It is a truism that if a people do not know from whence they have come they do not know where they are going. With this thought in mind, on the first day of class in “The Free Will Baptist Church” I asked the students to write the name of the man generally recognized as the founder of the first Free Will Baptist Church.

Excerpts from the Writings of Dr. W. Burkette Raper

The Family by J. Andrews Smith
© 2010 The J. Andrews Smith Group, LLC

In 1951 Mount Allen Junior College (later named Mount Olive College) was founded by the Convention of Original Free Will Baptists as a two-year liberal arts college. The founders wanted a college that would be rooted in the historic faith of their church and one that would be academically sound. The College originated as the vision and hope of a few dedicated leaders, with the Reverend David W. Hansley as the principal spokesman.

It was four centuries ago in 1611 that a small congregation of English Baptists made the momentous decision to leave the safety of Holland to return to their own country in order to share their faith with their relatives and friends whom they had left behind just a few years earlier. While in Holland they had become convinced that only believers in Christ should be baptized and therefore the baptism which they had received as infants in the Church of England was not valid.

Danny M.

Why An Endowment?

A Memorable Letter

During my first semester in college, I received a letter I have never forgotten. Although that was more than 60 years ago, I still vividly remember reading the letter immediately after taking it out of my student mailbox. The letter was from my paternal grandmother, and it contained two sentences that are still engraved on my mind: “I am glad you plan to become a preacher, but if God has called you to preach, you do not need man to teach you how.”

Without question, Original Free Will Baptists are in a crisis regarding the availability of pastors who are equipped and dedicated to providing the leadership and services our churches need and deserve.

The Heritage and Legacy of a Special Family

In establishing the Wilson Family Endowment, Mrs. Wilson said her purpose was to provide a memorial for her husband, with whom she shared 67 years of happy marriage, and to express appreciation for Christian parents, who devoted their lives in service to the church.

Having known her family for 65 years, I could feel the tender feeling Mrs. Wilson has for her family and her desire to make the torch of her heritage burn brightly for future generations.