David Becklund, in his book A History of the Minnesota Baptist Convention (1967), recognized Rev. Timothy R. Cressey as “the outstanding pioneer of Baptist work in Minnesota.” He was born in Pomfret, Connecticut, on September 18, 1800. At the age of eighteen, he became a Christian and immediately felt God’s call to preach. After graduating from Amherst in 1828, he studied at Newton Theological Institute and graduated in 1830.
Cressey pastored in south Boston several years before he held missionary pastorates in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. At each of these locations God blessed him with large revivals, and churches began as a result. Then in 1852 the Home Mission Board appointed him to Minnesota. The boat he was aboard could have landed in St. Paul on Sunday, May 16, but a local ordinance prevented vessels from landing on Sunday, so the boat cruised the river until Monday. Cressey began his ministry in Minnesota by pastoring First Baptist Church of St. Paul where he erased a $4,000 debt and tripled the membership in 23 months. Becklund characterizes his tenure as “a militant organizing of new churches and organizations.” (p.9)
After 23 months at First Baptist, Cressey left and spent the next seven years starting churches throughout Minnesota Territory. Becklund quotes Cressey’s son, who wrote about his father’s dedication to ministry. “One bitter cold Friday morning in January, 1855, the mercury being twenty degrees below zero, Mr. Cressey saddled his horse to take his regular monthly two-day ride that he might preach in his sister’s cabin. When remonstrated with by one of his sons for going in such weather, his only reply was ‘I have never yet in all my ministry failed to keep an appointment to preach, and I shan’t begin now.’”(11) The cabin was about 75 miles south of St. Paul between Medford and Clinton Falls.
Churches in Hastings, Red Wing, Winona, Cannon Falls, Northfield, Faribault, Medford, Clinton Falls, and Owatonna organized under the leadership of Cressey. He took the lead in organizing the Minnesota Baptist State Convention and preached the opening sermon at the first convention in Winona in 1859.
In 1861, 61-year-old Cressey answered God’s call to enter the military and served as chaplain in the Second Minnesota Regiment. His five older sons also served with him in the army at different times. Poor health forced him to resign in 1863.
The year 1854 proved to be a milestone for Cressey. Not only did he leave his St. Paul pastorate to establish churches in Minnesota Territory, but he also wrote the charter for Minnesota Central University. He was a strong advocate of education, and he foresaw the need of educating Baptist young people. After writing the charter, he secured legislation for the university’s incorporation and then went East in 1858 to solicit funds to erect a building. In 1859, the school opened in Hastings under the leadership of W.F. Nelson. More about this institution in later postings.
Cressey was a fluent writer as well as a gifted preacher. His writings influenced many to come to Minnesota to establish churches. George Keith, one who responded to Cressey’s writing, became the first president of the Minnesota Baptist convention. E.W. Cressey established First Baptist Church of Minneapolis when he heeded T.R. Cressey’s call for help.
He left Minnesota in 1864 and held pastorates in Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. He died at seventy years of age in Des Moines, Iowa. Becklund concludes his discussion of Cressey’s ministry by saying, “There is no way of telling how many souls this man won or how many churches he started, but one thing is for certain, he was directly responsible for the phenomenal growth that the Minnesota Baptist Convention enjoyed in the subsequent years.”(12)
