On August 16, 1848, in an article in The Morning Star, a paper published by the Free Will Baptists in New England, George W. Baker outlined a proposed covenant that would bring final solution to the continuing problem of support for the ministers of the denomination. Before reminding his readers that the denomination had fallen behind others in dealing with this concern, he pointed to Scripture to show that ministers of the gospel should live by the gospel. In churches where that was not the practice, he argues, the pastors were not free to give themselves fully to the task to which they had been called. “We cannot doubt, that though our denomination has been prospered, if its ministers from the beginning had been supported, and thereby enabled to apply themselves to study and to labor more extensively in the gospel, its number would now be many times larger than it is, and its usefulness far more extensive.” The proposed covenant called for each member of the local church to give to the church according to ability. But, in order to be sure that adequate funds were collected, Baker added a number of specifics: (1) that each male should pay … Continue reading Ministry Support, 19th Century Style