On this last night of the year, free black Baptist congregations throughout the United States and Union-controlled areas of the South observe the January 1 anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a “watchnight” service of celebration and prayer for God-granted freedom. There is certainly much to celebrate. Tens of thousands of blacks have been emancipated…
The annual convention of the American Baptist Missionary Union, hosted by the First Baptist Church of Cleveland, Ohio, is in its second day. Most of the day is spent listening to reports from foreign American Baptist missionary fields. While the war at home overshadows missionary efforts far away, the Union maintains a strong and vibrant…
Support of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln‘s Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation from Northern Baptists continues unabated. Today, the New York Baptist Convention unanimously approves a resolution in support of the Lincoln administration. Avoiding Christian nationalistic rhetoric, the statement voices harsh condemnation of the slave-based Confederacy and takes for granted that God wills freedom for all persons. Whereas…