, Elias Balis, Jos. Meeks, Wm. Colegrove, Samuel Dodge, Catherine Degray, Mary Stillwell, Hannah Hayton, Hannah French, Mary Murphy, Margaret Dodge, Sarah Meeks, Sarah Thompson, Jane Calwell, Mary Edmonds, Susannah Mires, Ruth Perine, Mary Smith, Eliza VanDike, Mary Simmons, Rachel Williams, and Catherine Leonard, who had received letters of dismission for the purpose from this church organized the first regular Baptist church of New York City.

The First Baptist Church of New York has a very interesting history.  Here are a few interesting facts taken from their web page.  “The British occupation of the city during the Revolutionary War nearly destroyed the church. Because the pastor and many of its members had joined the Revolution, the British used the building as a horse stable. Gano served as chaplain to Colonel Webb, General Clinton and later General Washington. The present building is located on the site of the ambush of Gano’s regiment as they fled after defeats on Long Island to join Washington. When the Treaty of Peace celebration took place in Newburgh, Washington called on Gano to offer the prayer of thanksgiving. Washington also requested Gano to baptize him because he had studied the Scriptures and concluded that as a believer he should be immersed.”

On his return to the city, Gano found thirty-seven members. They immediately restored the church building, and within a few years had grown back to two hundred members. Gano left for Kentucky in 1788 because the government offered the former soldiers land of the frontier. There he started several Baptist churches. Gano was also a founder of the Baptist Brown University in Rhode Island.

“In 1802 the church had to tear down its building and built a new stone structure on Gold Street. Under the leadership of Dr. Spencer Cone, the church relocated in 1842 to Elizabeth and Broome St., a gothic structure still used as a church today. The church began to outgrow that facility, and, under the leadership of Dr. Thomas Anderson, moved to the corner of 39th Street and Park Avenue.  A magnificent gothic brown stone building was constructed, along with a separate Bible School building. 

“Six years after the arrival of Dr. I. M. Haldeman as pastor, the church relocated to its present facility. With a growing congregation, and many moving to the Upper West Side, this site at 79th Street and Broadway seemed more favorable. Haldeman was also assured by the city that a subway station would be located at our corner.

“Altogether, 19 pastors have served the church. Two were noted as chaplains of the U.S. Congress. Two served as college presidents. Two founded colleges. Together they have written over 300 books. Many have served in leadership roles of our Baptist denomination and other Christian associations. All have held to the fundamental truths of the Word of God."

A Political Pause

With all the hoop-la surrounding the Republican National Convention and the gearing up for the Democratic National Convention, it is a good time to pause, breathe, and think instead of just responding to the well scripted speeches, timely pictures, and emotion grabbing music.  Can we pause for a minute and THINK?

This nation was founded upon the Biblical principle of freedom, a long held Baptist principle of conscience.  As Dr. B.H. Carroll explains:

This follows from individual responsibility. If one be responsible for himself, there must be no restraint or constraint of his conscience. Neither parent, nor government, nor church, may usurp the prerogative of God as Lord of the conscience. God himself does not coerce the will. His people are volunteers, not conscripts. As has been stated, the prevalent theory in the days of the Reformation was: Whose is the government—his is the religion. Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, signed by his grandfather, the great Henry of Navarre. Calvin burned Servetus at the stake. Luther loosed all the hounds of persecution upon the Baptists in his day. Holland, the little republic that tore her lowlands from the ocean flood, and for eighty years, by pike and dike, repelled the Spaniard with his Inquisition, did herself destroy her greatest statesman, John of Barneveldt, and banish her great historian Grotius for conscience sake. Henry VIII, in England, and his successors, delighted to persecute for conscience sake. John Knox, of Scotland, so tarnished his great name. The Congregationalists of New England and the Episcopalians of Virginia alike denied freedom of conscience to their fellowmen. There was not a government in the world that allowed full liberty of conscience to all men until a Baptist established the colony of Rhode Island.

At a great dining in England John Bright asked a Baptist statesman beside him: "What special contribution have your people made to the world?" "Civil and religious liberty," replied the statesman. "A great contribution," replied John Bright. Bancroft, in his history of America, declares: "Freedom of conscience, unlimited freedom of mind, was from the first the trophy of the Baptists." On November 5, 1658, these Baptists thus instructed their agent in England: "Plead our case in such sort as we may not be compelled to exercise any civil power over men’s consciences; we do judge it no less than a point of absolute cruelty." In their petition to Charles II they thus urged: "It is much in our hearts to hold forth a lively experiment, that a most flourishing civil state may stand, and best be maintained, with a full liberty of religious concernments." And so when their charter came it provided: "No person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be in any wise molested, punished, disquieted or called in question, for any difference in opinion in matters of religion; every person may at all times freely and fully enjoy his own judgment and conscience in matters of religious concernment." And the charter of their great school, now Brown University, has a clause of equal import, a thing unknown at that time in the chartered schools of the whole world.

Freedom of conscience in our day, especially in this country, is a familiar thing. It was not so in earlier days. Pagan, Papist and Protestant ground liberty of conscience into powder under the iron heel of their despotisms.

You see, freedom of conscience is one of our most sacred freedoms.  The Baptist preacher, John Leyland spoke to James Madison about this most sacred freedom.  Our nation may have never been what it was had it not been for this meeting.  The result of this meeting was James Madison's promise that a Bill of Rights would be introduced by him and would begin with these words:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievance

Citizens would be guaranteed the freedom of conscience, to believe what they believed, to worship and live how they believed was right.  The freedom was guaranteed to use speech and press to say what they felt was right, and to petition the government when things were not right.

The result was a zealous, revived, soul winning group of believers who began to worship and serve the Lord in a land that guaranteed this right.  Thousands were saved.  Churches were planted at an astounding rate all across this country.  As a whole, our American fathers before us feared God, worked hard, and built a nation hardly rivaled in history.  We enjoyed what Gov. Chris Christie called last night, "An American Century".

Now today, the conservative choice of topics are abortion, gay marriage, the economy, and such.  We have become what our Baptist forefathers fought against.   We want a government that will legislate righteousness.  We want to vote for the man that will make a law that sodomites cannot marry.  We want a man that will see to it that government has the authority to tell us what is morally right and wrong.  Conservatives have become the "yang" to a welfare society.  We desire a government to take care of us morally.

Let me be clear.  I am entirely against abortion.  I am entirely against gay marriage.  I am entirely against frivolous spending.  But, it is not the government that has failed, it is God's people.  When we quit being a zealous people, revived, and soul winning and discipling others in the Word of God, our nation began to forget God.  We see the same pattern God warned Israel about in Deuteronomy 8:

"Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwell therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God...and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth."

I agree that our President was wrong when he said to small business owners, "You didn't build this."  But I also disagree with most conservatives in their "We built this".  No, God blessed us! He blessed a people who were bless-able.  He built this nation upon a people who feared Him, because they learned this from a people who were commissioned by Him.

Beware my conservative friends for voting in men who will legislate morality, for a day will come when a not so conservative will be in authority and it will have been us who gave them the keys to morality.  What then, when it is legislated that we cannot preach against abortion?  What then, when it is legislated that man and woman are not allowed to marry in a church with out giving that same right to sodomites?  What then, when it is legislated what is right and what is wrong?  Oh, we will cry out; but it will have been us who gave them this authority.  It will have been us who gave back all that our Baptist forefathers fought for.

We get all riled up when welfare checks are given to people who can, but will not work.  Then we, a people too lazy and luke warm to fulfill our great commission, want a government to take care of us morally.  It won't work!  We will pay for this unwise choice.  No wonder our Lord said concerning a nations blessing:

"If my people, which are called by name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then  ill I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." -2 Chron. 7:14

Columbia, Duck Creek and Columbia Baptist

In October of 1788 John Cleves Symmes and several of his business partners purchased one million acres of land from the United States government. The deal fell through and the land went back to the government. In September of 1794 Symmes obtained a patent for 248,540 acres of land in the Northwest Territory. Sometime later that year or early the following year Captain Benjamin Stites purchased 10,000 acres from John Symmes. A land that he had desired since 1786 when he had opportunity to see first hand the land he would one-day purchase and acquire a vision for.

In 1786 Captain Stites was escorting supplies down the Ohio River to Limestone and Washington on the Kentucky side of the river. Upon his arrival at Washington he learned that Indians had raided some settlers homes and stolen their horses. He offered to lead a party of men in hopes of retrieving the stolen property. They tracked the Indians up the Little Miami River as far as present day Xenia and had to return home empty handed. What Captain Stites did return with was a vision for what the Little Miami valley could one day be.

We know from the historical records of Scotch Plain Baptist Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey that Captain Stites was a member of that church. We also know from those records that many of those who came down with him were members of the same church or relatives of his family.

In November of 1788 Benjamin and about thirty others met up with Judge Symmes (who had left Elizabeth Town New Jersey) at Red Stone, Pennsylvania. Together they made their way down the Ohio River to Limestone (Maysville) Ky. There they divide company. Judge Symmes began to send out exploring parties to the land he had purchased. He himself stayed a Maysville until January 1789 and headed along with fourteen others to North Bend and established the third settlement between the Great Miami and the Little Miami rivers.  Captain Stites took a small group with him on down to a spot he had picked to start a new colony, now known as Columbia.

They landed on what is now known as Columbia on November 18,1788. The first desire upon landing was to give praise unto God for His “sustenance, guidance and protection and all united in a hymn of praise. “ The names of those history calls the first boatload were, Major Benjamin Stites, Mrs. Benjamin Stites, Benjamin Stites Jr., Ann w. Stites, Rachel Stites, Greenbright Bailey, Mrs. Greenbright Bailey, Reason Bailey, Abel Cook, Jacob Mills, Elijah Mills, Jonathan Stites, Ephraim Kibby, John S. Gano, Mrs. Mary Gano, Thomas C. Wade, Hezekiah Stites, Elijah Stites, Edmund Buxton, Daniel Shoemaker, _____ Hempstead, Evan Shelby, Allen Woodruff, Hampton Woodruff, Joseph Cox and Benjamin Cox.  Many of their families had remained at Maysville for the winter and until buildings could be built to live in.

This brave group became very busy in preparing for the winter ahead and preparing to fight off the Indians. The winter was long and hard, the Indians proved to be a help that first year. In January of 1789 they realized that their biggest battle was the river. The High Flood came along and destroyed all of the homes that had been built except for one. It was at this time they realized they had had miscalculated in the placement of a new colony. The next year they made many changes but never recovered as far as a future settlement. 

While they were continuing to settle and expand they had worship services in the different homes. On January 20, 1790 this group of pioneers met for the purpose of organizing a church.

The Columbia Baptist Church was constituted in 1790 under the ministry of Stephen Gano and under the authority of First Baptist Church in New York. At that time Stephen Gano was working out of First Baptist Church planting churches at Hillsdale, Hudson and Nine Partners.  Dr. Gano’s brother John Gano and his family had arrived on the first boat that landed in Columbia and Dr. Gano’s father had married one of the Stites from Scotch Plains, New Jersey.  “The History of the Miami Baptist Association” gives the following account of the organizational meeting.

“The first Baptist church in Ohio was constituted by the aid of Rev. Stephen Gano, afterward of Providence, Rhode Island, on the 20^th of January, 1790, at the house of Benjamin Davis, in Columbia, five miles above the present day Cincinnati. This was on Saturday, and immediately after organizing the church, then consisting of nine persons, viz.: Benjamin Davis, Mary Davis, Isaac Ferris, Jonah Reynolds, Elizabeth Ferris, Amy Reynolds, John Ferris, John S. Gano, and Thomas C. Wade. Isaac Ferris was appointed deacon, and John S. Gano, Clerk. The door of the church was then opened and Elijah Stites, Rhonda Stites and Sarah Ferris who were received on experience, and baptized by Dr. Gano on the next day. …. Soon after three others, Mrs. Meek, Smith, and Bailey were united by letter: and thus the first Baptist church in the Northwestern Territory commenced with the above twelve members.”

The life of the Columbia Baptist Church has had several names and several locations. The sketch on the left is of the church as it stood in 1830. We know from a historical marker located at Pioneer Park across from the Lunken airport in Cincinnati, Ohio that their first location was there. The monument erected to their memory states, “The Columbia Baptist Church erected its first house of Worship on this spot in 1792. This lot contains two acres of ground purchased of Benjamin Stites, and was deeded TO THE BAPTIST OF COLUMBIA TOWNSHIP.”

As General Anthony Wayne drove the Indians up into the Miami Valley the early pioneers began to move out of the Columbia to settle new lands. In 1808 the church decided to move to an area more accessible to their members and away from the spring flooding that continued to plague the area where they had settled. They move to Duck Creek and Edwards Road, along with a new location came a new name, Duck Creek Baptist Church. In the 1870’s the church was again facing the same problem. Their members had continued to pioneer out into land that was safe to farm and raise families. In 1875 the church moved to Mt. Lookout on Grace Avenue.  The church became know as the Duck Creek Baptist Church at Mt. Lookout. Then in 1904 the church decided to move to Hyde Park. The first phase was completed when the Chapel was built in 1907.  In second phase began in1924 with the main sanctuary and the hall. They were completed in 1926. The name of the church became the Hyde Park Baptist Church.

If You Are Interested

When my son was 4 years old, he loved dinosaurs.  I wrote him a book for his birthday. I am preparing to publish two books, and am learning how to publish them as ebooks. So I decided to practice with Alex's book first. So, if you have a young child who likes dinosaurs and you have an iPad, then look up "I Need A Friend" on iBooks.  It's simple, it's small, and it's free.
Special thanks again to Corey Estep for the art work!

Carpenters Run Baptist Church

We saw in our last blog that Springfield Baptist Church was established when Henry and Mary Tucker left Carpenters Run Baptist Church "for the purpose of or to help establish Springfield Baptist Church." This record is also found in family genealogy of the Tucker family.
After Anthony Wayne's victory in 1794 the settlers in Columbia began to branch out up the Little Miami River and areas north of Columbia. The fear of Indian attack had diminished so in 1797 several families requested letters of dismissal to move and start a new church near the areas where they had purchased land and were going to make a new home for themselves. This was to be the beginning of Carpenters Run Baptist Church.  We are going to now look at the Carpenters Run Baptist Church in Blue Ash, OH. The city of Blue Ash  records this of the church under their history section of their website.  "Information and pictures gathered from descendants of five Blue Ash pioneer families, along with minutes of the historic Carpenter's Run Baptist Church dating back to 1791, provide a view of what life was like in the early settlement. Accounts in family histories tell the stories of bravery and courage exhibited by the pioneer families of John and Elizabeth Ferris, James and Mary Craig Carpenter, Price and Molly Denman Thompson, Abner and Hannah Ayres Denman, and Richard Ayres, many of which have descendants still living in the Blue Ash area today. The Carpenters Run Baptist Church served the earliest settlers of Blue Ash. Built of logs from the blue ash tree, the church gave the community its name. When the church disbanded around 1828 the building was used as the Plainfield School..."

According to the "History of the Miami Valley Association" circular letters and reports published in 1868, we know that in  the spring of 1797, several families were given letters of dismissal from the Columbia Baptist Church to form the Carpenters Run Baptist Church which was 10 miles north of Columbia.  Some of the names of these members were Richard and Mary Ayres, (We know the Ayres were members of Scotch Plains Baptist Church before moving to Columbia, Ohio in 1790) Morris and Esther Osborn and Sarah Brown. We believe the starting date of the church to be June 17, 1797, and the first service held was in the home of Richard and Mary Ayres. The group met on the third Sunday of each month. Elder John Smith and Elder Peter Smith of Columbia helped this church organize and ministered to them in their beginning until a pastor was called.  

The church was in existence from 1797 till 1828. The hand written church records are preserved at The Historical and Philosophical Society, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. From these record we have learned the following accounts.

Richard Ayres and his neighbor Price Thompson each gave an acre of ground to the church. One acre was to be used for a house of worship and the other acre was to be used as a church cemetery. Pictured on the left and on the right are the two sides of the cemetery that is now divided by Plainfield Rd  The cemetery is located at the intersection of Plainfield and Cooper Road in Blue Ash, Ohio. The exact placement of the church building remains uncertain as to which part of the cemetery it was located.
The clerks of the church were, John Ferriss, to keep records, Cyrus Crane , signing clerk and Israel Marsh as a reading clerk. In 1800, Morris Osborn and Richard Ayres became the first church deacons. The first minister to be ordained from the church was Cyrus Crane, ordained in 1816. We have a copy of the church membership list and we know that at some point Henry and Mary Tucker moved their membership from the Columbia Baptist Church to the Carpenters Run Baptist Church.  As the Church grew in number she also sent out families to other counties to form other Baptist churches. One historian comments about the church "faithfully carrying out its obligation of aiding and forming other Baptist churches in Hamilton and adjacent counties although it meant a diminishing of its own congregation."
The Pastors of the church were:  1800-1801 John Seward, 1803-1810 Elder Gard, 1811-1813 Cyrus Crane was licensed by the church and then pastored the church, 1814 Abraham Griffiths, 1815-1826 Cyrus Crane returned and continued as pastor up until the day he died then the church began to fade away. Within two years of the death of Cyrus Crane and some of the founding families it is believed the remainder of the church moved to the Mount Carmel Baptist Church which was but a short distance south of the site of the Carpenters Run Baptist Church.

A Certain Message and a Certain Sound

I know a "Christian Rock" singer who recently let me hear one of his new songs.  Upon completion of the song, I understood about 10 words of it.  Its a good thing we don't talk or type the way he sings, or it would look something like this:

YIIIIII dunnnno what makes dis werld thinkuh thhhhatttt our music is absurduh; YIIII dunt  seeyeah whad dey mean thahat they can't understaaaaand  dese WERDSERR-ERRDS!!!! (insert thumping drums and lots of flailing) 

Scriptures say the following in 1 Corinthians 14:

And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?  For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.  There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification."

 Paul is teaching in the Corinthian church about tongues and he uses music as an example for them.  He teaches them that what is being sang or played should be understood and have a certain sound.  Our music should have both a certain message and a certain sound.
The certain message should be one that honors the Lord.  Every song has a message.  Even songs without words have a message.  For many years, rock music has generally carried with it the message of drugs, sex, and alcohol.  Country music generally carries with it the message of sensuality, immorality, and alcohol.  Rap has its message, as does every genre of music.  Songs without words carry a message.  Watching a silent movie from days past, one will hear the songs and tell whether the good guy is coming to the rescue or the bad guy is plotting an evil scheme.  What would Jaws be without the "Du-Dum" but an animal planet special?
Our music carries a message.  When we sing in church or hear someone else sing, that music has a message.  In preaching through the Psalms, I realized that each of these Psalms had a message mostly distinct to itself.  Some were praise Psalms, some testimony psalms, some thanksgiving psalms, some vengeance songs, some prophetic...but all had a message.  Opening a hymn book, each of those songs carry a message.  When the piano or organ play an offertory, though no one is singing, a message is being portrayed in the song.
Watching the opening ceremony for the olympics, I cannot tell you how many times the commentators talked about how quickly the parade of nations took place.  At one time, one of the commentators said that they thought it had to do with the music.  He was right.  The fast, heavy beat had the message of "Hurry Up!"  Had they played "It is Well With My Soul" as the nations were entering, we may still be watching them enter.
Every song has a message.  The message needs to be Scriptural.  It needs to be the truth.  That is one area I guard in our usage of a lot of Majesty and Sound Forth Music.  There is a steady diet of "universal church" teaching in their music.  Even Patch indoctrinates our children with it.  It's not just them, but in our hymn books we have to watch out for doctrinal error.
The famous "Onward Christian Soldiers" third verse is very 'universal church-ish.'

Like a mighty army moves the church of God; brothers we are treading where the saints have trod.  We are not divided, all one body we- one in hope and doctrine, one in charity.

People have argued with the "Big deal" argument, yet Jesus said in John 4 that if we are to worship the Father it must be done in "spirit and in truth" (emphasis mine).  Our message needs to be one of truth.  The contemporary christian music world is filled with doctrinal error.
The Southern Gospel music world must be carefully observed.  There is a reason why at the "Southern Gospel Convention" Baptist, Church of God, Church of Christ, Bible Church, Pentecostals, and Charismatics all are gathered there; because the music is generally void of a solid doctrinal message, for if it had one, these people could not unite.  Music has a message and our message in our music should be one that glorifies God and is in truth according to the Word of God.  There should be a certain message to our music.
Paul also uses this passage to show that there should be a certain sound to our music.  If one were to compare the sound of the top 10 Rock songs and top 10 Christian rock songs, one would be hard pressed to distinguish a difference in their sound.  Playing a lot of the world's country music and then playing a lot of the southern gospel music would leave one hard pressed to be able to distinguish a difference in sound.  Yet, the music of God's people should be distinct in its sound.
I can't stand when someone pulls up near me in a car with their woofers thumping a heavy beat making my car rattle with every beat.  I usually turn my Mercury's factory speakers as high as they will go with some preaching to drown it out and make a point.  When people hear our music, it ought to have a certain sound that exemplifies the glory of God.  Our music should sound different.
I believe Paul gives us a good launching pad here on which to build a study of music  Our music should have a certain message and a certain sound.

Springfield, Lockland and Landmark

We saw in our last blog that several families from Lockland Baptist Church were given their letters of dismissal March 14, 1942,  to start the Blue Ash Baptist Church. We are going to see in this section the start of the Lockland Baptist Church. The historic marker located at the intersection of Oak and Chester Road in Glendale, Ohio (pictured on the right) tells some about the history of what is now called Landmark Baptist Temple. The sign reads "In the year 1792, Henry Tucker started clearing land and erecting a station house on the old Indian Trace in what is now the village of Woodlawn. He had purchased the land from John Cleves Symmes for two dollars per acre. Fear of Indian attack drove the pioneers back to Columbia where they remained until General Anthony Wayne started his march north to engage the Indians in battle.  Henry and Mary Tucker returned to this farm in 1794. The station house was completed and was to be used as a fort in case of an Indian attack."
Worship services were conducted in the station house, in neighboring cabins and in Abraham Skillman's barn which was located not far from Tucker's Station.  The result was the organization of The Springfield Baptist Church in 1798, now known as the Landmark Baptist Temple.

Since 1798, the church has had three names. The first name, The Springfield Baptist Church was given because of its location. From 1798 until 1840 their place of worship was one mile north-west of Lockland in  Springfield, Township. In 1840 the church moved their place of worship to Lockland, Ohio. (Pictured on the right.) It was at this time the name was changed to Lockland Baptist Church. In 1962, the church once again moved to their present location and became known as the Landmark Baptist Temple.

Upon a recent trip to Scotch Plains, New Jersey we were able to locate the church from which Henry and Mary Tucker were dismissed from to come to the Miami area to join a church. The picture on the left is taken from the ledger of Scotch Plains Baptist Church and dated June 11, 1789, showing their dismissal. Records show that Henry and Mary Tucker were influential in the start of three churches. They were buried about one mile from the present day Landmark Baptist Temple in a family cemetery.

The cemetery was located about 500 feet south of by pass 50 between Route 4 and the B & O Railroad Tracks.  A large construction project had been planned for that area which included the overgrown site of the old Tucker Cemetery.  Somehow the grave stones of Mary and Henry Tucker had been thrown over the boundary fence and onto the property of the railroad in a pile of debris.  The discarded stones were accidentally discovered by some members of the Landmark Baptist Temple.  The church immediately began to make plans to rescue the head stones and to keep them in their care.  On the right is a picture of Bill Talley, Bill Ingold, and Leon Rawlings rescuing the grave stones.  

The records of the Miami Valley Association show the Tuckers had taken  their letter of dismissal from the Carpenters Run Baptist Church for the "purpose of assisting in constituting or organizing the Springfield Baptist Church." Taken from Historical Sketches and Early Hamilton County, Ohio written by J.G. Olden page 240-241.