Baptist Churches Books

Book Synopsis"These personal narratives of distinguished Baptists illustrate the adverse consequences of exclusive fundamentalism, and the need for unity among traditional Baptists." -Jimmy Carter“This book is an excellent example of just how fragile religion and religiosity are and how harmony can turn to animosity over trivia.” It has been one of the major news stories in religion and culture of the past twenty-five years. From 1979 to 1995, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was rocked by assaults on its leadership by fundamentalists, who used questionabletactics to gain top positions and then used their power to purge Baptist seminary presidents and professors, church pastors, lay leaders, and women from positions of responsibility. America's largest Christian, non-Catholic denomination is firmly locked in a “holy war” to secure its churches and membership for a never-ending struggle against a liberal culture. Exiled: Voices of the Southern Baptist Convention Holy War is a compilation of first-person narratives by conservative and moderate ministers and lay leaders who were stripped of their positions and essentially became pariahs in the churches to which they had devoted their lives. While other books have described the takeover in historical, political, and theological terms, Exiled is different. Individual people tell their personal stories, revealing the struggle and heartache that resulted from being vilified, dispossessed, and exiled. Kell includes a variety of perspectives-from lay preachers and church members to prominent former SBC leaders such as James Dunn and Carolyn Crumpler. The emotion captured on the pages-sadness, shock, disbelief, resignation,and anger-will make Exiled moving even to readers who know little about the Southern Baptist movement. Exiled will also be of particular interest to historians, sociologists, philosophers of religion, and rhetorical historians.Carl L. Kell is professor of communication at Western Kentucky University. He is the author, with Raymond Camp, of In the Name of the Father: The Rhetoric of the New Southern Baptist Convention and, with Paul R. Corts, of Fundamentals of Effective Group Communication, and of Let's Talk Business.

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Book SynopsisBetween 1776 and the mid-1800s, the number of Baptists in the United States grew at a staggeringrate, rising from fifty thousand at the outbreak of revolution to more than a million as the nationedged toward civil war. As the Second Great Awakening swept through the Old Southwest, it generatedreligious enthusiasm among Methodist and Baptist converts who were intent upon replacingold forms of Protestantism with an evangelical vibrancy that reflected and often contributedto the unsettled social relations of the new republic. No place was better suited to embrace thisenthusiasm than Kentucky. In Born of Water and Spirit, Richard C. Traylor explores the successesand failures of Baptists in this area, using it as a window into the elements of Baptist lifethat transcended locale.Traylor argues that the achievements of Baptists in Kentucky reflect, in many ways, their successand coming of age in the early national period of America. The factionalism that characterizedfrontier Baptists, he asserts, is an essential key to understanding who the colonial Baptists hadbeen, who they were becoming in the late eighteenth through the mid-nineteenth centuries, andwho they would become after the Civil War.In this highly nuanced study, Traylor looks at the denomination in light of what he calls its“Baptist impulse”—the movement’s fluid structure and democratic spirit. These characteristicshave proven to be its greatest strength as well as the source of its most terrible struggles. Yet, confrontingtheological clashes, along with the challenges that come with growth, forged the Baptistidentity and shaped its future.The first three chapters examine the primary elements of the impulse: rituals of conversion,baptism, and communion; the Baptist preacher; and the significance of the local church to thesect. Following these chapters are explorations of the reformations and forces of change in theearly to mid-1800s, the role of women and African Americans in developing the group, and therefinement and reorientation of priorities from 1840 to 1860. This important denominational historywill be of great value to scholars of American religious history and the history of the earlyAmerican republic.Trade ReviewI know of no other work like Born of Water and Spirit. Its contributions arethreefold: it describes Baptist life in Kentucky in the formative period of the AmericanRepublic, it utilizes excellent primary material, and, most importantly, it interpretsdevelopments in light of what the writer successfully describes as the ‘Baptist impulse.’”—Walter B. Shurden, author of Turning Points in Baptist History

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Book SynopsisFrom 1979 to 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was mired in conflict, with the biblicist and autonomist parties fighting openly for control. This highly polarizing struggle ended in a schism that created major changes within the SBC and also resulted in the formation of several new Baptist groups. Discussions of the schism, academic and otherwise, generally ignore the church’s clergywomen for the roles they played and the contributions they made to the fracturing of the largest Protestant group in the United States. Ordained women are typically treated as a contentious issue between the parties. Only recently are scholars beginning to take seriously these women’s contributions and interpretations as active participants in the struggle.Anatomy of a Schism is the first book on the Southern Baptist split to place ordained women’s narratives at the center of interpretation. Author Eileen Campbell-Reed brings her unique perspective as a pastoral theologian in conducting qualitative interviews with five Baptist clergywomen and allowing their narratives to focus attention on both psychological and theological issues of the split. The stories she uncovers offer a compelling new structure for understanding the path of Southern Baptists at the close of the twentieth century. The narratives of Anna, Martha, Joanna, Rebecca, and Chloe reframe the story of Southern Baptists and reinterpret the rupture and realignment in broad and significant ways. Together they offer an understanding of the schism from three interdisciplinary perspectives—gendered, psychological, and theological—not previously available together. In conversation with other historical events and documents, the women’s narratives collaborate to provide specific perspectives with universal implications for understanding changes in Baptist life over the last four decades.The schism’s outcomes held profound consequences for Baptist individuals and communities. Anatomy of Schism is an illuminating ethnographic and qualitative study sure to be indispensable to scholars of theology, history, and women’s studies alike.Trade ReviewEileen Campbell-Reed has taken a fascinating denominational schism and rendered it in a new and plausible way. She has accomplished something most of us who have worked on Southern Baptists are ill-equipped to do, and therefore makes a unique and important contribution to the study of Southern Baptists in particular and religion in America more broadly. This is a well-argued work of scholarship based on solid evidence."" - Barry Hankins, author of Baptists in America: A History; ""Drawing on rich conversation with Southern Baptist clergywomen, Eileen Campbell-Reed tells the story of the Convention s late twentieth-century tumult from a wholly new and fascinating angle. In giving voice to specific women, she transforms them from ""object ""to ""living subjects,"" from ""problem"" to ""agents"" and issues a clarion call to all of us, showing how gender can both distort and renew the Christian gospel. Anatomy of a Schism is a wonderful example of qualitative research, a savvy analysis of gender, and a unique examination of theology-in-the-making."" - Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore, co-author of Christian Practical Wisdom: What It Is, and Why It Matters; ""By highlighting five women ministers and analyzing their stories from a psychological perspective, Campbell-Reed fills a gap in the scholarship of the Southern Baptist battles and adds depth to an increasingly sophisticated conversation on the significant role of women and gender in fragmenting America's largest Protestant denomination. In the process, she also furnishes an engaging read, giving eloquent testimony to the creativity and courage of these women in pursuing a call that put them at odds with their religious culture."" - Elizabeth Flowers, author of Into the Pulpit: Southern Baptist Women and Power since World War II

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Book SynopsisScholars and journalists have paid significant attention to the contemporary Fundamentalist tendencies of southern Protestantism. However, many studies neglect to consider how the Fundamentalist controversies that roiled the Baptists and Presbyterians of the North during the 1920s affected the Southern Baptist Convention schism of 1970–2000. Fundamentalism, Fundraising, and the Transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1919–1925 explores the scope and character of the interaction between Southern Baptists and early Fundamentalism during the late 1910s and early 1920s. By focusing more closely on the Southern Baptist Convention, Andrew Christopher Smith examines the interaction between the northernFundamentalist movement and southern religion during the era. Though scholars agree that Fundamentalism is not native to the South, no book thus far has considered the effects of the Fundamentalist movement and how it influenced southern Protestant denominational organizations, independent of southern rejection of Fundamentalist-sponsored interdenominational evangelistic and educational institutions. Smith proposes that Fundamentalist ideas, lingering in the atmosphere of the South after wafting there through hearsay, national religious periodicals, and the secular press,likely influenced Southern Baptist self-understanding during this critical period.Examining documentary evidence, Smith explains that following the First World War, Southern Baptists pushed toward bureaucratization. The “Seventy-Five Million Campaign,” a fundraising and organization-building drive that the convention approved in 1919, was the denominational movement through which the selective appropriation of Fundamentalist ideas occurred. Exploring the interplay of Southern Baptist claims and northern Fundamentalist precepts, Smith fills a void in scholarly examination of early-twentieth-century Baptist history.

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Book SynopsisIn the pantheon of publications related to women’s educational history, there is little research concerning women’s education in the context of the Baptist church. In Doing the Word: Southern Baptists’ Carver School of Church Social Work and Its Predecessors, 1907–1997, T. Laine Scales and Melody Maxwell provide a complete history of this unique institution. By exploring the dynamic evolution of women’s education through the lens of the women’s training program for missions and social work at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the authors show how the institution both expanded women’s education and leadership and also came into tension with changes in the Southern Baptist Convention, ultimately resulting in its closing in 1997. A touchstone for women’s studies and church history alike, Doing the Word reopens a lost chapter in the evolution of women’s leadership during the twentieth century—a tumultuous period in which the Carver School, under significant pressure to reverse course, sought to expand the roles of women in leading the church.

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Book SynopsisJames A. Patterson's groundbreaking study of the life and mind of James Robinson Graves explores the history of Landmarkism in the nineteenth century. Under this doctrine, Graves proposed that 'true' Baptists should be able to trace their lineage directly to the early church, rather than through the strands of Protestantism. Controversial in its day, and often poorly understood now, Landmarkism, in Patterson's nuanced interpretation, is important for understanding an essential feature of Baptist life to the present day: how do Baptists stake out their identities in reference to other Baptists and to members of competing denominations? While Graves has been widely dismissed by recent historians, in Patterson's skillful revision, this figure draws much nearer to central concerns of Baptist thinking since the First Great Awakening.This addition to the America's Baptists series blends biographical insight with a thematic approach that focuses primarily on Graves's controversial beliefs about ecclesiology, Baptist history, and eschatology. Patterson divides this work into seven chapters that progress chronologically, and this updated edition includes an expanded discussion of Christian republicanism, elaborates on the question of Graves and race, and features a longer epilogue to account for recent scholarship on Graves and Landmarkism.James Robinson Graves is an accessible introduction to the significant albeit disputed role that the Landmark tradition played in the shaping of Southern Baptist life and thought. Seminary students and scholars of nineteenth-century Southern Baptist history will find a rich new interpretation of this misunderstood figure.Trade ReviewNo student of the nineteenth century South will be able to find a better working introduction to the Landmark phenomenon than that offered here." - Andrew C. Smith, author of Fundamentalism, Fundraising, and the Transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1919-1925

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Book SynopsisIn Mainstreaming Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and Fundamentalism's Public Reemergence, Keith Bates embarks on a thematic and chronological exploration of twentieth-century Baptist fundamentalism in postwar America, sharing the story of a man whose career intersected with many other leading fundamentalists of the twentieth century, such as J. Frank Norris, Bob Jones Sr., Bob Jones Jr., and Jerry Falwell.Unique among histories of American fundamentalism, this book explores the theme of Southern fundamentalism's reemergence through a biographical lens. John R. Rice's mission to inspire a broad cultural activism within fundamentalism - particularly by opposing those who fostered an isolationist climate - would give direction and impetus to the movement for the rest of the twentieth century. To support this claim, Bates presents chapters on Rice's background and education, personal and ecclesiastical separatism, and fundamentalism and political action, tracing his rise to leadership during a critical phase of fundamentalism's development until his death in 1980.Bates draws heavily upon primary source texts that include writings from Rice's fundamentalist contemporaries, his own The Sword of the Lord articles, and his private papers - particularly correspondence with many nationally known preachers, local pastors, and laypeople over more than fifty years of Rice's ministry. The incorporation of these writings, combined with Bates's own conversations with Rice's family, facilitate a deeply detailed, engaging examination that fills a significant gap in fundamentalist history studies.Mainstreaming Fundamentalism: John R. Rice and Fundamentalism's Public Reemergence provides a nuanced and insightful study that will serve as a helpful resource to scholars and students of postwar American fundamentalism, Southern fundamentalism, and Rice's contemporaries.

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Book SynopsisIn The Power of Mammon, Curtis D. Johnson describes how the market economy and market-related forces, such as the media, politics, individualism, and consumerism, radically changed the nature of Baptist congregational life in New York State during three centuries. Collectively, these forces emphasized the importance of material wealth over everything else, and these values penetrated the thinking of Baptist ministers and laypeople alike. Beginning in the 1820s, the pastorate turned into a profession, the laity’s influence diminished, closeknit religious fellowships evolved into voluntary associations, and evangelism became far less effective. Men, being the most engaged in the market, secularized the more quickly and became less involved in church affairs. By the 1870s, male disengagement opened the door to increased female participation in church governance. While scientific advances and religious pluralism also played a role, the market and its related distractions were the primary forces behind the secularization of Baptist life.The Power of Mammon is history from the ground up. Unlike many denominational histories, this book emphasizes congregational life and the importance of the laity. This focus allows the reader to hear the voices of ordinary Baptists who argued over a host of issues. Johnson deftly connects large social trends with exhaustive attention to archival material, including numerous well-chosen records preserved by forty-two New York churches. These records include details related to membership, discipline, finance, and institutional history. Utilizing statistical analysis to achieve even greater clarity, Johnson effectively bridges the gap between the particularity of church records and the broader history of New York’s Baptist churches.Johnson’s narrative of Baptist history in New York will serve as a model for other regional studies and adds to our understanding of secularization and its impact on American religion.Trade Review“Curtis D. Johnson’s sweeping, detailed, and convincing narrative of Baptist history in New York makes an important contribution to Baptist history. Because New York was a major center of Baptist life during the period of Johnson’s study, his book promises to be required reading for anyone interested in Baptist history in the northern United States.”- Amanda Porterfield, author of Corporate Spirit: Religion and the Rise of the Modern Corporation

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Book SynopsisWhat makes a Baptist church Baptist? Casual observers might be tempted to stereotype the churches of the American South, but scholar Andrew B. Gardner paints a portrait of one North Carolina congregation that defies easy categorization. Established in 1958 in the college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church immediately sought to establish a welcoming religious community—focusing initially on bringing in both Black and White congregants and, as ideas about inclusivity developed, on accepting all people, regardless of identity. By naming itself for a theologically progressive preacher and professor, the fledgling church signaled a perspective unfamiliar to Baptists in the South, which gave the church a radical edge. The church’s first pastor, Robert Seymour, also possessed a progressive vision that resonated with his congregants and pushed them to commit to justice and equality. Soon after its founding, the church strived to challenge inequality in segregated Chapel Hill. Although it remained predominantly White well into the twenty-first century, Binkley evolved to become increasingly aware of issues of gender equality, equity, LGBTQ inclusion, and climate justice. Addressing these issues was Binkley’s way of building God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.Binkley: A Congregational History tells the story of a single church with a complicated past, demonstrating that, while liberal in heritage, it operated with an unconsciously White, heteronormative worldview that slowly evolved into a distinct expression of faith. The author also draws on scholarship within the broader field of American religious history to position Binkley—with all its complexities, conflicts, and nuances—within the broader context of twentieth-century liberal Protestantism. Perhaps most importantly, Gardner tells the story of a place animated by a vision of Christianity that is often overlooked or drowned out by larger and louder Christian groups. He compellingly shows how this progressive vision of Christianity has shaped Binkley’s commitment to its community and beyond.Trade Review“This is more than just a congregational history—although it is a masterful exemplar of that. It is a story situated in both a particular place and in a larger culture and time. Gardner pays needed attention to a sometimes invisible corner of Baptist life—the world of southern white progressive Christians. And he does so with a critical and caring eye on a real place where real people live out their faith."—Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Baptist Battles: Social Change and Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention “If Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church sought to reform and reimagine the ‘southern part of heaven’ that was Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Gardner himself rectifies as well as reconceives congregational history, rescuing it from the parochialism and hagiography that have so often informed the genre’s reputation. . . . While indeed the tale of a particular church, with its own peculiar personalities and in-house happenings, Binkley also discloses the ;courage and resilience as well as the failures and misgivings of Southern liberal Christianity."—Elizabeth Flowers, associate professor of religion, Baylor University “Surprise! We’ve been duped to think all Baptists are conservative and reactionary, but not all Baptists are the same. Historian Andrew Gardner reveals how progressive white churches like Binkley Memorial Baptist Church embody a Southern, congregationally based liberalism consistently opposing exclusion and hate. Their ecclesial stance on controversies over race and gender from the past century remains a cornerstone of ministry. Read this book to discover a neglected yet sorely needed history of a white liberal Baptist church persistently striving for a more just and inclusive Christianity."—Gerardo MartÍ, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at Davidson College “Andrew Gardner’s rich and evocative historical narrative of Binkley Memorial Baptist Church demonstrates the vitality and challenges of a church planted in southern evangelical soil but sown with the seeds of a progressive and justice-oriented vision of faith. Truly, a captivating and informative account that both clergy and scholars should savor."—Scott Thuma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University and director of Hartford Institute for Religion Research

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