In the Baptist churches of the Confederacy, most of which are integrated, tensions between white and black members have steadily grown as the war drags on. For enslaved African Baptists, the church house is the one place where, at least in theory, a semblance of equality of the races is partially realized. This relative degree…
While Georgia’s Southern Baptist governor, Joseph Brown, is making headlines as the Georgia legislature is in session, some Southern Baptists in the state are talking about this week’s Christian Index editorial by editor Samuel Boykin. Confederate political and religious leaders remain defiant in their defense of slavery and certain that God is on their side.…
Today, the 800 African members (most of whom are slaves) of the First Baptist Church of Charlottesville (Virginia), in the wake of the recent enactment of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s Emancipation Proclamation, politely make a request to white leaders of the Southern Baptist congregation: may they be allowed to form their own congregation? Well understanding…