Baptist history in the twenty-first century: dreams and visions.

By first exposure to Baptist history came as a student under H. K. Neely at Southwest Baptist College in Bolivar, Missouri, in the Spring semester of 1967 in a course entitled the "Baptist Denomination." My appetite was whetted, and I went on to earn a Ph.D. in religion with an emphasis in the history of Christianity under the tutelage of Glenn O. Hilburn at Baylor University. I went back to Southwest Baptist College and among my responsibilities was the teaching of the "Baptist Denomination," a course that looked a great deal like the one that I had taken under H. K. Neely. I've been teaching Baptist history for twenty-seven years now.

During this time I became involved in the work of the Southern Baptist Historical Society (SBHS), became a trustee of Baptist historical commissions at both the state and national levels of the denomination, and developed a pretty good track record of publishing in the field of Baptist history. The friendship of J. M. Gaskin, director of history of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, contributed to my early involvement with Baptist history organizations. In the area of publishing, I join many others in expressing my gratitude to Charles Deweese who always seemed to find a way for the younger historians to get original or assigned articles published. I paid a part of that debt to Charles by asking Carol Holcomb and Jerry Faught to make presentations on the 1999 program. Each responded by doing a wonderful job.

Beginning in 1995, I began to make a little Baptist history myself through my role with the Historical Commission, SBC. My experience as a teacher, researcher, and writer of Baptist history, as a trustee of state and national historical commissions, as executive director of both the Historical Commission of the SBC and the SBHS, and as a determined denominational agitator for the cause of Baptist history, teachings, principles, and practices has influenced me to give much thought not only to where we have been but where we should consider going in the work of Baptist history. What follows are comments and suggestions of a committed Baptist historian who has worn a lot of hats that symbolize what I believe should be the state of our discipline and ministry in the twenty-first century.

Those who know me will agree that my views are nowhere close to being inerrant and infallible. But I do believe that they are worth considering and possibly pursuing aggressively. At the same time, they are open for examination, criticism, and revision. I anticipate that the panel will be kindly critical of my flaws, constructive in suggesting improvements, and creative in contributing additional ideas that will make our work relevant in the twenty-first century.

The Rationale for Southern Baptist History in the Twenty-first Century

With the recommendation of the Program and Structure Study Committee in February 1995, the world of Southern Baptist history faced its most serious challenge since the organization of the SBHS in 1938. The situation had been aggravated because of the loss of some Southern Baptist historians who had chosen to simply walk away from Southern Baptist life and its official historical work as the "Controversy" in the convention progressed over two decades.

Many of us chose to remain and work in a world in which every action was interpreted in light of the Controversy. We tried to do Baptist history with integrity during such a time, and I believe that we did so effectively through the Historical Commission and the SBHS. A good example of our efforts was the publication of the October 1993 issue of Baptist History and Heritage. The journal theme was "The Southern Baptist Convention, 1979-1993: What Happened and Why?" Lynn May did an excellent and courageous job in selecting writers for this issue. Richard Land, executive director of the Christian Life Commission, wrote an interpretation of the Controversy from the fundamentalist perspective. Bill Leonard, the moderate Baptist historian at Samford University at the time, responded to Land's article. Stan Hastey, executive director of the Alliance of Baptists, defended the moderate interpretation, to which fundamentalist free-lance writer James C. Hefty responded. Baptist diversity has never been more evident than in the selection of writers for this issue of the journal. The commission never received a complaint about the volume. In fact, the issue was reprinted twice! Furthermore, both Land and Hastey used this issue as a text in classes on Baptist history.

As the restructured SBHS has advanced, this same approach is being followed to do Baptist history with integrity by facing squarely all issues and using qualified writers who reflect diverse positions in Baptist life worldwide. The winter 1998 issue on "The Changing State of Church and State" is a prime example of this approach.

The question, "Where will the Southern Baptist Historical society's relationship to Baptist history go from here?" is relevant in light of the last two decades and in anticipation of a new century. Several factors must be considered. The relation to Southern Baptists churches will be strong, but the relationship to the Southern Baptist Convention may be tenuous. The SBC in the restructuring severed all official relationships with the society, although I am not sure that the SBC leadership involved in the restructuring was really aware of the role or history of the society. It is not inconceivable that at some time in the future the convention will establish a new historical agency. I hope that this does not happen, but this possibility certainly must not be ignored as the SBHS continues its work.

As we move into the twenty-first century, the leadership of the SBHS is firmly committed to serving the history needs of the more than 40,000 Southern Baptist churches and the needs of other Baptists as well. We are working hard to avoid the agendas that are present in the denomination as a result of the Controversy and are simply and clearly trying to provide quality historical resources and helpful assistance to all Baptist churches, organizations, and individuals. I believe that it is important to know that those of us actively involved consider ourselves to be committed Southern Baptists as we understand the rich heritage and historic ideals of our denomination. I firmly believe that the SBHS represents the finest expression of our heritage, understands the good of that heritage, and believes that we have something to provide to almost 16 million Southern Baptists despite the efforts of denominational leadership to silence a desperately-needed voice of communication and interpretation of our history.

The purpose statement adopted by the SBHS expresses a genuine commitment to Southern Baptists and their history needs. The SBHS could have ignored this ministry and continued with little interruption. We could have published Baptist History and Heritage and held an annual meeting without major financial pressures. We have around $250,000 in endowment and with our membership fees could easily fulfill the academic and research side of our work. And it could come to that someday.

But I say to you with the greatest conviction that I can express as a Southern Baptist and a Baptist historian, Southern Baptists and their churches need our ministry. They need to know where they came from. They need to understand the contributions and characteristics of those who provided the foundation and paved the way for who we are today, and they need to be reminded that we judge the shouts of the present generation by the voices of the past. It takes great effort and is done at great cost to translate the work of the scholars and teachers into the hearts and minds of those in the pews. We bear that mantel!

In light of these comments, let me present my dreams and proposals for Baptist history work in the twenty-first century. First, I will address my ideas in relation to Southern Baptists. Second, I will speak on the need for cooperative ventures with other Baptist historical organizations, including those of both national and international scope.

The Ministry of Southern Baptist History in the Twenty-first Century

A summary question on this topic is, "What is the SBHS going to be in the twenty-first century?" The question of identity must be defined by the mission and purpose of the society. Several topics must be considered: the ministry of the society; the name of the SBHS in the future; and the cooperative relationship with Southern Baptists, including concerns and financial challenges.

The ministry of the SBHS: The society must respond to the challenge of providing leadership for the preservation, study, and communication of Baptist history. A tremendous void exists in these areas in Southern Baptist life today because of the restructuring of the convention. Someone has to fill it. That is our challenge and that is an important part of our identification.

The mission of the society must be expressed in ministries and services to the history needs of Baptists at every organizational level. The mission should be defined by a variety of publications, products, cooperative ventures, and programs that provide assistance and service.

As difficult as it may be at times, the SBHS must be determined to avoid the political agendas that have plagued our denomination. This does not mean that we as individuals and even as an organization do not have opinions and ideas and commitments as Baptists. Nor does it mean that we should avoid dealing with controversial issues. How can Baptist history be understood outside of controversy and conflict? How dull and brief would our heritage be without crises over the Bible, congregational and associational conflict, Calvinist and Arminian debates, missions and methodologies, religion and science, the role of women, and most recently, Disney and even the family? "Gracious submission," is there anything that we can't fight over? The SBHS should be the recorder and interpreter of controversy and certainly an advocate of historic Baptist convictions. Yet, we must do all that we can to avoid being the center of any controversy.

The name of the society.--In the first annual meeting of the SBHS following the announced restructuring of the SBC, one of the first topics raised concerned changing the name of the organization. Interestingly, many SBC agencies have since undergone name changes, including the Foreign Mission Board (International Mission Board), the Home Mission Board (North American Mission Board), the Sunday School Board (Lifeway Christian Resources), and the Christian Life Commission (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission). During the 1998 annual meeting of the SBC two separate motions were made to change the name of the Southern Baptist Convention to a more relevant and descriptive name. The Executive Committee of the SBC eventually rejected these proposals and decided not to recommend a change.

There are positive reasons for changing the name of the SBHS. After all, the national leadership led SBC messengers to orphan our organization. We are now free to do as we please. By changing our name we might more easily draw back into the fold those members who became disgruntled with the direction of the SBC. The society could also surge forth into a new century with a new identity which could reflect new changes and opportunities. I assure you that this possibility has been very attractive to me on many occasions.

On the negative side, a name change could separate from us many Southern Baptists and their churches and other entities who genuinely need our ministries. It would signal, whether true or not, that we too have given up on the denomination. It would open a door of undeserved criticism of the society by convention leadership, even though there are not many "old" names left among the SBC agencies.

I asked President Alan Lefever to appoint a committee to look at this issue and also to develop a purpose statement. We collectively and with some reservations determined not to recommend a name change at this time. Our task is to continue to give the name "Southern Baptist Historical Society" dignity and to continue to strive to ward integrity in all that we do. Should the SBC decide on a name change, then it would be appropriate for the SBHS to consider doing the same. Should a new historical agency be organized by the SBC, which would be a denial of the action taken in restructuring, then the society would have to look long and hard at our name. Should our vision for the twenty-first century take us in new directions of cooperation, then on very positive grounds we could adopt a new name. My advice is to remain as we are for the moment but be ready to move quickly should circumstances change.

Cooperative relationships within the SBC.--A significant challenge for the SBHS is to continue in cooperative relations with various entities identified within the SBC. An obvious given is the importance of continuing to work with the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. The foundation for this has been constructed with the positive efforts between the SBHS and Bill Sumners, director of the SBHLA. In fact, through such efforts the SBHLA continues to serve as the depository of the holdings of the society.

The SBHS daily receives requests from Southern Baptist churches, associations, and agencies for information. We not only must respond to such needs, we must work at increasing the awareness that such ministries are available. At one time, if my memory is correct, there were over 10,000 history committees in Southern Baptist churches. Staffing is a problem for the SBHS but we must develop ways to encourage local churches to be interested in their local history and in denominational history.

Absolutely essential is a constructive, cooperative relationship with Southern Baptist state conventions, where significant restructuring is occurring. At this time fifteen state conventions have historical commissions, societies, and/or committees that work with the SBHS. Six additional conventions have assigned a representative to serve as a contact person with the SBHS. The SBHS must provide encouragement and leadership in those conventions that have a "historical" void, especially younger and smaller conventions. I have recommended the development of an adaptable plan for at least a history committee in every state convention. It would include cooperation with the SBHS leadership in the preservation and communication of state Baptist history, and encouragement and direction for associations and churches in knowing, preserving, recording, and communicating their history. Efficiency and effectiveness are essentials in such a plan.

The SBHS must continue to pursue aggressively financial support from state conventions, associations, and churches by carrying out our ministry with integrity and good stewardship. We must also be persistent in enlisting churches as members of the SBHS, something that was not done during the days of the Historical Commission. We have returned to the society status adopted when we were organized in 1938, and we are free from Southern Baptist Convention restrictions to solicit support where we can find it. You and other members must help us in these efforts.

The SBHS can also serve as an organization that identifies and communicates information on specific Baptist history projects and programs. For example, a number of institutions have special Baptist history centers, lectureships, or emphases. Oklahoma Baptist University has the Hobbs Lectureship. William Jewell has the Partee Center and the Spurgeon Collection. Carson-Newman has an outstanding Baptist history program. The SBHS could provide incentive and information to assist all Baptist colleges and universities, seminaries, and graduate and divinity schools to establish similar yet distinctive programs and to identify in an important way with their constituents. Research in Baptist history would be greatly expanded, articles for publication in Baptist History and Heritage could be identified, and students, church workers, and laypersons could increase in their understanding of the rich Baptist heritage, hence advancing the cause of Baptist history. The Baptist history professors group discussed this idea during their meeting.

Finally, products and publications must be relevant and user-friendly for Southern Baptists in the twenty-first century. We must collectively hear and respond to the historical needs of our churches. To meet this challenge the SBHS must obtain the resources necessary to respond to such demands. Fund-raising, endowment solicitation, increased membership income, and sale of products will be the main sources of revenue in the twenty-first century.

The Ministry of Baptist History in the Twenty-first Century: A Cooperative Challenge Nationally and Internationally

I see a demanding challenge and a marvelous opportunity in the twenty-first century for those of us who love Baptist history. Restructuring, retrenchment, and response place before us a window through which we can look back on four centuries of Baptist history and forward into a new century of Baptist hope. I can assure you that it will be both frightening and invigorating as we try to define for our constituents who we are as Baptists in light of our past and the incredibly-and rapidly-changing future.

The greatest challenge and the greatest opportunity for Baptist historians is developing strategies and models of cooperation between various denominational historical organizations that will allow us to be both independent and interdependent in the twenty-first century. We have the technology to assist in cooperation. E-mail, Web pages, fax machines, and who knows what else will be out there in the near future that can make communication quick, easy, and inexpensive. When you can download thirty-eight volumes of the Early Church Fathers in just a few moments, you suddenly have access to your own personal library that no one could have imagined a century ago. I can converse instantly with Dr. Broekhoven, the executive director of the American Baptist Historical Society, on any given day, opening up opportunities of which we see the results in this very meeting. Without the Internet I seriously doubt that we would have progressed cooperatively with the ABHS to this point.

So, what are the challenges facing history organizations of Southern Baptists, American Baptists, North American Baptists, National Baptists, lovers of Charles Haddon Spurgeon and William H. Whitsitt, British Baptists, European Baptists, Japanese Baptists, Indian Baptists, Australian Baptists, and all other Baptist groups? Can we find unity and cooperation among ourselves? Can we identify common ground and respect diversity? Can we cooperate but avoid control? My dream is that we can do so if we are likeminded, sensitive, determined, and courageous. Let me share with you my thoughts and visions tempered by my anxieties.

Challenges

There are several important challenges before us.

An organizational model.--If we are to cooperate beyond a fraternal relationship, we must develop an organizational model that can provide leadership, organization, programs, and planning without sacrificing independency. I offer no specific recommendation but call on the diverse Baptist history organizations to give thought to such a model for consideration by all of us interested in our history. A representative board, a central office, and a capable staff will be essential. Such a model, when put into place, should incorporate both national and international organizations committed to Baptist history.

Turf is an obstacle that must be addressed. It is sometimes difficult for independent, voluntary organizations, such as the SBHS or denominationally-connected agencies to give up some of their rights and freedom to a larger entity that may engulf them. There is the danger that a group that relates even unofficially to such a large and powerful denomination, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, will overwhelm others around them. The challenge to organized cooperation is to strengthen identity of individual organizations while at the same time to develop greater unity and cohesiveness in our efforts. The issue of location represents the dangers. Of course, such an organization would be located in the United States. To me, I have never even considered other options. But why the United States? Why not Great Britain where Baptists appeared? Or Australia? Or, why even an English-speaking country? You see the provincialism that is often present once the debate begins.

Financial support.--This will always be a challenge; and because we are Baptists, adequate financial resources will never be available. It was said of Luther Rice that his dreams always out-distanced the funds available. Things haven't changed. Where do we obtain the financial support? State convention contributions; organizational, institutional, church, and individual memberships; voluntary supplemental dues on denominational memberships; sale of products; endowment funds; grants; sale of indulgences; lotteries; bingo games: where do we go for needed resources? Responding to such a challenge would need to be expressed in any proposed model for cooperation. Funds must be made available without draining the resources of existing Baptist history organizations. This challenge must be met.

Administrative challenges.--Diversity, distance, and demands are challenges that must be addressed to provide effective administration of cooperative efforts of a national/international organization. Electronic communication is the only possible way of meeting such a challenge, but it can be done as we all become more comfortable and more experienced in its usage.

Marketing Baptist history is another challenge to the administration of a cooperative organization. I must confess that my graduate degree curriculum in church history did not have a lot of instruction related to marketing and promotion. Telling our story, convincing our constituents of our ministry, and making them aware of our existence is an important task.

Opportunities

Establish an international and national Baptist history organization.--The opportunity is before us. Initial interest is very positive based on my conversations with many individuals representing a number of Baptist history organizations. Seeds have been planted. The timing is right. A new century in itself stirs the passions for new directions. The challenges to the Baptist identity, denominational structures, and Baptist relevancy make the commitment to our history more important than ever before in our history.

In August 1997, the first International Conference on Baptist Studies (ICBS) met at Oxford, England. It was a successful meeting with representation from throughout the world and revealed the love of Baptist history by so many, the diversity of our denomination, and the desire to cooperate together. The second ICBS is scheduled to meet in July 2000 at Wake Forest University. This meeting would be an appropriate gathering to set forth and discuss proposals related not only to Baptist history scholarship but also to Baptist history as a ministry.

Cooperative meetings.--I propose in the future Baptist history organizations under the leadership of an international/national organization schedule common meetings. Resources would probably prevent holding an international conference annually, but perhaps one could be scheduled every three years or perhaps every five years in coordination with the Baptist World Alliance.

In the United States and perhaps even in cooperation with Canadian Baptists, an annual meeting could be held with a keynote speaker and a common theme of interest to all Baptist historians. Following a plenary session or sessions, separate denominational group meetings could be held if desired. Such meetings would address the need for denominational identity for groups such as the American Baptist Historical Society and the Southern Baptist Historical Society.

A Baptist ecumenical spirit could be practiced, while at the same time preserving the identity of separate organizations. I might add that institutional sponsorship of such meetings, like that found here at William Jewell and at Dallas Baptist University in 1998, would benefit the institution, provide financial and institutional support, and elevate the cooperative nature of scholarship and Baptist history to new heights.

One concern is the temptation to focus on the scholars and teachers. We must not forget about the laity. If we are to be successful and enlist support of our denominations and churches, we must communicate our history in a manner easily understandable at the level of the local church. If we fail to do this, we risk isolating ourselves from those who need our ministry the most.

A national/international Baptist history journal.--One of the great advantages of cooperation of Baptist history organizations is the opportunity to publish the premier journal on Baptist history. I am expressing my dreams rather than speaking for all involved with the SBHS publication of Baptist History and Heritage, but I envision our journal becoming national/international in scope. For starters, our journal has the perfect name. When it was established, it was intended to be not just a Southern Baptist journal but a publication devoted to all Baptist history. The philosophy would not need to be changed. Would the American Baptist Quarterly be open to joining together and combining resources in a common journal?

Currently, Baptist History and Heritage is published three times a year and usually contains ninety-six pages per issue. Assignments for other Baptist history organizations could be made for each issue or volume, expanding the total number of pages. Conceivably, we could return to a quarterly publication.

Making Baptist History and Heritage a cooperative journal would increase membership and subscriptions, increase access to international scholarship on Baptist history, and still maintain some important identity with separate organizations by assigning responsibility for articles to different organizations. Such a journal also would surely increase the interest in Baptist history research and scholarship.

Common products and publications.--Cooperation opens the door for publication and production of common resources on Baptist history. I am convinced that with a little creativity and sensitivity books, booklets, pamphlets, church resource kits, videos, compact disks, and other historical materials can be produced for use by all Baptist denominations.

Furthermore, with careful planning, products related to specific denominations can be designed to complement the more generic historical materials. Dr. Broekhoven and I are already sharing information and are looking for common ground. Charles Deweese, building on his experience in Baptist history and publishing, has put forth a number of constructive ideas in this regard. I also believe that some products, such as publications related to preserving, researching, writing, and communicating a local church's history can be prepared generically in such a way that non-Baptist denominations can benefit from them without sacrificing the quality of such materials. Careful planning and creativity can provide a window of opportunity in this area.

I am convinced that producing Baptist history CD's and putting historical resources, publications, documents, and our journal on line have great potential limited only by time, staff, and resources. We have the opportunity to create products from our historical resources that will enable any library, church, or individual to have the finest collection of archival and library resources in Baptist history available at the touch of a computer key.

A common newsletter.--Several newsletters are out there produced by the SBHS, American Baptists, the Whitsitt Society, and other organizations. These publications could provide the foundation for a common newsletter. Or, perhaps a common newsletter could be incorporated into these various publications to increase the awareness of what is happening nationally and internationally in Baptist history. Such possibilities need to be pursued.

A common Web page.--A Web page with links to other Baptist history and resource Web sites seems to be a given. The opportunities here are mind-boggling. In this area, our young men and women need to be dreaming dreams.

A resource for identifying Baptist resources.--A cooperative Baptist history organization can provide a ministry of identifying Baptist history collections, libraries, and archives and serve as a coordinator of Baptist history projects. It can be the hub of a wheel with many spokes that can take people down any road they want to travel in the area of Baptist history. It only needs to be done.

Conclusions

My favorite passage of Scripture for facing the challenge of Baptist history is the questions of the angel of the Lord to Hagar, the Sarah's handmaiden, "Where have you come from and where are you going" (Gen. 16:8, NIV). To answer these questions, we must know our past, remember those who came before us, and recall how they responded to the crises and challenges before them. But we must also look to the future, we must dream dreams; we must make sure that the good of our heritage is relevant to the future generations. We are the preservers; the recorders, and the interpreters of where Baptists have come from. I also believe that as historians we are qualified more than most others to be the prophets of the future, in answering the question, "Where are we going?"

To carry out these responsibilities, we must evaluate where we are. We must look for new and better ways to accomplish our tasks. We, like earlier Baptists, must find the initiative to respond to a changing world, create the structures and organizations needed to be relevant, and look both to the past and to the future. We must not only remember our history but also look to the future as we make history ourselves.

Slayden Yarbrough is Dickinson Professor of Religion, Oklahoma Baptist University, Shawnee, Oklahoma.