The Old First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va.
March 1, 1902
Summary
Recent corruption in the Richmond Baptist Church charges Mitchell with committing a crime “against the church, against the cause of Christ, against the Baptist denomination and against the Negro race.”
Transcription
Editor White’s Conclusions.
[Augusta, Ga, Baptist.]
Whatever else Editor Mitchell of the Richmond Planet has failed in doing, there can be no question that he has put the old First Baptist Church of his city and of which the grand, good man Dr. James H. Holmes was for more than thirty years pastor, in ill repute before the outside world.
If Editor Mitchell reports correctly, this church nearly a century and a quarter old, with a membership of several thousand has fallen not only upon evil times, but into evil hands. We have read with the deepest possible regret and mortification the accounts given from week to week in The Planet of the confusion and disorder in the various meetings held in this church. If not truthful, then Editor Mitchell commits a crime against the church, against the cause of Christ, against the Baptist denomination and against the Negro race. Rev. W. T. Johnson, the pastor recently called, is a man of culture and standing, but unless he can turn the present current of discord it looks as though his church will split up and he may not escape blameless.
[Augusta, Ga, Baptist.]
Whatever else Editor Mitchell of the Richmond Planet has failed in doing, there can be no question that he has put the old First Baptist Church of his city and of which the grand, good man Dr. James H. Holmes was for more than thirty years pastor, in ill repute before the outside world.
If Editor Mitchell reports correctly, this church nearly a century and a quarter old, with a membership of several thousand has fallen not only upon evil times, but into evil hands. We have read with the deepest possible regret and mortification the accounts given from week to week in The Planet of the confusion and disorder in the various meetings held in this church. If not truthful, then Editor Mitchell commits a crime against the church, against the cause of Christ, against the Baptist denomination and against the Negro race. Rev. W. T. Johnson, the pastor recently called, is a man of culture and standing, but unless he can turn the present current of discord it looks as though his church will split up and he may not escape blameless.
About this article
Source
Location on Page
Upper Left Quadrant
Contributed By
Brooke Royer
Citation
“The Old First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va.,” Black Virginia: The Richmond Planet, 1894-1909, accessed March 21, 2025, https://blackvirginia.richmond.edu/items/show/261.