The Jeffersonton Baptist Church began its life on this day in 1773. It is the second oldest Baptist church in Culpepper County, Virginia. The first members were members of the Carter’s Run Baptist Church, but they lived too far from the meeting house and transportation was so difficult that fellowship with their brethren was nearly impossible, so they began as a mission under the leadership of Elijah Craig. This Elijah Craig, brother of Lewis and John Craig, often associated with the Culpepper jail, later became one of the early Baptist pastors in Scott County, Kentucky, just north of Lexington. The Carter’s Run mission became an independent congregation in 1791 under the leadership of Pastor John Hickerson. It too was used to start other churches in the area.
The scriptural work of missions can be seen in the history of these congregations. One church sends out members and preachers who establish congregations in different areas, which, with the Lord’s blessings, grow into assemblies large enough to become self-sufficient. They organize and ordain their own pastors, and the process spreads to yet other areas.