Today’s Virginia Baptist Religious Herald examines the prospects of denominational reunions in the aftermath of the war. Most will probably remain separate, the editorial suggests. Baptists, however, are the main focus of the author. “The Baptists, with as many discordant elements among them as any other denomination, but having no general ecclesiastical government, are left…
This month Richmond’s First African Baptist Church debates pastoral leadership. White minister Robert Ryland, president of Richmond College, has long been their preacher, as antebellum and Civil War laws mandated that black congregations must be overseen by a white minister. Ryland, although a defender of black slavery, was somewhat controversial in that he advocated for…
The voice of renowned Virginia Baptist minister — and president of Richmond College (later University or Richmond) — Robert Ryland is appealed to this month in the pages of the Virginia Baptist Religious Herald. Ryland’s pastorate is that of the First African Baptist Church of Richmond, where he has served from 1841 (the year of…