Martha Stearns Marshall

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Martha Stearns Marshall (1726–1754) was a Separate Baptist preacher in the Southern United States. She spread the gospel alongside her husband, Daniel Marshall (1706–84), who is generally regarded as the first great Baptist leader in the state of Georgia. She was once jailed in Virginia for refusing to stop preaching the gospel, although she was three months pregnant at the time. Her preaching was powerful enough to convince a young man named Cartledge to become a preacher; she also converted her arresting constable and magistrate. She often stood alongside her brother Shubal Stearns and spoke at Baptist meetings. Martha also assisted her husband Daniel in his churches and preached to his congregations. She gave birth to six sons and two daughters.

Contributions

In 1810, Virginia Baptist historian Robert Semple wrote of Marshall’s contributions to Baptist work:

'Mr. Marshall had a rare felicity of finding in this lady, a Priscilla, a helper in the gospel. In fact, it should not be concealed that his extraordinary success in the ministry, is ascribable in no small degree, to Mrs. Marshall’s unwearied, and zealous co-operation. Without the shadow of a usurped authority over the other sex, Mrs. Marshall, being a lady of good sense, singular piety, and surprising elocution, has, in countless instances melted a whole concourse into tears by her prayers and exhortations!'

Baptist historian George Paschal, in his History of North Carolina Baptists, wrote of Daniel and Martha:

“As a result of the labors of this earnest and fervent evangelist, in which he doubtless had the assistance of his saintly and gifted wife, Mrs. Martha Stearns Marshall, great numbers turned to the Lord.”

Biography

In the late 1750s, the Marshalls founded a Separate Baptist church at Abbott’s Creek in North Carolina. There Martha served alongside her husband and “was noted for her zeal and eloquence,” and her preaching “added greatly to the interest of meetings conducted by her husband.” The first difficulty the new church encountered was that no minister would cooperate with Stearns in ordaining Daniel. A pastor in South Carolina refused to participate in an ordination service because Daniel and the Separate Baptists “allowed women to pray in public and illiterate men to preach, and encouraged noise and confusion in their meetings.” The ordination service finally took place when Elder Ledbetter, Daniel’s brother-in-law, agreed to participate in the ordination.

In 1771, the Marshalls moved to Columbia County, Georgia, where they founded the first Baptist church in Georgia, located at Kiokee. A. H. Newman wrote of their efforts in founding this work:

“Marshall was now sixty-four years old and had behind him a truly apostolic record. Almost equally useful was his wife, a sister of Shubal Stearns.”

Legacy

In 2007, Baptist Women in Ministry instituted the Martha Stearns Marshall Day of Preaching to invite churches to encourage women to preach. On a Sunday in February each year, "we will join together to celebrate hearing the voices of women as they preach in pulpits across the United States. As more women enter the ministry, churches have a greater opportunity to welcome them into their pulpits," said Pam Durso, Associate Executive Director of the Baptist History and Heritage Society.

External links

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