Providence and her Pastors*

For many years it was believed by members of Providence Baptist Church that James Suggett was the first pastor.  Records of the church brought to light in July 2001, have somewhat contradicted that belief.  It is now evident that while James Suggett definitely preached at Providence before 1832 when he transferred his membership from the Great Crossings Baptist Church in Kentucky and was called as Providence's pastor he may not have officially been the first called Pastor of the Church.  That duty seems to have been shared by various Baptist Preachers who ministered in many of the churches in Mid-Missouri.  

Elder Nineon Ridgeway is mentioned in the minutes as being moderator of the Providence Baptist Church during much of the first five years of its existence.  He was also present at the organizational meeting of the church.  Bro. T. P. Stephens was also present and was long time pastor of Cedar Creek Baptist Church.  It is the conclusion of this researcher that Nineon Ridgeway was one of the first "pastors" of Providence Baptist Church along with Bro. Stephens and Bro. Theodore Boulware of Fulton and others who are also mentioned in the church minutes as preaching at Providence on several occasions in a pastoral capacity. 

Having made those conclusions the following needs to be said.

In the early 1800s, to pastor a church meant that a preacher had been approved by a particular church to preach at that church.  He might not and most likely was not the only preacher to enjoy that privilege and call.  In fact, two or more preachers might preach on the same meeting day.  Considering that most early Baptist Churches of the era met not usually more than once or twice a month, and that when the preachers were in the area, the early Baptist preachers of the frontier are more correctly categorized as circuit riding preachers than pastors of the churches they served. Almost all early pastors on the frontier were bi-vocational pastors and nearly all of them in the early years of Baptist History in Missouri served more than one church at the same time.¹  

In the modern sense of the word Pastor, the Rev. James Suggett was the first permanent pastor of Providence Baptist Church, serving the church continuously from 1832 - 1846.  Bro. Suggett set a longevity record at Providence that to our present knowledge* has never been matched to the present time.