The Lord blessed the United States in the late 18th century with souls saved and multitudes turning directly to the Bible for their spiritual direction rather than listening to their Protestant preachers. In New England hundreds, if not thousands, of members of Congregationalist churches were saved and began demanding to hear the preaching of God’s word rather than Protestant theology. They were often called “New Lights” and “Separates.” Those churches which moved in this direction lost their support from the taxes collected by the state. In this, and in doctrine, more and more congregations were said to have “gone to the Baptists.” Some of these congregations, in fact, were reorganized as Baptists.
Stephen Parsons was the parson for the Congregational church in Middletown, Connecticut. Through his preaching of Christ and his love of the brethren, he became well-known and quite popular. Then in 1795 it happened: he discovered that his infant baptism was not scriptural, and he rejected it. That grieved some of his more important church members, and he was dismissed. He was then immersed by the pastor of the Baptist church in Colchester, and eventually Parsons was called to lead the Baptist congregation in Whiteboro, New York. On this day in 1795, Isaac Backus visited the church in Whiteboro and referred to Brother Parsons in his journal as someone “much esteemed” in the Lord.