By Jack Williams
To most Free Will Baptists, California retains some of its “49’er” image. It is still the golden state that is a long, long way from anywhere else. That very isolation has both stymied growth and strengthened the camaraderie of California Free Will Baptists. They have had to pull together because the nearest large concentration of Free Will Baptists is in western Oklahoma, some 1,500 miles distant.
The Free Will Baptist influence in California has deeper roots than the present state association reflects. As early as 1876, the northern Free Will Baptists (the Randall movement) established a church in San Francisco. No fewer than six Free Will Baptist churches flourished in the Bay Area. In 1886, a mission was formed in Oakland with Professor Meads of Bates Theological School as superintendent (according to Million and Barrett, in Brief History of the Liberal Baptist
People).
But the 1906 earthquake destroyed it all. Members scattered. A remnant united with a Free Baptist group in Oakland. But then came 1910-11, when northern Free Will Baptists merged into the Northern Baptist Convention. Only obscure landmarks are left as reminders of what once was. An occasional pastor may stumble across an aged saint who has a book that belonged to someone associated with the former work.
Perhaps the last vestige of Randall movement influence was Dr. Norman A. Baxter, President of California State University in Fresno. Dr. Baxter compiled a history of the Randall movement in the late 1950s, but basically “wrote off” the southern line of Free Will Baptists (the Palmer movement) as of no consequence.
It is extremely difficult to pinpoint the rebirth of Free Will Baptist work in California after the merger. Several churches and individuals vie for first-in-state honors. Some champion the Porterville church as the first in the modern movement. Others insist the Winters church or the Turlock church was first. And it is certain that by 1939, an East Los Angeles church had been established. In spite of the difference of opinion regarding the who, when, and where of the first of the present-day churches, there is absolutely no question about the exact date and place when the California State Association began.
The proceedings of the first annual session of “The First Free Will Baptist Association of California” are contained in a small, four-page book of minutes. The first session met May 5-6, 1944, at the Turlock Church. Elder Ralph Geiger of Porterville was elected moderator and Elder J. L. Waltman of Turlock assistant moderator. Three churches were represented: Turlock, Porterville, and Winters.
By 1945 and the second session, seven churches had aligned with the State Association. The minutes of the second session were printed by the Free Will Baptist Gem of Monett, Missouri. A foreign missions talk was given by Frank Linton of Missouri.
The 1946 meeting (third annual session) saw George McLain elected state evangelist. The minutes carry one eye-raising statement: “Elder V. L. Wilson surrendered his credentials as he does not believe the Free Will Baptist Treatise in so far as it teaches a general resurrection.”
Twenty-five churches represented at the 1950 session. By 1955, the state churches had doubled, the minutes naming 48. Seventy-two churches were in existence by 1961. The state had witnessed phenomenal growth, averaging just over four new churches every year for 17 consecutive years! Membership statistics increased accordingly. There were 225 members in 1945, and by 1950, records indicate 1,643 members. Five years later, in 1955, 2,941 members; by 1961, 4,018 members.
One of the most exciting chapters in California’s history is her struggle to maintain a Bible College. In 1955, when the total numerical strength of the state was but 2,941 members, a resolution was passed by her 48 member churches to “elect a Board of Education whose duty shall be to look into the possibilities of a school starting in the near future.”
From that quiet beginning sprang California Bible Institute. In less than a year, 26 students enrolled. Of that number 17 finished the six-week institute. Dean Moore and Wade Jernigan taught that first California Bible Institute curriculum. The school operated on a part-time basis until 1961. Its first classes were conducted in the Richmond church, then in the Sherwood Forest church.
In September, 1962, California Bible Institute became a full-time school. The institute was relocated to Fresno in 1965, and the name was changed to “California Christian College.” The 1970 graduates were the first to earn the Bachelor of Science Degree, and today, more than 50 years after the first Board of Education was elected, the college continues in Fresno, California. It is the only accredited Christian college in California’s Central Valley.
All state associations have recorded certain votes on specific issues over the years that seem to characterize the mood of the people. Three such actions might be selected as typical in California. Take the 1948 resolution: “We also recommend that each church try to get a used bus to bring children to Sunday School.” That was 25 years before the bus-outreach craze.
Then there was the 1949 action: “Motion carried that the Free Will Baptists of California will not recognize any minister advocating premillenialism as Free Will Baptist doctrine.” Consider also the 1962 resolution that “the Lord’s Supper be observed only at night and only in conjunction with feetwashing.”
The women reported their first Auxiliary Convention in 1950. The same year, the first State League Convention was conducted. California churches have hosted the National Association five times: 1950, 1960, 1970, 1983, and 2000.
In retrospect, a number of early leaders must be honored for their indispensable roles in the state. They include:
J. L. Waltman
Orbin Doss
Ralph Hampton
Abe Talbert
William Huddleston
Dean Moore
J. E. Yandell
Truman Huddleston
Don Bias
H. E. Dixon
George McLain Herman
Lewis Neal Moore
E. E. Morris
Earl Jensen
J. E. Bridges
F. A. McCage
Bob Evans
Learn more about the California State Association today at their website: www.mycafwb.org.
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