First Baptist Church (Charleston, South Carolina)

First Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church in Charleston, South Carolina. The congregation was founded in 1682 under the leadership of William Screven. It is one of the oldest Baptist congregations in the American South. The church congregation was originally organized in Kittery, Maine (then part of Massachusetts) under the guidance of the First Baptist Church of Boston. In 1696 twenty-six congregants followed Pastor Screven and moved to Charleston after being pressured by the New England Congregationalist authorities. The relocated congregation became the First Baptist Church of Charleston. Pastor Screven recommended that future any future pastor be "orthodox in faith, and of blameless life, and does own the confession of faith put forth by our brethren in London in 1689" declaring the church to be firmly Calvinist (Reformed Baptist). First Baptist Church is currently affiliated with the Southern Baptist denomination. The current Greek Revival sanctuary was designed by Robert Mills and built in 1820.