Free Will Baptists (Origins in New Hampshire, 1780)

On June 30, 1780, in New Hampshire, preacher Benjamin Randall gathered several like-minded congregations into a fellowship that became known as the Free Will Baptists. Amid the upheaval of the Revolutionary era, Randall’s ministry pressed forward with steady courage, insisting that the gospel summons real sinners to real repentance, and that the Lord grants enabling grace that truly calls for a faith-filled response. His preaching emphasized the new birth, practical holiness, and a life shaped by obedience rather than empty profession.

Randall’s work was marked by evangelistic urgency and pastoral grit. Traveling and preaching in a time of public uncertainty, he urged hearers not to rest in tradition, politics, or outward religion, but to seek a changed heart. “Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away” (Acts 3:19). He called believers to perseverance and integrity, teaching that Christian liberty is never a license to sin, but a summons to walk in the light.

The Fellowship and Its Purpose

The 1780 gathering was not merely organizational; it was a cooperative bond for worship, accountability, and mission. Churches strengthened one another through shared confession, counsel, and mutual care. This fellowship helped protect congregations from drifting with the spirit of the age, and it encouraged ministers and laypeople alike to labor for souls with humility and boldness. The cooperative structure also provided a venue for correcting error, restoring the fallen, and promoting faithful preaching when resources and stability were scarce.

In this way, shared conviction steadied believers in uncertain times. “Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). The early Free Will Baptist stream sought to cultivate disciplined discipleship—prayerful, Scripture-shaped, and visibly set apart—while maintaining a warm evangelistic appeal to all who would come.

Legacy and Later Development

From these humble beginnings grew a movement that, over time and through many local labors, helped shape the National Association of Free Will Baptists, organized in 1935. The story traces a line from frontier faithfulness to broader cooperation—showing how God can use ordinary churches and steadfast preaching to preserve gospel witness, strengthen holiness, and extend evangelistic reach across generations.