Forgive me if these words seem self-serving but I am as proud as a father holding a newborn baby. The reason? We just completed an amazing yearlong celebration of the 175th anniversary of The Alabama Baptist.
The celebration was two and a half years in the planning. Staff worked on the project for two years. The celebration itself lasted 13 months. It included three major events, two promotional videos, 55 associational presentations, two reports during annual meetings of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, more than 50 historical vignettes drawn from the paper’s archives, five feature articles about major changes in the paper’s ministry, a podcast and scores of social media posts featuring highlights from the ministry’s past.
Then on March 8 at about 12:30 p.m. the final words about the celebration were recorded for a podcast by University of Mobile and the epic effort was over. It was a good celebration, at least in my judgment. Every part of it was good.
This issue of the paper provides a brief overview of the year’s activities.
Telling the story
Yes, there were bumps along the way. For example, the book telling the story of this ministry — the first-ever published about The Alabama Baptist — was supposed to be released in September 2017. Instead it was released in January 2018. But the final product was every bit as good as we hoped it would be.
Several readers called the book a history of the major milestones of Alabama Baptists that intertwined the story of The Alabama Baptist newspaper. That was the goal. We wanted readers to see how the history of Baptists in Alabama was inexorably tied to the state Baptist paper.
A special blessing is the wide distribution this story will have among Alabama Baptists for years to come. Thanks to the generosity of Baptist Health Montgomery, Birmingham’s Brookwood Baptist Health and Samford University in Birmingham, a copy of the book titled “The Alabama Baptist: Celebrating 175 Years of Informing, Inspiring and Connecting Baptists” has been provided to the library of every cooperating church and association in the state.
On Feb. 6 more than 200 Baptists from across the state joined the Judson College family in Marion for an official birthday party for The Alabama Baptist. The building in which the paper was first published now sits on the Judson campus. Four members of Siloam Baptist Church, Marion, formed the Association of Brethren which founded the paper in 1843.
Siloam is a historical site in its own right having played key roles in founding Judson College, Howard College (now Samford University) and serving as the site of the first Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Birthday party participants were able to touch this history before gathering for worship with the Judson family and then focusing on the ministry of The Alabama Baptist. It was an exciting time complete with an original birthday song and a variety of delicious cakes.
People left calling it a “historic day.” What a compliment.
A serendipitous experience for me personally occurred two days earlier — Sunday, Feb. 4, which was the actual anniversary date of the first publication. Siloam Baptist Church was kind enough to invite me to preach that Sunday morning. We had a birthday cupcake with a candle and the congregation sang “Happy Birthday” to the paper.
I will long remember that special day and the kindness of the church.
Then came the symposium co-sponsored by Samford University and the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission which reflected on the ministry of the publication. A symposium is a more critical, more academic examination of the assigned topic. Often the presentations can be critical because every undertaking has its warts.
Each presenter took his assignment seriously. In fact, the combined word count of the four papers exceeded the word count of the new book. Thankfully, each of the papers was encouraging, citing the important roles the paper played across the years. Perhaps that should not be surprising since one Baptist historian called my three immediate predecessors — L.L Gwaltney, Leon Macon and Hudson Baggett — the leading Alabama Baptists of their respective eras.
These successes did not just happen. Each required tireless effort by staff members of The Alabama Baptist and a heartfelt “thank you” goes to each one.
Also, attendance at the birthday party was more than twice what was originally anticipated. The symposium attendance of more than 70 pre-registered participants nearly doubled initial projections. Fifty-five associations inviting a historical emphasis by representatives of the state Baptist paper is almost double the 30 or so associations the paper usually visits each year.
All of this attests to the continuing interest Alabama Baptists have in the ministry of communications through The Alabama Baptist. This ministry has been vital to Alabama Baptists in days past.
Today the ministry is equally vital to individual readers as it helps them grow as Christian disciples. The ministry is equally vital to churches as it lifts up what Baptists believe and how we do church together. The paper remains vital to the wider family of Baptists expressed through the state and national conventions as The Alabama Baptist helps bind us together in the common cause of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
‘Because You favored them’
Yes, I am proud of the yearlong 175th anniversary celebration. I hope you are too. But we must not forget the words of the Psalmist as recorded in Psalm 44:3, “They did not gain possession of the land by their own sword, nor did their own arm save them; but it was Your right hand, Your arm and the light of Your countenance, because You favored them.”
This ministry has survived for 175 years because of the favor of God and the favor of God’s people called Alabama Baptists. May it continue to be so.
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