Bucklesberry, Back in the Day: Hickory Grove Church (18)
Hickory Grove Church (18)
Dr. Joe Sutton
FORMAL SEPARATION
Methodist preacher Rev. James D. Carpenter and Baptist preacher Rev. James D. Cavanaugh served as co-pastors at Hickory Grove Church in 1884. The congregation's attraction to Rev. Carpenter's preaching reflected an overall, growing fascination with the Methodist denomination, eventually resulting in the Church formally separating from the Union Baptist Association (U.B.A.). Why so few members were present for such a significant vote, even with advanced notice, is unknown:
1884, September 25: "The members of Hickory Grove Church are requested to meet next Saturday. The pastor[s] can't be there, but the Church must be prepared for the annual meeting, and other business may need attending to." (New Berne Weekly Journal)
1884, October 1: "But few of the members of Hickory Grove Church met last Saturday to....After thoroughly discussing things pertaining to the Church in general, a motion was made and unanimously adopted withdrawing the Church from the Union [Baptist] Association. The Church now stands without denominational affiliation, and no action was taken or suggestion made as to future operations." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
Former pastor and Baptist newspaper editor Rev. Nash paid a special visit to the Bucklesberry community the next week and questioned whether Hickory Grove had the authority to separate from the U.B.A. He received a terse, public response from church member and journalist Samuel Ivey (S. I.) Sutton in his weekly news column:
1884, October 25: "The editorial part of the Baptist Review [i.e., Rev. Nash] was here Tuesday, enquiring after the doings of the Hickory Grove Church last Saturday, we learn. For the information of those who appear to feel so much for the Church, we think we are authorized to say that the Church at that place [Bucklesberry] will take care of itself, and at the same time not injure anyone else." (The Daily Journal, New Bern)
Hickory Grove's withdrawal from the U.B.A. was a partial separation of sorts. It was not a total rejection of Baptist governance and church doctrine. The congregational vote only served to annul their formal affiliation with the U.B.A., not their continued operation as a Baptist work in practice.
The next article in this series will share more information on Hickory Grove's separation from the Baptists. Interested readers may enjoy a previously published Bucklesberry article, appropriate for the 250th anniversary of America's Independence, titled "Fight for Freedom" available at https://bit.ly/4wSKtVD.
