both white and black; but the greater number of blacks; many of the latter upon examination, appeared to be very Ignorant of the nature of true religion." A comment in the September 1779 meeting minutes, apparently written sometime after Winchester's departure, alludes to Winchester's faltering Calvinist bona fides. "Soon after Mr. Winchester left Pee Dee, he fell into the error of universal restoration, which he first published in Philadelphia, where after baptizing a great many, he was the means of dividing the Baptist Church in that city." Philadelphia First Baptist Church (1780 - 1781) The ministry of the historic First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, established in 1698, was severely impacted by the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), with many prominent members and ministers engaged in the war effort. A 1779 self-assessment revealed the bleak condition of the church. "We have been for a long time as sheep having no shepherd, and the consequence has been that we have strayed one from another." The church elders sought to rectify this situation by hiring a minister. Taking advantage of his travel back to Welch Neck, Winchester was in Philadelphia as a representative of the New England Warren Baptist Association, attending the annual meeting of the Philadelphia Baptist Association. At that meeting, the elders offered Winchester the church pulpit in October 1780. Winchester was known to the elders. In 1775, following the resignation of their then-minister, Rev. William Rodgers, the church unsuccessfully attempted to secure Winchester's services, who was then attending the Philadelphia Baptist Association's annual meeting as a representative of the South Carolina Charleston Baptist Association. In accepting this recent call, Winchester artfully deflected his obligation to his Welch Neck church, indicating that before his departure he had secured the services of another minister for his South Carolina society if he should fail to return. Winchester's ministry at the First Baptist Church was an instant success. He preached to large crowds at the church and then moved to larger facilities to accommodate the ever-increasing number of people coming to hear him. Five months later, in March 1781, everything changed. Universal Restoration Ministerial Career Evolution to Universal Restoration The undoing of Winchester's ministry at the First Baptist Church was rooted in his failure to share with the church elders his wavering doubts about Calvinism. Two years before arriving in Philadelphia Winchester's theological belief system was evolving again, leaving him, as he self-described, as "half