The Great Schism at Market Street Baptist
A congregation splits as 22 members depart in the wake of internal conflict, signaling the end of a long-standing church feud.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Yesterday's phase of the trouble in the Market Street Baptist church was one of almost love-feast regularity and calm. Services were held in the church both morning and evening. At the end of the morning sermon, twenty-two members arose in order and handed in their requests for letters of dismissal. J. C. Keith made a speech submitting his request and that of G. A. C. Rochester. Mr. Keith expressed regret that the difficulty had come to this pass and declared his friendship for many of those who differed with him. Each request was acceded to by a vote of hands, according to Baptist usage. A. E. Braymer noted, 'I hope this ends the trouble in the church. We have 171 members left and I understand that about twenty persons expect to join in a fortnight or so.'
“I hope this ends the trouble in the church.”
Church splits were a common fixture in the social architecture of 19th-century Seattle, often mirroring the rapid growth and factionalism of a frontier city. Today, such community tensions might play out over neighborhood development or urban planning boards, but the pattern of 'voting with one's feet' remains a staple of civic disagreement.
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