Eighteen months into the war, Southern Baptist mission work is in the midst of a major transition. Foreign mission efforts have ground almost to a halt, due to lack of funding of and communication with the missionaries. Domestic missions, often focused on efforts to evangelize Indians, have severely declined due to the disruptions of war…
Meeting at Pierce’s Creek Baptist Church, the work of the Mississippi Baptist Association (of the state of Mississippi) has fallen on hard times due to the war. Only fourteen of 33 churches send representatives, and the national conflict envelopes the meeting. At a time when death and the afterlife are on the minds of Baptists…
Baptists of the North continue celebrating U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s decision to emancipate African slaves. The Philadelphia Baptist Association — the oldest Baptist association in America, founded in 1707 — joins in a stream of praises for the president’s actions by writing a letter to the Lincoln administration. Quoting scripture, evidencing patriotism, and claiming the…