"The love of liberty brought us here": Baptist beginnings in Liberia.

The official language is English. The flag is a combination of red, white, and blue. Christianity is the dominant religion. The capital is named after an American President.

Indeed, the Republic of Liberia has been heavily influenced by the United States, and much of the early influence came from Baptists. Ingrained in the Liberian motto--"The love of liberty brought us here"--are two of the Baptist hallmarks of freedom and missions, both of which are important for understanding Baptist beginnings in Liberia in the nineteenth century. The connection, I believe, is neither fanciful nor the product of an overactive imagination of a Baptist scholar. Baptists have been a consistent and foundational presence in Liberia since its inception. One of the tragedies of Baptist history, however, is that the beginnings of Baptist missionary work in Liberia cannot be discussed apart from the reality of slavery. Neither can this discussion take place without an awareness of the social, political, and religious factors at work in American society during the early nineteenth century that resulted in an American colonization effort and the founding of Liberia. Baptist beginnings in Liberia must be seen against this backdrop.

Baptist Beginnings in Liberia in Context

As the nineteenth century dawned in America, several important factors converged for understanding the journey of Baptists to Liberia. The revival fires of the Second Great Awakening burned and spread as the century began, which resulted in the formation of a variety of religious societies that sought to act upon the evangelistic fervor of the day. Many Christians caught the vision for sharing their Christian faith in other countries, while many other believers recognized the need for sharing the gospel message in their own country. One result of this "home missionary" impulse was that many blacks were brought into the fold of Baptist churches. (1)

Co-existent with the missionary and religious impulse was the gradual recognition by many in the early nineteenth century that slavery and the inequality between the races needed to be addressed. One significant issue concerned what to do with slaves who had been given or who had purchased their freedom. The rhetoric surrounding this issue tended to split persons with different viewpoints into two major camps. In one camp were those who saw freed blacks as a potential problem. These individuals argued that emigration or colonization was the answer to the problem. In essence, they advocated a "Let's send them back to Africa" approach. While this prejudicial language reflected the viewpoint of many white Americans, a minority of blacks agreed with the solution, although their agreement was based on the belief that blacks would never be truly free in America. In the other camp were early abolitionists, both white and black, who believed that America needed to recognize the rights and freedom of freedmen. These abolitionists opposed the idea of colonization, which they saw as an "unholy alliance of missionaries and Southern slaveholders" and "a scheme to get rid of free blacks to make slavery more secure." (2)

The religious impulse of the day and the socio-political quandary of what to do with freedmen merged with the formation of the American Colonization Society (ACS). Founded in 1816 by Robert Finley, a New Jersey clergyman, the society's ostensible purpose was to further the kingdom of God in Africa through Christian colonists. (3) While the ACS's objective was clear--to colonize the free blacks of America and thereby to Christianize Africa--the society's role is difficult to define because of the variety of interests that converged in this organization. (4) Both white and black individuals promoted colonization, and among them were philanthropists who saw Africa as a worthy cause, religious leaders who saw an opportunity to return Christian blacks to Africa, and politicians who believed that American civilization had much to offer to this vast, largely unexplored continent. (5) Interests often intermingled, and the result was a pan-Protestant socio-religio-political organization.

Once a mechanism was in place for sending interested parties to Africa, the search began for willing colonists. When the ACS contacted leaders in the African-American community, the vast majority rebuffed the courting attempt. The black leadership argued that colonization was an attempt to mask the ongoing problem of slavery, and in the process provided white colonizationists an opportunity to mollify their consciences without genuinely addressing the larger issues. Opponents to colonization also articulated their opposition to the hostile environment of Liberia, while emphasizing that they were first and foremost Americans. (6)

Despite the hostile reception the ACS received in many quarters, not all freedmen shared a negative view of colonization. The possibility of exchanging an oppressive and the seemingly irreparable system for the opportunity of freedom and equality, albeit in another country, excited many African Americans. Others believed that God provided this unique moment in history to plant the Christian message on the shores of Africa. This sense of an African manifest destiny, when combined with the lure of freedom and faulty scientific ideas that announced that blacks would have natural immunities to African diseases, proved too enticing for some freedmen to ignore. (7)

In 1820, four years after the founding of the ACS, the first ship set sail for Liberia with eighty-six colonists and three ACS agents on board. (8) While no official Baptist presence was felt on board the ship, Baptists were organizing and would soon arrive in Liberia. It is to their story that we now turn.

The Initial Baptist Presence in Liberia

In the early nineteenth century, most Baptists shared the sentiment of the larger Christian community that Africa was a degraded land "needing redemption of both individual souls and the corporate communities." (9) With a growing missionary impulse, thanks to the formation and early work of the Triennial Convention, mission-minded Baptists soon saw Liberia as a viable opportunity for service. The story of Baptist missionaries who evangelized Liberia begins with the conversion of two Virginia slaves, Lott Carey and Colin Teague. (10)

Born about 1780 and raised as slaves, Carey and Teague both became skilled craftsmen, Carey as a shipper and a ticket marker in a tobacco warehouse, and Teague as a saddler and harness maker. Through the money they earned, both purchased their freedom and freedom for their families. Both converted to Christianity in the early nineteenth century in Richmond, Virginia, and by the age of thirty, both men were actively preaching. (11) In Richmond, Carey and Teague came under the influence of William Crane, a wealthy deacon in that city's First Baptist Church. Crane took a particular interest in these two young zealous preachers. With Carey and Teague as his prized pupils, Crane conducted a night school for blacks in Richmond in the early 1800s in order to help them improve their reading skills. (12) In 1815, buoyed by a missionary fervor and a desire to return to Africa, Carey and Teague, with Crane's assistance, formed the Richmond African Baptist Missionary Society.

Over the next several years, Crane helped raise the money to send the two men and their families to Africa. In the interim, the recently formed Triennial Convention recruited Carey and Teague to serve as their missionaries in Africa and, at the convention's request, they joined forces with the ACS as prospective colonists for West Africa. (13) In January 1821, the Carey and Teague families boarded the Nautilus and sailed from Virginia to West Africa. When asked why he was leaving a successful business practice and a growing congregation to go to Africa, Carey reportedly said, "I am an African, and, in this country, however meritorious my conduct, and respectable my character, I cannot receive the credit due to either. I wish to go to a country where I shall be estimated by my merits, not by my complexion; and I feel bound to labor for my suffering race." (14)

On board the ship, Carey and Teague established the foundation of a Baptist church that once planted on African soil became known as the Providence Baptist Church. (15) By the spring of 1822, Carey emerged as a recognized leader among the settlers, assuming the spiritual care, and increasingly the political and economic care of the community. (16) He established and pastored a church in Monrovia, engaged in evangelistic work, and preached as often as possible to the national tribes in the area. Evangelistic preaching among the tribes met with little success, however, and by 1823, only six Africans had accepted the message of Christianity. (17) Sandy Martin noted, however, that the low number is not surprising in light of linguistic, religious, and cultural differences that limited most of Carey's ministry to the English-speaking colonists. (18) Closely related to the missionary and preaching tasks that Carey embraced was the education of settler and native children. In April 1825, he opened the first day school in Monrovia with twenty-one children. Within a few months, the number of students had grown to thirty-two. By 1827, every community in and around Monrovia had a day school that aimed at overcoming illiteracy in the colony. But, as Carey learned, educating the indigenous young people was not an easy task since the indigenous religious leaders often looked askance at Christianity.

Carey played important roles in the early religious development of the colony of Liberia and in the social and political development of the colony. Through his dual roles as preacher and vice-agent of the colony (a position to which he was appointed by the ACS in 1826), he sought to reduce the major social ills that he believed plagued the colony, including drunkenness, profanity, and quarreling, while also promoting strict Sabbath observance. (19) When the colony's governor died in August 1828, the ACS appointed Carey to the position, marking a shift from white leadership to black leadership in the colony. (20) Tragically, Carey's life ended shortly after becoming governor. Believing that a military attack on Monrovia by the local tribes was imminent, he summoned the small militia of American settlers. While making cartridges of ammunition with which to defend the settlement, someone toppled a candle, the ammunition exploded, and Carey died two days later from injuries received in the explosion. (21) The fatal blast robbed Liberia of one of its strongest leaders and deprived the Triennial Convention and Baptists in Liberia of arguably its most influential personality.

The earliest years of Baptist work in Liberia, spearheaded by Carey, in many ways foreshadowed the work of Baptists there throughout the nineteenth century. As Carey led in both religious and political activities, future Baptists likewise would often assume leadership positions both in the church and in the political arena as well. As Carey emphasized preaching and education as the primary methods of evangelism, future Baptist leaders practiced similar techniques. Additionally, Carey's relative lack of numerical success among the indigenous tribes would be a recurring theme in future years. The result was that many missionaries spent more time and energy devoted to the Americo-Liberian settlers than establishing contacts and promoting the gospel with the national population.

Southern Baptists Enter Liberia

When Baptists in the South formed their own convention in 1845, separating from the Triennial Convention over various issues, including slavery and missionary appointments, these evangelistically-minded Baptists wasted little time before rallying around the cause of missions. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) quickly set about organizing a plan for foreign missions. (22) One of the earliest official actions of the SBC was to establish a Foreign Mission Board (FMB). Under the leadership of Jeremiah B. Jeter and James B. Taylor, the FMB appointed its first missionary before the end of 1845, and two Southern Baptist missionary couples sailed for Shanghai in early 1846. The early FMB regarded China as "the province where our forces ought to be chiefly concentrated." (23) As the FMB considered additional fields of service, the presence of blacks in the South called special attention to Africa. When made aware of Lott Carey, the Providence Baptist Church of Monrovia, the Providence Baptist Association in Liberia, and the number of black Baptists who had emigrated to Liberia, the FMB concluded that Liberia would be a good mission field and that the proper missionaries to be sent were black ministers from America. (24) In an ironic twist, therefore, the slave-supporting SBC began seeking qualified black leadership to direct the evangelization of Liberia.

While the FMB hoped in the long run to access a large pool of missionary candidates from the ranks of converted slaves, for the beginning of its missionary work, the board sought the assistance of individuals already residing in Liberia. In 1846, the board appointed John Day and Alexander Jones as superintendents of the mission station in Liberia. Both men had immigrated to Liberia with the ACS in the 1830s and had become prominent members of the Americo-Liberian community. While we know little about Jones other than that he died soon after being appointed a missionary of the SBC, Day served as the leader and spokesperson of the SBC's missionary endeavors in Liberia until his death in 1859. (25)

Born in Virginia in 1797 as the son of free parents (and a white grandmother), Day received a good education considering the limited opportunities offered to black men in the early nineteenth century. As a young adult, he along with other members of his family enjoyed a successful cabinetmaking profession in North Carolina. During these years, Day experienced conversion, and at the urging of others, began to preach. He initially desired to become a missionary in Haiti, but later opted for joining the African colonization movement, departing with his wife and four children for Liberia in 1830. He believed that resettlement in Africa offered blacks the greatest opportunity to experience freedom and exercise their gifts. Little is known of Day's early years in Liberia, but eventually he served in various government offices, including Supreme Court justice, and was a signer of the country's Declaration of Independence in 1847. (26)

At the request of another missionary, Day joined the work of the Triennial Convention in 1836. He preached among the American settlers and taught school for settler and indigenous children until he retired from the "northern board" in 1844. He noted later that he became disenfranchised with the Triennial Convention because they did not have a policy in place to care for the wives and children of black missionaries in the event of death, although there was such a policy in place for white missionaries. (27) Day retired only briefly for when the newly formed SBC requested his service, he agreed to go back to work. In the end, the FMB appointed him to lead its work in Liberia, although the board members had never met him.

Southern Baptist Influence

Under Day's leadership, Southern Baptists gained a foothold in Liberia alongside their northern brethren. An examination of his correspondence with the FMB makes it clear that Day had two major missionary objectives: evangelization of the indigenous tribes and education of national and settler children. While he and his missionary companions did not neglect to address other socio-religious issues that they encountered-polygamy, idolatry, war, slavery-they shared a concern to preach and teach. (28)

Day articulated the desire of the SBC missionaries when he wrote to the FMB: "No object is nearer my heart than the evangelization of Africa." (29) Despite the shared passion to evangelize and see many Africans embrace Christianity, several issues emerged that prevented the missionary labors from multiplying exponentially. One major problem was the language barrier. The FMB leadership in America recognized that successful missionary labors were contingent upon learning the indigenous languages, but the idea was rarely embraced within the settler community, even by the missionaries. (30) As a result, most missionaries opted for positions in the American settlements while very few attempted to move inland and work with the indigenous tribes. A second stumbling block to evangelistic efforts was the attitude of cultural superiority that the American missionaries held toward "benighted" and "backward" Africa. A third problem area, experienced at times, was the content preached to the national populace. Not surprisingly, Baptist evangelism was limited if the following report from Day was in any way representative: "On Sunday morning Mr. Richardson preached a glorious sermon about Latin fathers, original Greek, etc." (31) Doubting that the people present understood much of what had been shared, Day elected to follow Richardson's sermon with a short Bible talk. Such problems seriously curtailed evangelistic effectiveness.

While preaching and evangelism were considered the preeminent work of Baptist missionaries, a close second in importance was the desire to educate both indigenous and settler children. (32) Missionaries hoped that providing a quality classical education in combination with biblical instruction would provide inroads for sharing the message of the gospel. In other words, the strategy was to reach the children first through education with the goal of subsequently reaching the parents through the children.

Led by their missionary superintendent, who had received an above-average education while in America, the Southern Baptists in Liberia favored a western style of education. For example, Margaret A. Cheeseman, assistant teacher at the Edina Baptist School, reported that her advanced students studied Bible, geography, arithmetic, English grammar, philosophy, astronomy, history, and composition. (33) Edward Wilmot Blyden, a Presbyterian minister who taught for several years at the Baptist school in Monrovia, reported that he taught Latin, algebra, geography, reading, and Baptist history. (34) The underlying principle was that the English language and western culture needed to be introduced because these subjects provided the best means for introducing the message of Christianity.

Once again, despite the yearning to be involved broadly in education and touch the lives of as many students as possible, the missionaries experienced several problems that limited the effectiveness of their educational attempts. The language barrier was one major obstacle that was difficult to overcome. How could the missionaries teach effectively if they were unable to communicate with their indigenous students? Another problem facing the missionaries was a lack of qualified teachers. The FMB did not appoint teachers but allowed Day the freedom to appoint teachers according to the needs on the field, but Day's teacher candidate pool was limited. To meet the demand for teachers from surrounding villages, Day used former students, candidates from other denominations, and women. Most lacked the training to teach all that he desired.

Southern Baptists Back Out

What began with such promise and fanfare in 1846 ended with little notice. In 1860, at the onset of the American Civil War, the FMB temporarily ceased its operations in Liberia. In 1866, mission operations opened again, continuing the partnership between African Americans and Americo-Liberians, but the attempt was short-lived. The SBC Liberian mission station closed its doors in 1875. (35) The end, however, did not come suddenly. In the early 1850s, the FMB had opened a third area of missionary activity, joining China and Liberia. Interestingly, the third mission station, Nigeria, was, like Liberia, located in West Africa. The climate, however, was more amenable to white missionaries who contracted fewer diseases, freeing Southern Baptists from their dependence on African American missionaries.

An examination of the correspondence between the Liberian missionaries and the FMB consistently revealed a mission station that struggled to survive. The missionaries noted that much more could be done to further the spread of the gospel if more workers and more funds were made available. For both workers and funds, the missionaries were heavily dependent on the FMB. To its credit, the FMB announced the needs of the Liberian missionaries through its popular communication vehicle, The Southern Baptist Missionary Journal (SBMJ). The board encouraged members of SBC churches to recruit Christians from among their slaves who would make good missionary candidates. In the SBMJ, the board repeatedly asked people to give to support the work of missionaries abroad. Despite the pleas, and much to the detriment of the Liberian station, most SBC churches did not respond to these requests. (36) Whether fueled by paternalism or racial prejudice, the members of SBC churches never shared the vision of partnering with African Americans for missionary purposes.

Conclusion

The cessation of Southern Baptist work in Liberia in 1875 did not mark the end of Baptist missionary activity in the country. During the period of American Reconstruction, black Baptists began forming independent organizations at the state and national levels, many of which formed explicitly for mission support. In 1879, the black South Carolina Baptist Convention supported an individual missionary in Liberia. (37) In 1882, the recently formed Baptist Foreign Mission Convention of the U.S.A. raised enough money to support six new missionaries in Liberia. (38) And in 1897, the Lott Carey Foreign Mission Convention was established and immediately began supporting work in Liberia. (39) While the various Baptist groups in America had assorted measures of success, one of the longstanding legacies of missionary activity was the development of the Liberian Baptist Missionary and Educational Convention in 1880 that took a leadership role in traditional missionary activity like evangelism and church planting.

While the love for liberty brought many Baptists to Liberia, such a love did not guarantee great numerical success. Hamstrung by paternalism and ethnocentrism, the Baptist missionaries of the early nineteenth century never learned the tribal languages, never taught practical skills, and never received the financial and emotional support from Baptists in America necessary to establish a strong ongoing presence. Despite the problems of early Baptist missionary work in Liberia, the strong leadership of Lott Carey and John Day helped Baptists maintain a strong presence in the early years of the Republic. Additionally, the failure of Baptists in America, particularly Southern Baptists, to rally behind the work in Liberia resulted in greater freedom for Liberian Baptists to organize and assume leadership in their country.

(1.) Sandy Dwayne Martin, Black Baptists and African Missions: The Origins of a Movement 18801915 (Macon: Mercer University Press, 1989), 7.

(2.) Sally Loomis, "The Evolution of Paul Cuffe's Black Nationalism," in Black Apostles at Home and Abroad, eds. David W. Wills and Richard Newman (Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1982), 199.

(3.) Leonard 1. Sweet, Black Images of America 1784-1870 (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1976), 36.

(4.) William A. Poe, "Lott Carey: Man of Purchased Freedom," Church History (March 1970): 49.

(5.) Peter B. Clarke, West Africa and Christianity (London: Edward Arnold, 1986), 38.

(6.) For further information on the arguments against colonization, see Sweet, Black Images of America, 37-44; Martin R. Delany, "The Condition, Elevation, Emigration, and Destiny of the Colored People of the United States," in Negro Social and Political Thought, 1850-1920, ed. Howard Brotz (New York: Basic Books, 1966), 73-79; and Henry Highland Garnet, "The Past and the Present Condition, and the Destiny of the Colored Race," in Negro Social and Political Thought, 1850-1920, ed. Howard Brotz (New York: Basic Books, 1966), 201-02.

(7.) For more information on the positive responses to colonization, see Sylvia M. Jacobs, "The Impact of Black American Missionaries in Africa," in Black Americans and the Missionary Movement, ed. Sylvia M. Jacobs (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982), 222-23; Albert Raboteau, A Fire in the Bones: Reflections on African American Religious History (Boston: Beacon Press, 1995), 37-56; and Martin, Black Baptists and African Missions, 12.

(8.) James Wesley Smith, Sojourners in Search of Freedom: The Settlement of Liberia by Black Americans (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987), 3-4.

(9.) Martin, Black Baptists and African Missions, 25.

(10.) Helpful studies of the life of Lott Carey include: Leroy Fitts, Lott Carey: First Black Missionary to Africa (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 1978); and Miles Mark Fisher, "Lott Carey: The Colonizing Missionary," in Black Apostles at Home and Abroad, eds. David W. Wills and Richard Newman (Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1982), 211-42.

(11.) See John Salliant, "'Circular Addressed to the Colored Brethren and Friends in America': An Unpublished Essay by Lott Carey, Sent from Liberia to Virginia, 1827," The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 104, no. 4 (Fall 1996): 481. Salliant noted that Carey was a prominent figure in Richmond, even in the white entrepreneurial class, and that his sermons, often calling for freedom for slaves, were heard by as many as 800 people each week.

(12.) Poe, "Lott Carey: Man of Purchased Freedom," 50.

(13.) Fitts, Lott Carey, 34. Carey voiced the belief that the Triennial Convention was impeding the progress of missions by joining with the ACS, an organization which, he believed, held religious convictions secondarily.

(14.) Fisher, "Lott Carey," 216.

(15.) When I visited Liberia in May of 2003, 1 had the privilege of worshipping in the Providence Baptist Church. The refurbished original sanctuary still stands adjacent to a larger and more modern sanctuary. Despite years of civil war and the destruction of many buildings, Liberian Baptists are pleased to point out that the church still stands.

(16.) Tom Shick, Behold the Promised Land: A History of Afro-American Settler Society in Nineteenth Century Liberia (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980), 51.

(17.) Fisher, "Lott Carey," 220.

(18.) Martin, Black Baptists and African Missions, 35.

(19.) Fisher, "Lott Carey," 229.

(20.) Fitts, Lott Carey, 57.

(21.) Fisher, "Lott Carey," 232.

(22.) William Wright Barnes, The Southern Baptist Convention 1845-1953 (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1954), 25.

(23.) H. Leon McBeth, The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1987), 415.

(24.) Barnes, The Southern Baptist Convention, 38. By 1852, the FMB was evaluating its missionary policy in regard to sending only blacks to Africa. While past experience seemed to teach that sending blacks was "the most judicious course," the board was beginning to consider sending whites. Several factors led the board to this consideration. Some white men from other denominations were working effectively along the West African coast. Thomas J. Bowen, a white SBC missionary who spent some time in Liberia before traveling to Nigeria, believed that the climate "is not so serious as is generally apprehended." The FMB also believed that "if white men may with safety occupy this field, we shall be more likely to secure such missionaries as are by mental discipline qualified for the work Our colored brethren having but few facilities in any part of the United States for securing a liberal education, but few are prepared for efficient labors as preachers and teachers in Africa." See "Seventh Annual Report of the Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention," June 4, 1852.

(25.) See Janie Leigh Carter, "John Day: A Founder of the Republic of Liberia and the Southern Baptist Liberian Missionary Movement in the Nineteenth Century" (M.A. thesis, Wake Forest University, 1998). Most significantly, Carter transcribed all the letters that John Day wrote to the FMB in his role as mission superintendent. Carter also provided important insight into Day's life prior to his SBC employment.

(26.) Ibid., 8-33.

(27.) Letter from John Day to James B. Taylor, December 15, 1846 (Archives, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, TN).

(28.) For more information on the correspondence between the SBC Liberian missionaries and the FMB, see Eddie Stepp, "Interpreting a Forgotten Mission: African-American Missionaries of the Southern Baptist Convention in Liberia, West Africa 1846 1860" (Ph.D. Diss., Baylor University, 1999).

(29.) Letter from John Day to James B. Taylor, March 30, 1852 (Archives, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, TN).

(30.) See William R. Estep, Whole Gospel, Whole World: The Foreign Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1845-1995 (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1994), 84. Estep provided the heart of James B. Taylor's sermon at the first commissioning service of the FMB in 1846. Taylor's first challenge to the appointed missionaries was to learn the language of the people. No Liberian missionaries were present.

(31.) Letter from John Day to James B. Taylor, November 8, 1858 (Archives, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, TN).

(32.) See John Day and John Cheeseman, "Committee Report," 1851, which provided a summary of the towns and teachers in which Southern Baptists operated schools in 1851.

(33.) Letter from M A. Cheeseman to James B. Taylor, 1859 (Archives, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, TN).

(34.) Letter from Edward W. Blyden to James B. Taylor, March 26, 1857 (Archives, Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, Nashville, TN).

(35.) McBeth, The Baptist Heritage, 420. The SBC began work again in Liberia in 1960.

(36.) One example of the lack of support of the Liberian work is seen in the fundraising of the Virginia Baptist Missionary Society. In 1846-47, the society raised $232 for mission work. It earmarked $100 for work in China and $5 for work in Liberia. See The Southern Baptist Missionary Journal, 3, no. 3 (August 1848): 64.

(37.) Walter L. Williams, Black Americans and the Evangelization of Africa, 1877-1900 (Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1982), 66.

(38.) Ibid., 67.

(39.) Fitts, Lott Carey, 105-20.

Eddie Stepp is assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy at Gardner-Webb University, Boiling Springs, North Carolina.