REV MOSES WINCHESTER
A Universal (Baptist) Sabbatharian
by Thomas Butler
May 1933
"The Christian Leader"
Boston, Mass.THE Rev. Moses Winchester was a younger half-brother of Elhanan Winchester. At times he supplied the pulpit of the church at Philadelphia, and his name frequently appeared in this connection during his brother's absence in England. In 1785 he accompanied his brother to New England, and officiated in the Universalist house of worship in Boston quite frequently.
Speaking of the two, in a letter to a Philadelphia friend, John Murray wrote: "I really think Mr. Winchester (Elhanan) is the best preacher I know in this country, if he preaches always as when I had the pleasure of hearing him. His brother Moses has, I think, clearer views of the Gospel preached unto Abraham; but I fear he never will be so great a man as his brother. I am afraid he is not so heartily engaged in the cause as I could wish he was."
Moses Winchester became the pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist Church at Shiloh, N. J. This church, organized in 1737, adopted a Confession of Faith resembling closely our own Winchester Confession of 1803:
1. "We believe that unto us there is but one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ, who is the mediator between God and mankind. We believe the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God."
2. "We believe that all Scripture of the Old and New Testaments given by inspiration is the word of God."
Continuing we shall quote from the History of this church as given in the Sabbath Recorder, 1890.
Nathan Ayars was chosen pastor on trial in September, 1785, and was ordained Nov. 13, 1786. "The Universalist element had grown strong in the church, probably from seed sown by those holding the doctrine of 'final restoration' in and around Philadelphia. This indeed was the doctrinal objection offered against the ordination of Elder Ayars, which was overruled. Just at this critical time there came a letter from the Universalist Society of Philadelphia, asking us to aid them in the purchase of a Mason's lodge for a meeting-house.' 'Whereupon, it was unanimously concluded to help them.'
"This proved to be the entering wedge that split the church asunder, and brought on a quarrel that lasted twelve years, the bitterness of which is seldom equaled in church
annals. At the next meeting objections, upon strong doctrinal grounds, were made against assisting the Universalists. And after two years of controversy the subscription money which had been collected for that purpose was ordered to be refunded to the donors, and the project was abandoned. It seems that the house they proposed to purchase was to be free to all denominations, with reserved preferences favoring the 'Final Restorationists' and 'those observing the Seventh-day Sabbath.'
"The dispute over this matter, and that of those wanting to preach often 'lasted until dark and broke up in a tangle.'
"Isaac Davis, the leader of the orthodox element, often used strong terms, accusing the church of holding 'doctrine of devils' and 'hell redemption.' For this, efforts were made to bring him under discipline, but fellowship was restored upon his confessing himself 'to be something rash,' and the brethren 'acknowledged themselves satisfied.'
"It is probable that the trouble would have ended here but for the appearance upon the scene at this time of Elder Moses Winchester, who was received into the membership in January, 1788. In May of the same year, after some considerable friction, he was called to act as pastor for six months, which he consented to do. This movement seemed to rekindle the smoldering embers of trouble.
"He was born in Brookline, near Boston, Mass., Aug. 26, 1762, and was the brother of Elhanan Winchester, the famous Universalist preacher and author. He was called to the ministry in Philadelphia, Nov. 13, 1783, and ordained at French Creek, in August, 1786. He held his brother's doctrine; and having become a Sabbath-keeper gave him access to our people. He was also a man of pleasing address and mild disposition, which enabled him to win the hearts of the people, while Jonathan Jarman's cast-iron rigor in advocating his views tended to repel many who held to his doctrine.
"The fact that Winchester united without a letter was criticized severely, whereupon he obtained one from French Creek, recommending him as a gospel minister, which was accepted by the church. He finally married in Shiloh and settled among them, but did not preach long, and was never a settled pastor here. After some years he returned to French Creek, and while on a visit to his brother Elhanan, he died in Philadelphia, Feb. 10, 1793, aged thirty years.
"Very soon after Winchester's arrival at Shiloh discussions and dissensions aroused jealousies that had been slumbering, and the storm broke again upon them like a pent-up volcano. In July, 1789, the records show 'a motion made for regulating our preachers; for in time past regular order hath not been observed for each to have an equal share.' So it was arranged for Ayars, Jarman, and Winchester to alternate in preaching, while Ayars was the recognized administrator. He was strongly Arminian in doctrine, while Jarman was a cast-iron Calvinist, and Winchester preached universal salvation. In September of this year Jonathan Jarman preached a strong sermon, arguing that as death leaves us so judgment and eternity find us, and that destiny is fixed. The next Sabbath Winchester preached the opposite sentiment, laboring to disprove the doctrine of Jarman. This brought the old question into open debate again.
"Jarman could not tolerate the universal doctrine, and would interrupt the preacher with such words as 'without repentance," and 'he that believeth,' whenever he thought they were needed. Efforts to discipline him only aggravated matters, and he declared his purpose to oppose this 'hell redemption doctrine' wherever he might meet it, and withdrew his fellowship from the church, until it should declare against it also.
"At the next business meeting Isaac Davis requested the three preachers to withdraw, after which he offered a paper of protest against Universalism as taught by Elhanan and Moses Winchester, asking all who would to sign it. The church as a body refused, but several of the members signed it, headed by Davis. This action was regarded by the church as 'contrary to good order,' and became the ground of a procedure in discipline against 'Isaac Davis and his company.' The bitterness and persistency of the struggle is revealed by the record, and by a large bundle of correspondence between these two parties, in which all of the charges and countercharges occur. Some of these documents contain eleven pages of closely written foolseap, and are sad reminders of the faults of those whose dust has rested in our cemetery for nearly a hundred years, and whose names now appear upon those ancient tombstones.
"When the church decided by a vote of thirty-eight to fourteen that the Jarman party were disorderly, their leader proposed a separation; and suiting the action to the word, fourteen of them marched out, shaking the dust off as a testimony against Universalism.
"Up to this time there had never been a legal incorporation of the body, but a charter was soon secured, and signed and sealed Jan. 8, 1790. The first trustees were Joshua Ayars, David Ayars, Evan Davis, Caleb Sheppard, and Samuel Davis, Jr. The legal name was, 'The First Congregation of Seventh-day Baptists Residing in Hopewell, in the County of Cumberland, and State of New Jersey.' They adopted as their sign and seal the letters 'S. B. C.'
"Here began a struggle between the two factions for possession of the house. Both parties claimed to be the church. The Jarman party held business meeting in one corner of the room at the same time with others, and elected trustees, and chose Isaac Davis for deacon. They claimed the right to do this upon the ground that the Winchester party had departed from the original principles upon which the church was founded.
While the numbers comprising the two factions appeared as thirty-eight and fourteen in the meeting of voters when the split occurred, yet when the whole congregation is counted the factions were much larger and more nearly equal. There were about seventy souls in the congregation of the seceders, and about ninety remained with Winchester. But it should be remembered that many of these did not accept his doctrine, and some of whom who did not think it wise to secede even entered their protest against it. Among such was the ruling elder John Kelley. They thought it unfair to be accused of holding to Universalism simply 'because they did not see fit to cut off a few individuals who held that view.'
Winchester dropped out, Jarman and Ayars and their followers contended until 1797. Jarman removed to Cape May, where he became the pastor of a First Day Baptist Church, serving as such until 1808, true to the last to his Sabbatharian views."
The Rev. Abel C. Thomas in his "Century of Universalism" says: "I have recollection of visiting a family of his descendants (a daughter, I believe) somewhere in the region of Swedesboro, N.J., many years ago. I am under the impression that this was his home. On inquiry for old manuscripts, letters, etc., I learned that there had been a box full of them, but the mice had destroyed them."
Moses Winchester was present at the sessions of the Philadelphia Convention 1790, '91, '92, and died, at the residence of his mother-in-law in Philadelphia, a few months prior to the session of '93. He was buried in a cemetery belonging to the New Jersey Seventh-Day Baptists on the east side of Fifth Street, above Chestnut. There are no probate records relating to him either at Philadelphia or at Salem, New Jersey.