Some Baptists of the South are concerned that pulpits are being abandoned because of war-caused disorder. Today, Tennessee Baptist editor James R. Graves (widely known as J. R. Graves) publishes a letter from a Texas Baptist who asks, “Shall Preaching Be Abandoned?” Bro. Graves:–Suffer a young Baptist, through your paper to address all who profess…
James R. Graves, editor of the Tennessee Baptist and a long-time lightning rod in Baptist life, frequently publishes letters from readers who are appreciative of him. Graves’ critics fault him for his northern roots and Landmark ecclesiology. B. F. Burroughs, a Texas Baptist, offers a strong defense of Graves, as well as commentary regarding the…
In the midst of a southern war effort that is rapidly stunting Baptist mission work at home and abroad, the first German Baptist congregation in Texas is organized today. The Ebenezer (now Greenvine) German Baptist Church in Burton is led by pastor J. Frank Kiefer, who serves the congregation until 1867. Born in 1833 in…