My wife and I were members of an Old School Baptist church for 14 years. We had a special bond and wonderful friendship with the Pastor/Elder at the time. We were overjoyed when we had finally found a family that was of like precious faith! It was a long distance relationship but during that time it was very refreshing being spiritually fed on a regular basis and having regular fellowship with the Pastor/Elder on the phone. Unfortunately his “time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:2)” came to fruition and the Lord took him home using cancer as the catalyst.
Another Elder took his place and was voted in by the local members shortly thereafter. After this the Lord started showing us some discrepancies and some important doctrines that we were not in agreement with the new Elder. It was bad enough that we could no longer in good conscience be a part of it and asked for our names to be removed from the membership there. The way we looked at it was that if we were to stay it would be like giving a stamp of approval for those areas that we were in disagreement with. And that was the last thing we wanted to do, but it was still very hard to walk away!
My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their restingplace. (Jeremiah 50:6)
After that, the Lord kept confirming to us through further study in His Word that we given to make the proper decision. And along the way we found out that unfortunately there are also quite a few current Elders that we are in disagreement with over the reasons we left. Please understand that I am NOT saying that ALL Old School Baptists are in this camp but unfortunately I can’t promise that they are not either. So, in good conscience I cannot recommend any current Old School Baptist churches just because I don’t know for sure where they stand. If you are not familiar with the “Old School Baptists (OSB)” I highly recommend that you start with, as kind of an overview of what the OSB believed, “The Black Rock Address” and then the Editorials of Elder Gilbert Beebe, Elder Samuel Trott, Elder Wilson Thompson and Elder Chet Dirkes on the PDF / e-Book page.
Just for clarification the doctrines and subjects in question are some that I have been given to write about. They include “DIVORCE & REMARRIAGE”, “QUALIFICATIONS OF BISHOPS (ELDERS) & DEACONS”, “NOT A NOVICE” and “JOHN 10:12-23 (Hirelings)”.
In hope of eternal life,
December 20, 2023
Thomas R. Adams
P.S., Please also be aware that there is a difference between “Old School”, “Old Line” and “Primitive” Baptists. In general the main difference is that historically it is ONLY the OSB that believes in God’s ABSOLUTE predestination.