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2005/6 Activities of The Center for Baptist Studies (CBS)
MercerUniversity
Walter B. Shurden, Executive Director
Bruce T. Gourley, Associate Director
Wil Platt, Associate Editor, The Baptist Studies Bulletin
I. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF CBS 05/06
1. SPONSORED SEVEN HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL EDUCATIONAL VENTURES:
(1). “BAPTIST CLASSICS IN AMERICA, 1800-1850 SEMINAR.@September 8-10, 2005.
Twenty Baptist historians from the southeast and southwest, including three members from CBS, spent three days on the Macon campus discussing some of the classical Baptist documents of the period in American Baptist history from 1800-1850. Led by Wayne Flynt, Distinguished Professor of History at AuburnUniversity and Walter B. Shurden of Mercer, the seminar, like the three before it, received effusive comments from the participants.In fact, the response was so enthusiastic that all of the participants signed up for the fifth Mercer Baptist Classics Seminar scheduled for September 2006.
(2). “HOT TOPICS ON CHURCH AND STATE: A MORNING WITH BRENT WALKER.” September 8, 2005. The Center for Baptist Studies invited the McAfee School of Theology to co-sponsor this conference. The conference convened on the campus at McAfee for the benefit of the students at the school of theology. Approximately 110 people attended the workshop.
(3). THE 2005 MERCER PREACHING CONSULTATION. September 18-20. Cosponsored for the third year by The Center for Baptist Studies and the McAfee School of Theology, this was the most successful of all previous Consultations. Meeting at St. Simons Island at the King and Prince Hotel, the featured presenters were Gardner Taylor, Bruce Morgan, Bob Setzer, Bill Coates, Kay Wilson Shurden, Sarah Withers, Dee Bratcher, Hardy Clemons, and Jim Evans 205 people registered for the Consultation, the largest in the history of the Consultation.
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(4) THE BAPTIST PULPIT AND BAPTIST STUDIES DISCUSSION GROUPS. The Center, in an effort to help educate local Baptist ministers in the Baptist heritage, sponsored two discussion groups around the subject of “The Baptist Pulpit and Baptist Studies.” One group of ministers consisted of sixteen senior pastors of Baptist churches in the middle Georgia area. Sixteen ministers enrolled in this group. The second group consisted of youth ministers and ministers of education, and this group had an enrollment of eight ministers. Meeting for six sessions over a period of nine months, these two groups read and discussed the following Baptist classics:
September 13 and 15: Ill Newes from New England by John Clarke
November 8 and 10: Baptist Piety: The Last Will and Testimony of Obadiah Holmes
by Edwin Gaustad.
January 10 and 17: The Diary of John Comer
February 14 and 16: The 1754 Ordination Sermon by Isaac Eaton for John Gano
April 11 and 13: Isaac Backus, “An Appeal to the Public for Religious Liberty”
May 9 and 11: John Leland, “The Rights of Conscience Inalienable.”
(5). THE VISIT OF DR. HENRY MUGABE OF ZIMBABWE. Feb. 8-10, 2006. The Center arranged the visit of Dr. Henry Mugabe, president of the Baptist Seminary of Zimbabwe, to the Macon/Atlanta area for the days of February 7-10, 2006. Co-sponsors of Dr. Mugabe’s visit with The Center for Baptist Studies were The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of GA, the Roberts Department of Christianity, the office of the University Minister of Mercer, VinevilleBaptistChurch, First Baptist Church of Christ of Macon, and McAfee School of Theology.
Dr. Mugabe’s speaking schedule was as follows:
Wednesday, Feb 8
10:00 Chapel Service, MercerUniversity
6:50 Prayer Meeting, VinevilleBaptistChurch
Thursday, Feb 9
9:30 Lecture, ReligiousLifeCenter, Mercer
11:00Lecture, ReligiousLifeCenter, Mercer
12:30Luncheon, FirstBaptistChurch, Macon
Friday, Feb 10
10:00 McAfee School of Theology, Atlanta, GA
(6). Cosponsored with the Women’s and Gender Studies Program and the Georgia Poetry Circuit, A POETRY READING BY LYNN POWEL.
The reading was Monday, March 20, 7:30 p.m. in the Choir Rehearsal Room of McCorkle Music Building. Much of Powell’s poetry comes out of her Baptist upbringing and has significant religious overtones. This is another sign of the effort of the Center to work cooperatively with other academic units of MercerUniversity.
(7). “The University Campus: Tomorrow’s Moderate Baptists.” May 4-5, 2006. Believing that moderate Baptists had performed inadequately in reaching college students, the Center initiated this conference, recruiting the national CBF and the state CBF of GA as co-sponsors of the conference. The conference brought together moderate Baptist leaders from across the nation. The purpose of the conference was to act as a catalyst for collegiate ministry among moderate Baptists and to encourage concrete actions at the local church level in the area of missions to the college campus. We think the conference moved some CBF people to think about the importance of the college campus for the future of the moderate movement.
2. EXPANDED AND ENLARGED THE LEADING BAPTIST STUDIES WEB SITE ON THE INTERNET:
The Center’s site is the portal to an explanation of the Center’s work. The site has been updated with a name change. The new name is <
3. CONTINUED TO PRODUCE A POPULAR ELECTRONIC MAGAZINE:
The Baptist Studies Bulletin continues to be the signature publication of The Center for Baptist Studies. Bruce Gourley made some significant improvements in the appearance of the BSB this past year. We find the BSB articles copied or referred to by other publications often. Writers and themes of articles are changed every six months. The BSBhas some of the leading scholars of the world Baptist community writing for this publication.
“What a smorgasbord. I appreciate these newsletters greatly.” Geoff Pound, Australia
"I always appreciate reading the Baptist Studies Bulletin and again, thank you for your vital witness to all things Baptist." Dennis Johnson, Pastor,West Virginia
“Thanks for a great online article about backtracking on freedom. Excellent.” Gary Burton, Pastor, Alabama
“The new issue of the bulletin is great; thanks a million.” Fisher Humphreys, Professor, BeesonDivinitySchool, Samford University, Alabama
“I have just finished reading the current issue of The Baptist Studies Bulletin. This publication makes me proud to be a Baptist Christian. It resurrects and places critical information before the reading public. I especially like your courage in challenging denominational nonsense and violations of historic Baptist ideals. You and your writers probe issues with intelligence, a missing commodity among many "educated" Baptists. And your bulletin has an intentionally practical focus.” Charles Deweese, Executive Director, Baptist History and Heritage Society, Tennessee
“Thank you, Bruce for your commentary on Al Mohler. Excellent insight. Careful biblical interpretation. True and needed. Revealing. I continue to appreciate Baptist Studies each month. Thanks, and keep it up!!” Fred Miller, South Carolina
“Great issue! I loved it!” Janell Johnson, Professor, MercerUniversity, Macon
“You have produced some nice bulletins in the past, but this one has reached a very high mark. Excellent articles all the way around. Just fine.” Mark Wilson, Auburn University, Alabama
“Great stuff from beginning to end...as always.” M. Reginald Warren, Pastor, Virginia
“A great article on the current ignorance of the need for the separation of church and state.” Carolyn Blevins, Retired Professor, Carson-Newman College, Tennessee.
“I wish to express appreciation for receiving your Baptist Studies Bulletins. As a retired American Baptist pastor and a third-generation Baptist pastor I feel a strong bond to what "Baptist" entails in the best and noblest sense of tradition and practice. Realizing that it can be a term that confuses and contradicts in the minds and experiences of many, it is reassuring to know of your service and to find valiant efforts to preserve this tradition within not only our ABCUSA but also the Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.” Jim Braker
“What an outstanding essay in the Baptist Soapbox--the best one I've read yet in BSB. Thank you for such a clear, incisive illustration on what too often is allowed to pass for "biblical" hermeneutics. Terrific stuff!” Daniel E. Goodman, Professor, DivinitySchool, Gardner-Webb University, North Carolina.
“If you sent nothing but the piece on Francis Wayland, you would have hit a homerun. Thanks to you and Buddy for the fine work.” Jeff Day, Louisiana
“This is quality stuff as usual!” Hardy Clemons, South Carolina
4. CONTINUED TO COOPERATE WITH MERCER UNIVERSITY PRESS IN PUBLISHING A SERIES OF BOOKS CALLED “BAPTISTS.”
Walter Shurden serves as General Editor of a scholarly series of volumes called “Baptists.” Volumes published this academic year were:
Pamela R. Durso and Keith E. Durso, ed. Courage and Hope: The Stories of Ten Baptist Women
Charles Deweese, Women Deacons and Deaconesses: 400 Years of Baptist Service
Marc A. Jolley with John D. Pierce, ed., Distinctively Baptist: Essays on Baptist History in Honor of Walter B. Shurden
Anthony L. Chute, A Piety above the Common Standard: Jesse Mercer and Evangelistic Calvinism. Paperback edition.
JoAnn Ford Watson, ed., Selected Spiritual Writings of Anne Dutton: Volume 3: Autobiography
5. THE A. H. NEWMAN SCHOLARS OF MERCERUNIVERSITY:
This program has proven to be one of the Center’s most effective, productive, and exciting programs. Although it is restricted in its focus to a single Baptist minister for a week of supervised reading under the direction of Walter B. Shurden and Bruce T. Gourley, the program has spread the work of the Center and the name of Mercer more deeply into the states of Florida, Mississippi, Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. One of the scholars, John Boyd, pastor of FirstBaptistChurch in Halifax, came from Nova Scotia. For the present academic year the Center has had two Newman Scholars. They were Linda Cross of Texas, and James Benson of Virginia. For a description of the program and the persons who have served as A. H. Newman Scholars go to and click “Ministerial Sabbaticals.”
6. CONTINUED TO CO-SPONSOR WITH THE BAPTIST HISTORY AND HERITAGE SOCIETY, Baptist History and Heritage, THE LEADING BAPTIST HISTORY JOUNAL IN THE WORLD: For its contribution of $3,000 per year, the Center receives the entire back cover of the journal on which to advertise the work of the Center. In addition, the executive director or the associate director writes a brief article for publication in each of the issues of the journal.
7. CONTINUED THE MERCER CERTIFICATE IN BAPTIST STUDIES: To see the Certificate Program go to and click “Certificate in Baptist Studies.
II. WRITING AND SPEAKING ACTIVITIES OF STAFF
WALTER B. SHURDEN:
1). Manuscripts read and evaluated by WBS:
1. Read and evaluated for Cambridge University Press a manuscript by Professor Rosalie Beck of BaylorUniversity on Introduction to Baptist Churches.
2. Read and evaluated for Mercer University Press a manuscript by Keith Durso on Baptist Prison Writings.
3. Read and evaluated a manuscript for Pam and Keith Durso on A History of the Baptists in the United States.
4. Read and evaluated on 11.14.05 an article manuscript for Baptist History and Heritage.
5. Read and provided an endorsement for Blackwell Publishing manuscript by Professor William Brackney on Baptists in America: An Historical Perspective.
6. Read a book proposal and gave publications suggestions for Lavell Seat on a book on fundamentalism. 3.1.06.
2).Speaking engagements of WBS:
1. Preached at NorthsideDriveBaptistChurch, Atlanta, GA, 2 October 2005.
2. Spoke twice on Baptist Convictions to the Mercer Faculty/Staff Christian Fellowship.
3. Spoke to The Baptist Summit on 19 January 2006 on the subject of “Roots and Wings: The Mercer Baptist Tradition.”
4. Preached installation sermon on 22 January 2006 at FirstBaptistChurch, Rockmart, GA for The Reverend Mr. Greg Thompson
5. Spoke on February 8, 2006 to the Political Science Lectureship on “One Nation Under God: The Baptist Plea for Religious Liberty.”
6. Preached on 8 March 2006 at the 165 Anniversary Celebration of FirstBaptistChurch, Griffin, GA.
7. Participated as a panelist in a discussion on 25 April 2006 of the future of The Baptist Heritage Council of Georgia.
8. Preached 30 April 2006 at HighStreetUnitarianUniversalistChurch, Macon, GA.
9. Preached 7 May 2006 at FirstBaptistChurch in Commerce, GA on “What It Means to be Baptist.”
10. Presented an address to the Religious Liberty Council Luncheon of the Baptist Joint Committee on 23 January 2006 titled “A Flaming Torch.”
3). Denominational Leadership Roles for WBS:
1. Served on the Mercer Presidential Search Committee
2. Served on the Search Committee to secure Special Collections Librarian for Tarver Library.
3. Served on the Executive Committee of the William H. Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society.
4. Served on the Planning Committee of the Baptist History and Heritage Society, planning for the 400th year celebration of Baptist beginnings in 2009.
5. Served on the Norman W. Cox Award Committee for the Baptist History and Heritage Society.
6. Served as the Guest Historian for a tour to the Baptist World Alliance
meeting in Birmingham, England, July 27-August 6, 2005.
7. Participated in the Baptist Unity Talks at the CarterCenter in Atlanta on
10 April 2006, 13 June, and 24 July in Washington, DC.
4). Writings and Publications of Walter B. Shurden during 2005/06:
1. “I Believe” articles in The Baptist Studies Bulletin.
“Beauty in the Pulpit: Being” July, 2005
“Beauty in the Pulpit: Becoming” August, 2005
“Claypool: Baptistpalian” September 2005
“Wayland’s Warnings” October 2005
“Leaning Together at Thanksgiving” November 2005
“ A Jimmy Carter Kind of Baptist” December, 2005
“16Minutes, 1,620 Words” January 2006
“The Mercer Baptist Tradition” February 2006
“Recovering Tradition” March 2006
“Differences that Blind” April 2006
“In Praise of Frank Horton and His Kind,”May 2006
“A Toast to Raleigh Kirby Godsey,” June 2006
2. Book: Not an Easy Journey: Transitions in Baptist Life (MercerUniversity Press)
2. Articles:
“The Authority of Baptist Associations,” Baptist History and
Heritage, (Winter, 2005, XL:1)
“What Comes into Your Baptist Mind When You Think about
God?” Baptist History and Heritage, (Spring, 2005, XL: 2)
“When the Walls Come Tumbling Down,” Baptist History and
Heritage, (Spring, 2005, XL: 2)
“What Were Baptists in America Like 200 Years Ago?” Baptist
History and Heritage (Summer/Fall, 2005, XL: 3)
“Roots and Wings: The Mercer Baptist Tradition,” in Baptist
Heritage (March, 2006), published by Baptist Heritage Council of Georgia.
pp. 8-15.
“R. Kirby Godsey: Courageous University Baptist President,” in
The Whitsitt Journal.
BRUCE T. GOURLEY:
May 2005 to June 2006
1).Speaking Engagements of Bruce T. Gourley 2005/2006:
1.Spoke on the subject of colonial Baptist persecution to the Faculty / Staff Christian Fellowship.
2.Led a workshop on Baptist Distinctives for the Baptist Student Union.
3.Taped a radio interview on Church State issues with the Church State Council, “the oldest public policy organization in the western United States devoted exclusively to issues of religious freedom,” a Seventh Day Adventist organization.
2.)Writings and Publications of Bruce T. Gourley 2005/2006:
1.Articles in the Baptist Studies Bulletin:
“Reflections from the BWA Congress” August, 2005
“The Word of Man or the Word of God” November, 2005
“Online Helps for Writing Local Church History” December, 2005
“In Response to … Franklin Graham on Separation of Church and State” January, 2006
“In Response to … Albert Mohler on Singleness and Childlessness” February, 2006
“In Response to … Baptists Backtracking on Freedom” March, 2006
“In Response to … The War on Christians” April, 2006
“In Response to … Russ Moore and James Smith on the Gospel and Jimmy Carter” May, 2006
“In Response to … Kevin Phillips and Sam Brownback on Theocracy” June, 2006
2.Other Articles:
“The Baptist Light: Free and Fragile” Baptist History and Heritage (Winter 2006, XLI: 1)
“Baptist Missions in Recent Decades: Patterns in Laity Involvement, Particularly Among the Younger Generation,” Baptist History and Heritage (Spring 2006, XLI: 2)
“’These Days are Fraught With Many Blessings’: The Clashing Worlds of Julia A. Stanford, Georgia Baptist, 1861,” Viewpoints: Journal of the Georgia Baptist Historical Society (2006: 22).
3.Awards:
1. Received the Norman W. Cox Award for the Best Article Published by The Baptist History and Heritage Society’s Baptist History and Heritage Journal in 2005: “John Leland: Evolving Views of Slavery, 1789-1839”
3.)Denominational Leadership Roles for Bruce T. Gourley:
1.Served on the Board of Directors of the William H. Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society.
2.Served as Online Editor of Baptists Today.
3.Served as Web Design Manager for the Baptist History and Heritage Society, William H. Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society, and First Freedoms Project.
4.Participated on a tour to the Baptist World Alliance meeting in
Birmingham, England, July 27-August 6, 2005.
5.Attended the National Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly, June 2006, in Atlanta, Georgia.
6.Attended fall and spring meetings of the Georgia Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
7.Served on the Planning Committee to form a CBF Cooperative Student Fellowship Group on MercerUniversity’s campus, Macon.
III. PROPOSED ACTIVITIES FOR 2006-2007
The Center for Baptist Studies is planning a full program of activities for academic year 2006-07
1. Conferences to be sponsored
(1). “Church and State in the 2006 Elections: A Morning with Brent Walker.” September 7, 2006, ReligiousLifeBuilding, Macon campus.
(2). “Mercer Seminar on Baptist Classics in America: 1850-1900.” September 7-9, 2006. Wayne Flynt, distinguished historian emeritus of AuburnUniversity will lead the conference with Walter B. Shurden.
(3).“The Mercer Preaching Consultation, ‘06” co-sponsored by McAfee School of Theology and The Center for Baptist Studies, will meet September 24-26, 2006. Speakers will include President Bill Underwood of Mercer, John Killinger, Fisher Humphreys, L.C. Lane, Craig McMahan, Steve Johnson, LeAnn Gunter, Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford, Dan Day, Joel Snider, and Ann A. Quattlebaum.
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(4). “Baptist Studies and the Baptist Pulpit: A Reading and Discussion Program for Enriching the Baptist Pulpit.” This will be a continuation of the program begun last year, including two groups of ministers from the Middle Georgia area.
(5). “Growing Generous Churches, Growing Generous Christians,” a one day conference on the Macon campus, will be sponsored by the Center for Baptist Studies and CBF of GA. Lynn A. Miller, a stewardship theologian, will lead the conference.
2. Mini-Sabbatical Plans: Three A. H. Newman Scholars, from the three states of MS, VA, and TN, have already been approved and they are:
Tripp Martin, NorthminsterBaptistChurch, Jackson, MS, October 15-20, 2006.
Mickey Robertson, Warsaw Baptist Church, VA, Dates to be established.