It is Sunday, a day of worship for some Baptist congregations in the Confederacy. While the intrusion of war or the infrequency of worship (many rural churches gather only once a month) prevent many congregations from assembling, morning services at the First Baptist Church of Atlanta proceed smoothly, as a member of the congregation notes…
Trickery is ever afoot in the border states as Confederate and Union partisans vie for control of disputed territory. One of many Baptist families caught up in the conflict on a local level is the Smith family. Obediah, a native Kentuckian, is a Baptist pastor of the Missionary Baptist persuasion. A pioneering family of Missouri,…
Baptist ministers respond to the war in diverse ways. Some remain in their pulpits; others leave the pastorate to enroll as chaplains or missionaries or soldiers; and a few step down from preaching in order to engage the enemy in an unofficial capacity. The latter is the case with an unnamed Baptist minister in Arkansas…