In tandem with the growing length of the war is the expanding presence of ministers among the soldiers. Ministry within the armies takes place in a number of ways, with chaplaincy as the most traditional of military ministry roles. Whether occupied by active soldiers, former soldiers, or men who have not borne arms in the…
Amidst the ugliness of war, beautiful things yet happen. Baptist musician William Batchelder Bradbury (1816-1868) inspires Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) to write sacred music. Crosby writes her first hymn today, giving it to Bradbury as a gift. Bradbury has long been a Baptist, having joined the Charles Street Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts at age fifteen.…
Southern Baptist periodicals waste few opportunities to criticize abolitionist efforts to provide education and social relief services for former slaves. Blacks, after all, are an inferior race incapable of intelligence. Their God-willed lot in life is bondage in the service of whites. Today’s Kentucky Baptist Western Recorder succinctly sums up the sneering contempt that most…