In 1758 several Separate Baptist churches in North Carolina formed the Sandy Creek Baptist Association. Their work had begun three years earlier when Shubal Steams and his group formed the Sandy Creek Church in what is now Randolph County. The Sandy Creek Association quickly became the center for a vast outreach of Separate Baptist activity that blanketed the South. This was only the third such association in America, and the second in the South. Their 'Principles of Faith" and ..Rules of Decorum" show what the Separate Baptists believed and how they conducted their work. Source: George w. Purefoy, A History of the Sandy Creek Baptist Association (New York: Sheldon & Co., Publishers, 1859), 104-107.

Elder Luther Rice was invited to a seat in the association as "a representative of the Board of Foreign Missions."

PRINCIPLES OF FAITH

I.           We believe that there is only one true and living God; the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, equal in essence, power and glory; yet there are not three Gods but one God.

II.         That the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the word of God, and only rule of faith and practice.

III.       That Adam fell from his original state of purity, and that his sin is imputed to his posterity; that human nature is corrupt, and that man, of his own free will and ability, is impotent to regain the state in which he was primarily placed

IV.       We believe in election from eternity, effectual calling by the Holy Spirit of God, and justification in his sight only by the imputation of Christ's righteousness. And we believe that they who are thus elected, effectually called, and justified, will persevere through grace to the end, that none of them be lost.

V.         We believe that there will be a resurrection from the dead, and a general or universal! judgment, and that the happiness of the righteous and punishment of the wicked will be eternal.

VI.       That the visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful persons, who have obtained fellowship with each other, and have given themselves up to the Lord and one another; having agreed to keep up a godly discipline, according to the rules of the Gospel.

VII.     That Jesus Christ is the great head of the church, and that the government thereof is with the body.

VIII.   That baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of the Lord, and to be continued by his church until his second coming.

IX.       That true believers are the only fit subjects of baptism, and that immersion is the only mode.

X.         That the church has no right to admit any but regular baptized church members to communion at the Lord's table.

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