William Screven (c. 1629 – 1713) was a 17th-century Reformed Baptist church planter and preacher from England who founded the first Baptist church in the South.
Screven was ordained in January 1682 by the First Baptist Church of Boston, so that he might establish a church in Kittery, Maine, which he did on September 25 of that year.[2] In 1696, the new church moved to Charleston, South Carolina at least partly because of disagreements between the Rev. Mr. Screven and the New England Baptist authorities.[3] According to family tradition, however, Screven and his band of ten followers were escorted to the edge of town by the local Puritans and told to leave and never return, on pain of hanging.
"A pioneer Baptist Preacher of Sommerton, England, immigrated to Kittery, Maine, forced to leave that state for preaching the gospel, came south with a group of Baptists, organized the First Baptist Church in the South 1693, at Charleston, and served First Baptist there until 1706. Died in 1713 and buried in private yard at Georgetown, S.C. A servant of Christ, Pure in Morals, Sound in Doctrine, Abundant in Labors."[5]
The Screven Baptist Association, founded in 1950, is named for him. This group is an umbrella group for churches in Dorchester, Berkeley, and eastern Orangeburg Counties.