William Screven (c. 1629 – 1713) was a 17th-century

Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists, also called Particular Baptists, or Calvinist Baptists, are Baptists that hold to a Calvinism, Calvinist soteriology (salvation belief teached by John Calvin). The name "Reformed Baptist" dates from the latter part of the 20 ...

church planter and preacher from England who founded the first Baptist church in the South. William Augustine Screven was born in the town of Somerton in Somerset, England in 1629, and emigrated to New England in the 1640s. In the 1670s, Screven was baptized at the First Baptist Church in Boston by John Myles, pastor of the

First Baptist Church in Swansea The First Baptist Church in Swansea is a historic Baptist church in the town of Swansea, Massachusetts. The church, established in 1663, with history going back to 1649, is the oldest Baptist congregation in Massachusetts and one of the oldest ...

, who was also serving as pastor of the nearby Boston church during

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

. Screven was ordained in January 1682 by the First Baptist Church of Boston, so that he might establish a church in

Kittery, Maine Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States, and the oldest incorporated town in Maine. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of ...

, which he did on September 25 of that year. In 1696, the new church moved to

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

at least partly because of disagreements between the Rev. Mr. Screven and the New England Baptist authorities. According to family tradition, however, Screven and his band of ten followers were escorted to the edge of town by the local Puritans and told to leave and never return, on pain of hanging. The relocated congregation became the First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina, the oldest Baptist church in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. The Rev. Mr. Screven recommended that any future pastor be "orthodox in faith, and of blameless life, and does own the confession of faith put forth by our brethren in London in 1689" declaring the church to be firmly

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

(

). The Rev. Mr. Screven died in 1713 and was buried on his personal property. The inscription on his grave reads as follows:

"A pioneer Baptist Preacher of Sommerton, England, immigrated to Kittery, Maine, forced to leave that state for preaching the gospel, came south with a group of Baptists, organized the First Baptist Church in the South 1693, at Charleston, and served First Baptist there until 1706. Died in 1713 and buried in private yard at Georgetown, S.C. A servant of Christ, Pure in Morals, Sound in Doctrine, Abundant in Labors."Rev. David J. Wells 'The Name We Bear', p.4
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The Screven Baptist Association, founded in 1950, is named for him. This group is an umbrella group for churches in Dorchester, Berkeley, and eastern Orangeburg Counties.

Notes

External links

A History of the Baptists. Chapter 6: The Baptists of Maine and South CarolinaGoogle Book Search: The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical MagazineHistorical Marker Database Cemetery Inscription
(Not Rev. Screven's grave marker)
First Baptist Church of Charleston, South CarolinaThe Screven Baptist Association
(Named for Rev. William Screven) {{DEFAULTSORT:Screven, William Clergy from Charleston, South Carolina 1629 births 1713 deaths 17th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 18th-century Baptist ministers from the United States People from colonial South Carolina English emigrants

See also

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External links