The ravages of war upon Southern family life are by now all too evident. Within Baptist congregations of the South, pastoral care is uneven. In many if not most instances, congregations never officially acknowledge the hardships of member families, while members in informal but very real ways often help one another through difficult times. In…
Today Confederate President Jefferson Davis appoints Thomas Hill Watts, a prominent Baptist layman in the First Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama, to the position of attorney general in his cabinet. Unlike the United States, the Confederate States of America never establishes a Supreme Court. In the absence of such a national judicial body, the attorney…
The Battle of Shiloh occurs near a small log church in western Tennessee. The primary fighting will last until the morrow. The church building, destroyed shortly after the battle, is Shiloh United Methodist Church. Some references indicate that a Baptist congregation also utilizes the building. Indeed, Protestant denominations frequently share buildings in the rural South.…