Roger Williams Day
Williams (Roger) Day
February 5
Roger Williams was the founder of the American Baptist Church. Born in Wales, he arrived in the Massachusetts colony on this day in 1631 and soon found himself in profound disagreement with the local Puritans. The latter admitted no distinction between crime and sin, while Williams contended that the civil authorities only had a right to punish those who had committed a civil offense. The argument led to a court trial in 1635, and soon afterward Williams was banished from the colony. He fled south to what is now called Providence and founded the Rhode Island colony. Under his leadership, the people of Rhode Island were the first to establish a Baptist congregation on American soil (in 1638) and the first to build a community based on this principle of religious liberty.
Baptists in the United States still celebrate the day of his arrival in America. The First Baptist Meeting House in Providence holds its annual Forefathers Service in May, honoring Williams as its founder and often using the 18th-century order of worship.
Williams (Roger) Day
February 5
Roger Williams was the founder of the American Baptist Church. Born in Wales, he arrived in the Massachusetts colony on this day in 1631 and soon found himself in profound disagreement with the local Puritans. The latter admitted no distinction between crime and sin, while Williams contended that the civil authorities only had a right to punish those who had committed a civil offense. The argument led to a court trial in 1635, and soon afterward Williams was banished from the colony. He fled south to what is now called Providence and founded the Rhode Island colony. Under his leadership, the people of Rhode Island were the first to establish a Baptist congregation on American soil (in 1638) and the first to build a community based on this principle of religious liberty.
Baptists in the United States still celebrate the day of his arrival in America. The First Baptist Meeting House in Providence holds its annual Forefathers Service in May, honoring Williams as its founder and often using the 18th-century order of worship.
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