An Enquiry into the Obligations of Christians to Use Means for the Conversion of the Heathens (1792)

Immediately upon his conversion, Carey became an ardent student of the Scriptures. Eager to know exactly and fully what the Scriptures taught, he began an earnest study of the original languages of Scripture, Hebrew and Greek. His aptness and earnestness in discourse soon became known, and he was asked at various times and places to expound the Word. Having transferred his residence to Moulton, where he opened a school, he was asked by the small company of Baptists to be their pastor. The salary was about $50.00 a year. His chief support for his family came from his earnings as a cobbler and as a school teacher. Several years later (1789) he moved to Leicester, to serve as pastor of the Harvey Lane Baptist Church. He found the church in a state of disunion, dishonor and spiritual impotence, due largely to worldliness and resultant evils among the members. He prayed and preached most fervently, but conversions were impossible in such an atmosphere and the pastor was heartbroken. Eventually, in September of 1790, he determined upon a bold course of procedure ”” one that many churches in the twentieth century could doubtless follow to great advantage. He proposed that the church membership be dissolved, that a solemn covenant embodying New Testament faith, life and discipline be prepared, and that only those accepting this covenant be accepted as members of the newly-constituted church. This was done, the church was revived, worldly nettles gave place to the fruitage of the Spirit, and, in response to the preaching from the pulpit and witnessing in the homes, there were many blessed conversions. He led his own sisters, then his wife, and many others into the sublime experience of redemption. In his zeal for souls, he frequently made preaching trips to surrounding villages and laid the foundations of a number of churches.