History

United Baptist Church (UBC) is the second oldest Baptist church in America, founded in 1638 by John Clarke.

Who was John Clarke?

Clarke (1609-1676) was a physician, a minister, statesman, and pioneer of religious liberty. He was a fervent advocate for religious liberty and baptist principles.

What did John Clarke do?

Clarke and his wife arrived from England in 1637.

They settled in Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island (later known as Rhode Island) and a church was formed with Clarke as its founding pastor. The next year, Clarke and others left Portsmouth and became the original settlers of Newport, where he founded our church.

In 1644, John Clarke led his congregation to embrace the practice of believers’ baptism.

What part did John Clarke play in religious liberty?

In 1651, Clarke, Obadiah Holmes, and John Crandall traveled to Lynn, Massachusetts, to visit infirm church member William Whitter. At the home of Whitter, Clarke held a worship service. Local constables stopped the service and arrested Clarke and his companions for “leading an unlawful worship service.”

Clarke, Crandall and Holmes were put on trial for seditious religious teachings (believers’ baptism). After being convicted, Clarke and Crandall returned to Newport after their fines were paid. Obadiah Holmes refused to pay his fine and was publicly whipped behind the Boston Courthouse.

That same year, Clarke traveled to England to secure a new charter for the colony of Rhode Island that would ensure religious freedom.

After 12 years of work, Clarke finally secured the Royal Charter of 1663 from King Charles II. It’s the first Royal Charter that guarantees religious liberty and eliminates persecution and punishment for religious convictions by civil authorities.

Death of John Clarke

On April 20 1676, Clarke died and was buried in Newport.

What does religious liberty mean to us?

Here at UBC, religious liberty means we’re free to proclaim Christ and to follow His teachings.

Each week at our service, thanks to the efforts of Clarke hundreds of years ago, we read the Bible publicly, we preach from the Bible, we sing songs that proclaim the truths of the Bible, and we pray in response to God’s promises to us in the Bible.