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Cahaba Baptist Association and Alabama Baptist Convention


W
hen Charles Crow went to the Siloam Church in 1822, he took with him a secondary interest rooted in his work in Newberry County with the Bethel Association.  He could see that Baptist efforts in Alabama were disorganized, and in 1823, he attached himself to the Cahaba Baptist Association of churches located in central Alabama.  He probably rose to prominence in the association on the strength of a circular letter he wrote at the 1823 meeting on "Church Discipline." 

His talents and abilities were quickly recognized.  He was elected the as-sociation's moderator the following year and served in that capacity for the next twenty consecutive years.   His repeated choice as moderator is a tribute in itself to the esteem with which his fellow ministers and asso-ciation laymen held him. 

Charles recognized and understood the Baptist view of individual and church freedom.  The Baptist clergy and local churches demanded free-dom from high church officials and guarded that freedom.  When the presbytery constituted the Ocmulgee Church it gave the congregation    " . . . full power and church authority to carry into effect every part of the business of a church independent of any other church whatsoever."  In other words, Ocmulgee was constituted as a totally independent congre-gation free from any outside authority.  All power rested with the con-gregation. 

Understanding and supporting this view, Crow recognized that many Baptist pastors and churches were fearful and hesitant about entering any cooperative relationship with other churches.  His job was to show these churches the necessity for the formation of working relationships among churches if Baptists were to be effective in their support of mis-sions, education and benevolent causes beyond the scope and ability of a single local church.  It was to this end that Charles directed his efforts for twenty years -- to promote an association composed of a voluntary fellowship of churches.  He would take these same principles to the Ala-bama State Convention which grew out of the association meetings.   

Preaching, debates and conversations characterized the Association meetings.  The preaching was animated and the business usually con-ducted in harmony.  In October 1826, the Association met at the Ocmul-gee meeting house.  Charles Crow again wrote the circular letter entitled "Practical Godliness" which is said to be worthy of note.  In 1828, the meeting was held at Hopewell Church, which was one of the churches where Charles ministered.  During the years of his tenure as Association moderator, there was a strong and progressive domestic missionary spirit.  For many years, they kept one or more missionaries in the field.  

Charles Crow was sent as a delegate of the Siloam Church to the organ-izational meeting of the Alabama Convention at Salem Church near Greensboro, Alabama in 1823.  He was chosen the first President of the Alabama State Convention, but the volume of business was small in the organization's first year.  The consequences, however, were far reaching.  Missionaries were appointed, ministerial education was planned, and closer cooperation among Baptists in the state was begun.  Charles was reelected the sixth president in 1832 when the Convention met at Ocmul-gee Church. 

In its early years, the State Convention was plagued with conflicts and divisions and almost failed.  Dr. Holly tells us that "Had it not been for a devout few such as Crow and Holcombe, the convention movement would have met with failure.  Crow, with his enthusiasm and timeless en-ergy, was a dominant factor in keeping this loosely knit organization to-gether."    

While struggling with problems facing the Cahaba Association and Ala-bama Convention, Crow had a vision of an even broader association of churches covering multiple states.  "He was interested in furthering or-ganization of the church and often expressed the desirability of organiz-ing a Baptist Association to include other states in the region.  His age and the disorganized state of transportation and communication pre-cluded the pursuance of this objective.  However, he lived to see this ac-complished and when told of the organization of the Southern Baptist Convention in Augusta, Georgia, he expressed pleasure in that he had live to see his dream come true."