The new year brings both peril and promise to Baptists of a divided nation. In the southern Confederacy, some churches, pressured by the loss of male members, battlefield-wrought devastation, nearness of Union forces, and/or financial struggles, face closure. Such is the case with Tidewater Baptist Church in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. With the Union Navy tightening…
Amidst the war, the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, Georgia continues to thrive. Many African Baptists prefer to attend all-black congregations, although even then white ministers maintain a hand in overseeing the operations of such congregations in the South. Savannah’s First African Baptist congregation is comprised of both enslaved and free Africans. The church…
For white citizens, New Year’s Day in Augusta, Georgia is filled with hope for the coming months. Augusta, a large and important city in the state, is also the birthplace of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC had been founded in 1845 in the city’s First Baptist Church, at a south-wide convention called by leading…