Primitive Baptists and Missionary Baptists in the Smokey Mountains
Posted by deangonzales on May 28, 2009
My family and I took a mini-vacation to the Smokey Mountain National Park. Of special interest was “Cades Cove,” a little valley that was home to several hundred settlers and three churches: one Methodist and two Baptist churches. In the picture to the right, I’m standing near a monument next to the Primitive Baptist Church. According to the tour guide, this little group strongly adhered to the doctrine of predestination and may have held to the “Two-Seed-in-the-Spirit” doctrine. This teaching was popularized by Elder Daniel Parker (1781-1844) who taught that every individual is either of the “good seed” of God or of the “bad seed” of Satan at birth (on account of election). Therefore, mission activity (at a corporate level) was viewed as unbiblical since a person’s choice was already fixed at birth. (They also opposed seminaries and Sunday School as unbiblical, man-made inventions.) Here’s a little historical background taken from the tour brochure:
Some of the earliest settlers established this church in 1827. A log building served their needs until this one replaced it in 1887. The church closed during the Civil War. Official church correspondence after the war explained it all: “We the Primitive Baptist Church in Blount County in Cades Cove, do show the public why we have not kept up our church meeting. It was on account of the Rebellion and we was [sic] Union people and the Rebels was [sic] too strong here in Cades Cove. Our preacher was obliged to leave sometimes, and thank God we once more can meet.” Some of the early settlers lie in the cemetery…. A group of Baptists expelled from the Primitive Baptist Church because they favored missionary work formed a Missionary Baptist Church in 1839. [This] church [also] ceased to meet during the Civil War. It resumed activity after the war but without members who had been Confederate sympathizers (From Cades Cove Tour guide).
Interestingly, according to the guide, the Primitive Baptist congregation only met together once a month for corporate worship. Apparently they met in homes on the other Lord’s Days. I’m not certain why this would have been their custom, but it may have been difficulty in traveling—especially during winter months. Men and women sat on opposite sides of the middle aisle. They sang a capella from a hymbook with shaped notes (see below). Apparently, they would sound out the melody of the first stanza and sing the words the second time around. We got to hear a recording of a modern choir emulating what the singing in this old church would have sounded like. It was quite unique. I also learned that whenever someone in the community died, a messenger would be sent to the church to ring the church bell. The bell would was rung as many times as corresponded to the age of the deceased. That would enable the community to know who had died. The tour guide indicated that these two Baptist churches were, along with a Methodist church, very influential in the community. Each church served as the glue that held the community together and met the needs of those in the community who suffered various kinds of hardship.
Bob Gonzales, Dean
Reformed Baptist Seminary
5 Responses to “Primitive Baptists and Missionary Baptists in the Smokey Mountains”
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May 29th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
THanks for sharing. I too visited the primitive Baptist church with my family last May while on vacation. I didn’t get a tour guide so thanks for providing some of the details. It’s fascinating.
May 30th, 2009 at 7:05 am
I realy like the idea of meeting once a month in a larger assembly and meeting in homes the rest of the time. You would seem to get more intimate and genuine fellowship while maintaining a sense of the greater community. It worked in the earliesr days of the church, why couldn’t it work today?
May 30th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I personally love a cappella praise & worship. But the Primitive Baptists are not monolithic. Although some are historically sound Calvinists and biblically solid many are true Hyper-Calvinists who do *not* believe preaching the Gospel is a means through which Christ regenerates the lost. Many also believe that there are numerous souls who are now or who will someday be in Heaven for eternity who until death rejected Christ and worshipped a false god.
May 31st, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Chris,
Thanks for your remarks. I hinted at the hyper-Calvinism adhered to and promoted in some Primitive Baptist churches. I suspect that the one I visited in Cade’s Cove was very likely one such example. Though I love the sovereignty of God and doctrines of grace, I am very wary of any form of hyper-Calvinism. In fact, I’ve just uploaded a post that supports the free, indiscriminate, and well-meant offer of the gospel entitled, “God Makes a Wish: That Each and Every Sinner Might Be Saved.”
Blessings,
Bob Gonzales
June 1st, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I used to work and live within the Great Smokey Mountains National Park near Cades Cove and have given tours of those two churches a number of times. I was always fascinated by their history. But I was not familiar with some of the denominational doctrine elements that you addressed. Thanks for doing this.
Here’s an interesting side-story on the Primitive Baptist Church. One member, a son, fought for the confederacy (in opposition to most of the church) and shot his father during a nearby battle (who, with his other son, fought for the Union). The shot was fired with the father’s gun, which the confederate son had taken with him to war. The young man’s brother and father (before the father died) recognized the distinctive shot of the gun. Upon the confederate brother’s return to Cades Cove after the war, the union brother challenged his sibling with the story of how his father had died. The son remembered the battle, but hadn’t realized father was there, let alone that he had killed his own father.
In one account, the confederate son rose in a dramatic moment front of the congregation as it met in that building one Lord’s Day and confessed his actions with tears. The congregation, as was their custom in light of the work of Christ to blot out sins, acknowledged the confession and never spoke of the incident again. The brothers continued their life in the Cove, with the confederate brother’s sins remembered no more.