Isaac Case, Maine Church Planter

ELDER ISAAC CASE PATRIOT – PREACHER – CHURCH PLANTER

Elder Isaac Case was one of the greatest church planters in American history. Wholly given to the ministry, Case was tireless in labour, disinterested in service and single in vision. He was esteemed by his peers and loved by the Baptists of Maine. The son of William and Abigail Bell Case, Isaac was born in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, February 25, 1761. As a young boy, serious impressions concerning the Saviour were made upon the mind of Isaac, but it was an outer conflict to which he first gave his attention. At the age of 15, Isaac Case enlisted in the army and faithfully served his Country during the War for American Independence.

Converted in 1779 at the age of eighteen, Isaac Case openly professed his faith and united with the Baptist Church in Dighton, Massachusetts. He enlisted as a soldier of Christ and began to fight the good fight of faith. Like the apostle to the Gentiles, he immediately began to proclaim Christ both publicly and privately in his native state, and his preaching yielded much fruit. Churches were strengthened, sinners converted and men called into the ministry. Case visited Elder Isaac Backus of Middleborough, Massachusetts in August of 1783. Elder Backus had in his possession a letter from Elder Job Macomber of Maine. The letter, a plea for labourers to preach the gospel in those regions, was presented to Case. The visit proved providential, as the young preacher determined to move eastward. September 10, 1783, at twenty-two years of age, Isaac Case was ordained to the ministry and set out the following day for Maine. Early in October, he reached his chosen field and straightway began to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. Here, in the settlements within the bounds of Maine, he was kindly entreated, and the words of life received.

His first evangelistic journey would be a foreshadowing of future endeavours. Beginning at Berwick, he preached in Gorham, Brunswick, Topsham, Bowdoinham, and Harpswell. At that time, a revival was in progress on nearby Sebascodigan Island. Case made his way there and, upon arrival, was asked to preach. With this request he complied and chose Isaiah 45:22 for his text. It is noted that hearts were melted as the people listened with eager interest to the preaching of the young stranger. Of this occasion, Case recorded, “The Lord sent down the sweet effusion of his blessed Spirit. The Lord is here of a truth.” Case pressed further to the east and, after preaching at Bath in January of 1784, walked across the frozen Kennebec River. Continuing his mission, he preached in Damariscotta, Newcastle, Waldoboro and Thomaston. In Thomaston, the Lord wrought a great work through the word preached.

In a letter dated June 22, 1784, Case wrote, “I think I have seen more of the power and glory of our God since I have been in these parts, than ever I saw before; poor shelterless souls fleeing to Christ, and praising the Lord for free grace through the merits of Christ’s righteousness, which runs down our streets like a mighty stream. The eyes of the blind are opened, and the ears of the deaf are unstopped.” A Baptist church was organized in Thomaston, and Case was chosen as pastor. Elisha Snow, afterwards a prominent Baptist preacher in Maine, was converted during the aforementioned meeting, and it was his daughter, Joanna, that married Isaac, June 26, 1785. There he continued for eight years, during which time the Bowdoinham Association was formed. Henry S. Burrage, Baptist Historian of Maine, wrote these words in his work, Isaac Case, A Memorial,

“In 1792, Mr. Case visited Oxford County on a missionary tour, and while on his way thither he stopped at Readfield, where he found a few Baptists who had been converted in connection with the labours of Mr. Potter. At their request, he spent several weeks in the place preaching and baptizing. … Returning to Thomaston, Mr. Case not long after redeemed a promise to visit Readfield again, and hold added services. The result was that a church of twenty members was formed, composed of residents in Readfield and what is now known as East Winthrop, and called the Baptist church in Winthrop. Mr. Case became deeply interested in this little church, and when it was proposed that he should accept its pastorate, he felt constrained to assent.”June 17, 1792, Isaac Case moved his family to East Readfield. Under the leadership of their new pastor, the church continued to increase. Early services were held in a barn, but in 1793, a new meetinghouse was erected.

Case remained Pastor of the church in Readfield until his partial resignation in 1800. He would continue to preach there when home, but would give himself more fully to the itinerant work of preaching the gospel and planting churches. In a report of his evangelistic efforts, Case wrote, “There were so many doors opened for preaching that I hardly knew what course to steer, or what place stood in most need. For if I had a dozen bodies and as many tongues, they might all have been employed among the poor and destitute who desire to hear, and thankfully attend on the preached word.” Burrage recorded, “One who saw him near the close of his life, said: I can never forget his godly appearance and conversation. On parting, he took me by the hand, and looking at me with his piercing eyes, said: “Always keep Christ uppermost in your heart.” This he had done in the seventy years that had passed since he made his way, in the bloom of early manhood, to the new settlements in the District of Maine. Love for his Master, as we have seen, drew him thither; and that same love, intensified with added years, was the inspiration of his self-denying labours. Until the close of his missionary service, there were established in Maine, east of Portland, few Baptist churches in the formation of which he did not have a part. Wherever he went, his deep, fervent piety was recognized by all, and the tender, heart-searching appeals that fell from his lips were enforced by his stainless Christian character. He was neither a flame of fire, nor a flashing sword, but an apostle of love: and when the cry of the destitute reached his ears, forth he hastened with bread from heaven that men might eat and live. Other men heard that cry and answered it, but in the missionary annals of Maine, there is no such record of continuous service as widely extended as that which is furnished in the life of Isaac Case. As he threaded his way through the forests to remote settlements, or sought out the islands of the sea, this winner of souls could little have imagined that he would be remembered by coming generations.”

Isaac Case preached the gospel for over seventy-two years. He is credited with starting over three hundred Baptist churches throughout Maine and Canada and with baptizing over one thousand converts. He departed this life November 03, 1852, in the ninety-second year of his age, and is buried in the Case Cemetery in East Readfield, beneath the spot where his pulpit once stood. The 1793 meetinghouse was moved to this location in 1839. For over two centuries, within its sanctuary, saints have worshipped, the word has been preached and many have been converted. At a gathering in this historic structure, September 27, 1804, the Maine Baptist Missionary Society was formed.

According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. – Philippians 1: 20-21

Monument Dedicated by the Baptist History Preservation Society – May 04, 2017