Wilkey
The Tennessee Baptist Convention is celebrating a historic milestone this year — 150 years as a convention of churches committed to sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ while meeting ministry and missions needs throughout the state.
The Tennessee Baptist Mission Board will celebrate its 150th anniversary this year with a series of livestream events, beginning in May. The celebration will culminate in November at The Summit in Murfreesboro, where the convention was established in 1874.
Last week the B&R introduced “Snapshots in Time” which will run snippets of Tennessee Baptist history (both events, people and institutions) throughout the remainder of the year.
The Baptist and Reflector is uniquely qualified to be a partner in the celebration of Tennessee Baptist life because the paper has been a prime source for reporting and recording the history of Tennessee Baptists since the paper was established as THE BAPTIST in 1835.
Many Tennessee Baptists may not be aware that the convention as we know it today is actually the second state convention. The first Tennessee Baptist Convention was formed in 1833.
Former B&R editor Wm. Fletcher Allen compiled a history of the paper in 2005 entitled Telling the Truth in Love: A Brief History of the Baptist and Reflector from 1835.
Allen included many snippets of Tennessee Baptist history that he pulled directly from the pages of what is known now as the Baptist and Reflector.
Among them:
• Allen related what the first editor of the paper (R.B.C. Howell) wrote about one of the first “family fusses” in the life of the TBC.
“The first Tennessee Baptist Convention was formed in 1833, only two years before he began publishing his paper. However many Baptists disagreed with the action. Missions was at the epicenter of arguments, which dampened the cooperative spirit throughout the 1830s. In September 1838, Howell wrote, ‘Scarcely was the Convention organized when it was assailed from various quarters, with the intensest zeal and perseverance! The Convention, its friends and its purposes were discussed and condemned in their private circles, and denounced, caricatured and defamed in nearly every sermon they preached. At the head of the opposition were many persons in the three divisions of the state, both ministers and laymen of no mean influence.’
“The Convention was dissolved in 1842, to be followed by the formation of the Baptist General Association of Tennessee. Howell served both as president/moderator for 14 years, 1835-48. Other changes were made later, with organizing and reorganizing, and name-changing, until the present day Convention was formed in 1874” ( p. 23).
• “On another social issue that was tearing apart the nation, Howell did not want states to secede from the Union, and did not oppose slavery. In an 1845 editorial, he wrote that he believed that God established slavery, and he saw it was not possible to convince northerners that slavery was not a sin. He believed slavery would cease eventually because of economics” (p. 24).
• Allen entitled his second chapter on the paper’s second editor, James Robertson Graves, who served from 1848-89, “Growth and Dissension.” Allen noted that Graves varied the paper’s name, using both THE BAPTIST and Tennessee Baptist. Graves’ years as editor “were colored by denominational controversy, personal attacks, and pointed and confrontational editorials,” Allen observed, adding that Graves is “best known for his connection with Landmarkism” (pages 28-29).
• Edgar E. Folk, who edited another Baptist paper in the state (the American Baptist Reflector), became the third editor in 1889 of what finally became the Baptist and Reflector in 1889 and served until 1917. Allen wrote, “The paper proved to be the strong voice for Tennessee Baptists. These were years of tumult and discord. The Civil War was still on the minds of most people in the South.
Poverty was the lifestyle for many. Government was not the supplier of goodwill and togetherness. In fact, there was an aura of distrust across the South. But with one reliable paper, edited with a kinder, less abrasive style of leadership, Baptists could move forward” (p. 38).
• For its first 85 years of existence, what become the modern day Baptist and Reflector was privately owned and published. Murphy R. Cooper was the last editor/owner of the B&R and though he only served one year, he showed a willingness to be a voice on issues of the era. Allen noted that Murphy was in favor of women’s right to vote. When the Tennessee legislature’s vote in 1920 for ratifying the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, Cooper said, “Three cheers for Tennessee” and wrote that woman’s suffrage was a God-given right. ‘If the women will use this right in helping to solve the moral and educational questions, they will have their reward’ ” (page 54). Cooper could not financially keep the paper viable, so he sold it to the Executive Board of the Tennessee Baptist Convention (now Tennessee Baptist Mission Board) in 1921 for $15,000. See copy of front page of the Jan. 4, 1921 issue.
I may be (actually I am in this case) biased, but that was a good investment for Tennessee Baptists. The B&R has been the official newsjournal of the convention and its churches for 103 of its 150 years and told the Tennessee Baptist story long before that.
I trust you have enjoyed these brief “snapshots” of our history and will look forward to more “snippets” in the upcoming months. Tennessee Baptists have a long, distinguished history that should be celebrated, but we can’t rest on our laurels. There are still hundreds of thousands of lost souls in Tennessee who need the gospel. There is still plenty of work to accomplish for the Kingdom. Let’s celebrate while moving forward for Christ. B&R
