When George Fownes became the pastor of the Broadmead Baptist Church in Bristol, England, he knew he was stepping into danger. His immediate predecessor had been imprisoned many times between 1671 and 1678. And that man’s predecessor had even died as a result of the imprisonment he endured. On December 18, 1681, Brother Fownes began six weeks in Newgate prison, and was released after a month and a half, only because of a mistake in the warrant. In March of the next year he was arrested again while peacefully traveling down the road. He was accused of returning from a preaching service which was held in the open air, in an effort to hide from the authorities. Even though the charge couldn’t actually be proved, he was sentenced to six months in the Gloucester jail. When that half year expired, he hardly stepped out into freedom before he was arrested again and ordered to spend thirty-two months in prison. You could say that he was released early, but it was because he died while in custody in 1685. Remember, he was jailed essentially because he was a Baptist gospel preacher.
Before his last arrest, on this day in 1680, Brother Fownes proposed to the church how the congregation should behave if a service was interrupted by the officers. In essence he proposed they continue their worship, focusing on their Lord and Saviour unless the magistrate himself used violence, and then they determined to let the Devil do his worst. He did.
– Source: “This Day in Baptist History” – Thompson and Cummins