Location: Green Street in Greenville
County: Pitt
Original Date Cast: 1971
The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina was founded on March 26, 1830, at the Greenville home of A. I. Gorham. The organization had its roots in the North Carolina Baptist Missionary Society, which was formed in 1804 as a “General Meeting” where Baptists could plan missionary work. The Baptist Missionary Society came to be known as the Benevolent Society. Prior to the state society, there were numerous local missionary societies, organized within individual churches and among groups of churches. The state organization was seen as a means of coordinating the work of the smaller groups. The founders of the Baptist State Convention created two other related agencies once the convention was operational. The statewide Baptist newspaper, the Biblical Recorder, was established in 1833 and Wake Forest College the following year. The Baptist Female University, now Meredith College, opened with the convention’s support in 1899.
Today the Baptist State Convention offers an outlet for cooperative missionary work as well as guidance to church leaders and administrative staff. Resources include instruction and guidelines for general operations and advice for the churches’ quests “to develop and sustain relevant ministries for the 21st century.” The state convention assists groups in forming new Baptist congregations in the state, as well. The Baptist State Convention operates educational facilities, children’s homes, retirement homes, and a credit union, among missionary and support programs. The home office for the convention is in Cary.
References:
Maloy Alton Huggins, Kingdom Building in North Carolina (1942)
Maloy Alton Huggins, North Carolina for Christ (c. 1943)
George Washington Paschal, A History of North Carolina Baptists, 2 volumes (1930, 1955)
Baptist State Convention of North Carolina website: http://www.ncbaptist.org
J. M. Duncan, A Brief History of the Meherrin Church 1729-1929 (1929) online here: https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/13571