General Baptists formed their first Virginia church in Prince George County in 1715 under the leadership of Robert Norden. They spread to Surry and Isle of Wight counties, but many were forced to move to North Carolina due to disease epidemics and economic problems. Other General Baptist churches were formed in northern Virginia.

The Philadelphia Association was the first Baptist association in America. Formed in 1707, it was Calvinistic in belief and sent ministers to northern Virginia to organize churches and to reorganize some General Baptist churches to the Calvinistic or newly-named "Regular" Baptist position.

A third Baptist group was entirely of American origin. It arose in New England among the Congregationalists. Some of these came to believe that the church should be composed of believers only. This meant they refused to engage in infant baptism. Later they began to perform baptism by immersion, which they learned from the Baptists. Then some few of them joined with the Baptists. These were moderate Calvinists drawn by the preaching of George Whitefield (pron. "Whit-field") and others who had certain Arminian tendencies. A small number of these headed by Shubal Stearns left Connecticut and moved to Guilford (now Randolph) County, North Carolina, and organized the Sandy Creek Baptist Church in 1755. They were known as "Separate" Baptists.

The Separate Baptists were aggressive in evangelism and appealed to plain working people who had little education. They reached out to Virginia and founded the Dan River Church in Pittsylvania County in 1760. Spreading like wildfire they worked in the lower counties of the state. Then they established the Upper Spotsylvania Church north of the James River in 1769. Other churches came in rapid succession as the Separates led all other groups.

These energetic Baptists were not welcome in Virginia. The colony had a state church, patterned on the Church of England, and all citizens were expected to belong to the Established Church. Parents were obligated to have their infants baptized by a minister of the state church. Residents were required to support the church through taxation. This included maintaining church building, furnishing the minister's salary and financing the purchase of glebe lands for the minster's use. Attendance at worship was required and absences were fined. Those who held public office had to be members of the state church. There was no place for dissenters.

When the Baptists appeared they were required to secure permits for meetinghouses. The ministers were directed to apply for licenses to preach. These were difficult to obtain and were limited to only one meetinghouse. If ministers left their field of labor and crossed county lines to preach, they were subject to arrest as "disturbers of the peace."

Most of the Regular Baptists obtained the proper licenses, but the Separates usually refused. They said that King Jesus had commissioned them to preach and they didn't need permission from King George. From 1768 to 1775, about 40 men were jailed in Virginia for preaching without a license. Sometimes mobs attempted to interfere with their worship services, which were often held outdoors.

The first known instance of imprisonment for preaching occurred in Spotsylvania County in 1768, when five men were arrested and three of them were jailed for 43 days. Persecution of Baptist ministers continued until the events leading up to the Revolutionary War. All citizens were needed as soldiers and supporters of the war effort, so dissenters were no longer required to pay taxes to maintain the Established Church. Baptists enthusiastically championed the Revolution.

When the Virginia General Association of Separate Baptists was formed in 1771, the group was small and was the only organized body beyond the local church.

The first General Association (not to be confused with the present body of that name) grew rapidly. At first it divided into two groups: one on the north side of the James River and the other on the south. From these two bodies small district associations wer formed later.

The General Association of Separate Baptists became the mouthpiece of the Separates to present their petitions to the House of Burgesses and later the Virginia General Assembly concerning restrictions levied on dissenters. All through the Revolutionary War this body planned the strategy to achieve religious freedom and the separation of church and state.

The Presbyterians joined in this effort. Thomas Jefferson's Act for Establishing Religious Freedom was adopted in January 1786. As a result, Virginia became the first government in the world to establish by statute the complete separation of church and state. No small part of this victory came through Baptist initiative and support.

After the Baptists of Virginia united in the common task of securing religious liberty, and Jefferson's statute was made law, the time was ripe for all Baptists to merge. This was accomplished in 1787 when the Regulars and Separates joined hands in forming the union of all Baptist churches in the state.

After religious liberty was achieved, most Baptists in Virginia felt no further need for the state organization. There was a feeling that the district associations were adequate for their needs. As a result, the General Association was dissolved in 1783. However, some few persisted in forming a new state body. The Baptist General Committee served in this capacity from 1784 to 1799. It was followed by the General Meeting of Correspondence which functioned from 1800 to 1822. Then came the Baptist General Association of Virginia which has operated from 1823 to the present time.

This material is taken from The History of Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia, 1820-1995 by John S. Moore.