William Screven was a 17th-century Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 preacher from England who founded the first Baptist church in the South

Southern United States

The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

.

William Screven was born in England, in 1629 and immigrated to New England in the 1640s. He was ordained in January of 1682 by the First Baptist Church of Boston, so that he might establish a church in Kittery, Maine

Kittery, Maine

Kittery is a town in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 9,543 at the 2000 census. Home to the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the Isles of Shoals...

, which he did on September 25 of that year. In 1696, the new church moved to Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

 at least partly because of disagreements between Rev. Screven and the New England Baptist authorities. The relocated congregation became the First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina, the oldest Baptist church in the South and one of the oldest in the United States. Rev. Screven died in 1713 and was buried on his personal property. The inscription on his grave reads as follows:

"A pioneer Baptist Preacher of Sommerton, England, immigrated to Kittery, Maine, forced to leave that state for preaching the gospel, came south with a group of Baptists, organized the First Baptist Church in the South 1693, at Charleston, and served First Baptist there until 1706. Died in 1713 and buried in private yard at Georgetown, S.C. A servant of Christ, Pure in Morals, Sound in Doctrine, Abundant in Labors."

See also

• Southern Baptist Convention
  Southern Baptist Convention
  The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
  
  
• Charleston, South Carolina
  Charleston, South Carolina
  Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...
  
  
• Baptists in the United States
  Baptists in the United States
  Baptists are the largest Protestant grouping in the United States, and the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., with 16 million members. Baptist churches exist in each of the United States today...
  
  

External links

• A History of the Baptists. Chapter 6: The Baptists of Maine and South Carolina
• Google Book Search: The South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine
• Historical Marker Database Cemetery Inscription (Not Rev. Screven's grave marker)
• First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina
• The Screven Baptist Association (Named for Rev. William Screven)