Nuggets of TAB’s story through its 175 years

The March 19, 1896, issue of The Alabama Baptist was about six weeks before Southern Baptists gathered in Chattanooga for that year’s annual meeting. It this issue of the paper, Z.D. Roby of Opelika wrote, “Our Foreign Mission Board is in real distress.” The Foreign Board needed to raise $100,000 before the annual meeting. Roby said there were 17,000 cooperating churches but 7,000 “not worth counting.” Still, $10 from the remaining 10,000 churches would provide the needed $100,000. Alabama Baptists had 1,600 churches. $10 from 1,000 of those churches would bring Alabama contributions for the year to foreign missions “to respectability,” he wrote.

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The May 6, 1896, issue of The Alabama Baptist reported that after a year-long campaign Judson College President Robert G. Patrick announced on May 3, “I have the honor of announcing that Judson’s interest-bearing bonds of $24,000 have been paid.” Patterson said Judson had been relieved of a crushing burden and invited Alabama Baptists to join in grateful praises to God. The editor of The Alabama Baptist noted the “honor going to President Patrick and Bro. J.C. Bush.” He added that “few will fail to remember with grateful tenderness of the beloved Dr. S.W. Averett who did so much to make the grand consummation (of debt) possible.”

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In the Jan. 17, 1895, issue of The Alabama Baptist, a desperate letter by Southern Baptist Convention Home Mission Board leader I.T. Tichenor requested urgent support. “The Home Mission Board is passing through the most trying period of all its history,” he wrote. “In its effort to sustain its work the board finds its indebtedness increasing until it is approaching where the exhaustible credit can furnish no further help.” He noted special offerings for state mission boards and about $25,000 to pay the debts of the Foreign Mission Board, adding, “Our Home Mission Board has never shared in these extra contributions. But now we urge that these contributions be as speedy and as liberal as possible. We must have $30,000 by the last of April to meet the requirements of the present convention year.”

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The editor of The Alabama Baptist came to the defense of Howard College (now Samford University) for teaching the Bible in the Sept. 16, 1897, issue: “State institutions in this country give as their reason for ruling the Bible out as a textbook the fact that they are institutions of the state and that it is an infringement upon the constitution of the United States for the state to propagate any religion. Whether you agree with those who rule the Bible out of public schools and universities or not does not alter the facts. No intelligent and loyal Baptist can be indifferent to the fact that in the schools of his own denomination there is a place for the Bible. However inconsiderate it may be for state institutions, it is in every way consistent with the genius of Baptist institutions to teach the Bible.”

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The Alabama Baptist published a letter from Baptist women in South Carolina on Jan. 27, 1876. The letter requested assistance from Alabama Baptist women in providing a house for female missionaries in China. Mrs. N.B. Williams and her sister, Miss Lula Wilden, served in Canton and were “without a house, paying exorbitant rent.” The letter proposed the Baptist women of the two states raise $2,500 to “erect a suitable dwelling.”

“This appeal is reasonable,” the letter continued, “for our devoted brother, the husband of Mrs. Williams, is an Alabamian.” The two states united “to provide the heathen with the gospel. Should we not unite to look after the comfort of their noble representatives now in benighted China.”

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In the Jan. 5, 1875, issue of The Alabama Baptist editors recalled the Great Anti-Missionary Controversy, writing, “Scarcely has the grand missionary enterprise, with its combined agencies such as Bible, Tract and Sunday School societies and educational efforts, taken distinct shape … and entered on their great careers of evangelization when a counter culture arose. … That men professing to be Christian could find it in their hearts to oppose the spread of the gospel by every means … presented a paradox not less difficult for our fathers to solve than it is for us to understand. … The missionary enterprise was ‘the Great Beast of the Revelation’ with seven heads and ten horns. A theological school to them looked more like the bottomless pit spoken of in the Revelation. Our missionaries were ‘howling destructive wolves and ravenous dogs.’”

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A remembrance of early Alabama Baptist leader Hosea Holcombe was printed in the Dec. 23, 1873, issue of The Alabama Baptist. Holcombe was described as a “full six feet high; rounded shoulder and a little stooping; of swarthy complexion which gradually became suffused with red as he proceeded in discourse. His ardor rose by uniform steps to a high pitch but was never attended by any sudden bursts of emotion.” The writer said, “I have seen him when on the great doctrines of sovereignty and grace … hold large assemblies chained to his lips for two hours.” Holcombe settled in Jefferson County in 1820 and “was the most active spirit in originating the state convention,” the article said.

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According to the Feb. 22, 1855, issue of The Alabama Baptist, the Alabama Baptist Bible Society announced plans to establish a Book Depository in Selma for Bibles and religious books. Satellite depositories would be set up across the state and agents would be employed to travel the state selling Bibles, religious books and denominational literature. The proposal was called “a matter of first importance.”

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In its Alabama news column, the paper reported these items May 29, 1879: “The Etowah County jail is now empty,” “The crops in Lowndes County are backward,” “Cholera is killing hogs in Dale County,” “Burglars have been at work in Greenville,” “Eggs are selling for 5 cents a dozen in Butler County,” “Three prisoners escaped from the Clayton jail” and “Parties have been desecrating cemeteries in Albertville.”

The Alabama Baptist to celebrate 175 years

You and your church are invited to be a part of the birthday party celebrating the 175th anniversary of The Alabama Baptist. The celebration will be Tues., Feb. 6 on the campus of Judson College in Marion where the state Baptist paper began in 1843.

The day includes historic tours in the community; presentations by the authors of the new book “The Alabama Baptist: Celebrating 175 Years;” a worship time with Judson students featuring editor-elect Jennifer Rash as chapel speaker; a thanksgiving prayer; a birthday party with cake and punch; and a sit-down lunch.

The day will begin at 9 a.m. with historic tours scheduled. Other activities will begin at 10:45 a.m.

Ideal outing

The celebration would make an ideal outing for senior adult groups, WMU groups, Sunday School classes or anyone interested in Baptist history.

The cost for the day is $15 in advance and includes tours, the program, lunch and a $5 discount coupon on the new book. Registration on the day of the event will be $20. (TAB)

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On April 25, 1878, the Alabama Baptist State Mission Board reported statistics from state missionaries for the first quarter of the year. They were: sermons preached — 410; addresses delivered — 111; churches visited — 299; Sunday Schools organized — 28; prayer meetings organized — 1; baptisms — 5; received by experienced — 2; received by letter — 1; deacons ordained — 1; district meetings attended — 3; subscriptions to The Alabama Baptist sold — 109.

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John A. Broadus, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary — which was founded in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1858 before moving to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1877 — was referred to “as an affable beggar” in a June 25, 1877, article in The Alabama Baptist. “But really no beggar at all for he merely makes a few pointed suggestions that some worthy young men at the seminary need help and some help always comes,” the article stated. The article emphasized the need in the South for “a zealous, educated and orthodox ministry.”

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On March 2, 1876, The Alabama Baptist printed a report from the managing board of the Muskogee (Creek Native Americans) Baptist Association. In part the letter said, “We feel very grateful to you for sending missionaries to our people. … Now we have an association of Baptists comprising some 32 churches in the Creek Nation alone, besides associations among the Choctaw and Chickasaw, one among the Cherokee and several churches among the Seminole.”

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Financial condition of both the Foreign Mission Board and the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention were “steadily losing ground according to a report in the June 22, 1875, issue of The Alabama Baptist. “Many hearts are sad with the apprehension that the days of these illustrious bodies are numbered,” the paper said. “We fear the debts will outlive the youngest readers. The question is whether Southern Baptists will sustain their missionaries.” ______________________________________________________________________

According to the March 24, 1874, issue of The Alabama Baptist, a reader wrote, “I love to see the name The Alabama Baptist and read it. I want it to remain as long as the rivers run to the ocean. … I want it to unite Northern Alabama with Central and Southern Alabama. Let it tell us of love and mercy. Let it tell us and our children of Jesus and the cross.”The letter was published shortly after The Alabama Baptist ended its partnership with the Georgia-based Christian Index. Another reader added, “Alabama must feel their interest slighted and blighted until they have a paper to build up, unite and hold us together.”

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According to the Jan. 22, 1856, issue of The Alabama Baptist, the growth of Seventh-Day Baptists (better known as Sabbatarians at the time) was the focus of a news story. The editor reported that in 1800 the group had only eight churches in the United States. By 1820 that number was 12. By the end of 1855 there were 67 Seventh-Day Baptist churches in the nation. The group also sponsored colleges in Wisconsin and New York. Missionaries from the group served in Palestine and China.

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According to the May 25, 1854, issue of The Alabama Baptist, a committee of the Alabama Baptist State Convention to provide relief and support to “worn out ministers and the families of those deceased” made its first report after meeting in Selma. Key to providing relief was that the church last served by the pastor had to contribute at least $100 for relief of ministers.

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Alabamian Martha Crawford, missionary to China, shared in a letter to the editor in the March 25, 1853, issue of The Alabama Baptist about starting a school for girls. The first class had nine girls ranging in age from six to 12. Only one had ever been in any kind of school before. A boys’ school led by Mr. Crawford was planned for opening after the Chinese New Year.

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According to the Feb. 18, 1852, issue of The Alabama Baptist, the board of managers for a new Baptist high school announced they had obtained a state charter for the school which would be located in Talladega. Bro. O. Welch had been appointed agent for the school and commissioned to raise $25,000 to support the new undertaking.

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According to the Feb. 11, 1851, issue of The Alabama Baptist, the executive board of the Yallobusha Baptist Association strongly defended Rev. H.B. Hayward who was charged by the Attalla Democrat with promoting a slave rebellion. Hayward’s fellow ministers called the charges “false and malicious” and said Hayward was “worthy of the confidence of the community.”

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According to the Aug. 7, 1850, issue of The Alabama Baptist, Daniel Giddens, missionary for Bethlehem Baptist Association, gave his first report after four months on the job. He reported traveling 1,082 miles, preaching 63 sermons, visiting 187 families, baptizing three and receiving two others for baptism. “I have been delighted,” he wrote, “to see the old man of 70 and the youth of 16 bending together at the altar of prayer.”

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According to the Jan. 30, 1850, issue of The Alabama Baptist, trustees of The Judson Female Institute reported sufficient resources to pay for the construction of a new brick kitchen for the school. The number of students completing the last year was given as 145. Already enrolled for the coming year were 116, the same number as the previous year at the time. Trustees added, “Each year the Institute is becoming more extensively known and more highly appreciated.”

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According to the Nov. 14, 1849, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Shady Grove, Harmony, Bethesda, Kingston and Elim churches in Autauga County explained they withdrew from Mulberry Baptist Association because “the association has steadily resisted all our efforts to promote the missionary cause and we have lost all hope of ever giving that aid and assistance to said cause which we wish to do.” (TAB)

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According to the March 16, 1849, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

The Baptist Almanac and Annual Register reported 62,685 “colored members” of Baptist churches in 16 states. The report added, “This does not excel one half of the whole number” and asked for “rigorous exertions to report the whole number” the following year. (TAB)

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According to the July 7, 1848, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Brother Smedley, missionary of the Indian Mission Association, reported several additions to the Choctaw Baptist Church he had planted and plans to begin a second church “on my next visit.” He called the work with the eastern section of the Choctaw Nation “encouraging.” (TAB)

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According to the Jan. 8, 1847, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Pastors in Choctaw Baptist Association objected to the state convention employing traveling agents to “advocate and collect subscriptions for the furtherance of the causes of Christ.” The pastors called the system inefficient, expensive and unequal. They proposed pastors raise one dollar per church member to be used for missions (international and domestic), educational purposes and the distribution of religious books and tracts. (TAB)

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According to the June 22, 1845, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Readers began arguing over the $250 contribution to convention causes required in the new Southern Baptist Convention constitution. One writer scored the “extravagant estimate put upon the privilege of membership.” Another added, “The price of membership should be only in proportion to the actual expenses of the convention and not an inducement for anyone to give to missions.” (TAB)

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According to the May 31, 1845, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Of the meeting in Augusta, Georgia, Editor James W. Hoskins wrote, “The result was just what it should have been and warrants us in the belief that our southern organization will add to instead of detracting from the interest, importance and success of the cause of missions.” (TAB)

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According to the May 31, 1845, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

A Table of Statistics at the end of 1844 was published on the front page of The Alabama Baptist. The table showed 653 Baptist churches in Alabama organized into 38 different associations. The number of ordained Baptist ministers was reported at 267 with 2,723 baptisms and 37,100 resident members. The compiler of the report indicated the numbers did not include information from the 20 churches that failed to report. (TAB)

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According to the May 24, 1845, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Readers of The Alabama Baptist were furnished a detailed account of the meeting in Augusta when the paper reprinted stories from the Augusta Chronicle about the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention and its constitution. Jesse Hartwell, president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, was elected secretary. The Home Mission Board of the new convention was located in Marion with Basil Manley, president of the University of Alabama, serving as president of the board of directors. (TAB)

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According to the April 5, 1845, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

Editor James W. Hoskins wrote, “We give our hearty consent to the course which our Southern brethren are beginning to adopt (forming a new convention) and sincerely hope they will be united heart and hand.

“Our Northern brethren have long entertained this spirit of disunion and intolerance toward us,” he added. (TAB)

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According to the March 22, 1845, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

A resolution by the Virginia Board of Foreign Missions was printed calling for Baptists of the South to meet in Augusta, Georgia, to confer about the best way of promoting foreign missions causes. The resolution came after the Baptist Board of Foreign Missions of the Triennial Convention told Alabama Baptists they would not appoint a slaveholder as missionary or accept money from a church of slaveholders because to do so would imply acceptance of slavery. (TAB)

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According to the June 15, 1844, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

It was reported that Bishop Andrew of the Baltimore Methodist Conference had been asked to resign by a vote of 110–68. Andrew’s violation was that he acquired slaves after his elevation to the office of bishop. Southern members called the action “the knell of unity of the Methodist church.” (TAB)

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According to the June 1, 1844, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

George W. Gunn announced the ministers and deacons of Liberty Baptist Association would meet at the Church at Farmville on Thursday before the fifth Sunday of June. The association’s executive committee was scheduled to meet on Friday, the second day of the gathering. (TAB)

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According to the Feb. 10, 1844, issue of The Alabama Baptist:

The paper reported the departure of new foreign missionaries Rev. and Mrs. Albert N. Arnold who were aboard a boat “bound for Smyrna.” The missionary couple was to be dropped off in Corfu, Greece, where they had been appointed to serve. Of the sailing, the paper reported, “The parting scene was one of deep and touching interest; the most fervent desires of many hearts united and ascended upward for the safety and success of the missionaries.” (TAB)

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According to the July 15, 1843, issue of The Alabama Baptist: Bro. Oliver Welch challenged an essay by Bro. Jesse Hartwell concerning the ordination of the apostle Paul. Welch argued against ordination of those “too young or too much unqualified for this solemn responsibility.”

“As learned as [Paul] was and as old as he was at the time of his conversation, he waited more than 10 years before the prophets and teachers in Antioch laid hands on him and sent him forth as an ordained preacher.” (TAB)

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In April 1866 following the end of the Civil War, the need for schools for African-American children caused a discussion about the need for change in Alabama. Unfortunately there were little funds for anything other than rebuilding and education was not a top priority for everyone. The majority of African-American children lived in rural areas and most schools could only be found in cities. The editor of The Alabama Baptist was passionate about the need for education and felt it was our “solemn duty” to help. Southern Baptists had been working in Africa for many years as missionaries with the African people and they continued their work in Alabama with the recently freed slaves. (TAB)

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In the spring of 1975, Birmingham Baptist Medical Centers (BMC) appointed Emmett Johnson as its new CEO, according to The Alabama Baptist. He was previously the administrator of High Plains Baptist Hospital in Amarillo, Texas, and began his role as president of BMC in mid-June. While Johnson was with BMC the health care complex consisted of 912 beds. (TAB)

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In March 1995, The Alabama Baptist reported that Jane Ferguson was named Humanitarian of the Year by The Montgomery Advertiser. She was honored for her years of work as director of community ministries at First Baptist Church, Montgomery. Jay Wolf, pastor of First, Montgomery, said, “She is one of God’s choice people and one of Montgomery’s greatest assets.” Ferguson continues to work with the needy and disadvantaged in Montgomery. (TAB)

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In March of 1986, Parham Williams Jr. was named dean of Samford University’s Cumberland Law School, according to The Alabama Baptist. Both of his parents were 1925 graduates from Cumberland Law School.
Also reported in the paper was Tommy Karn being named Man of the Year at the Chilton County Chamber of Commerce annual banquet. He earned this honor by serving 16 years as director of missions in Chilton-Unity Association. (TAB)

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On March 26, 1995, Allan Murphy was installed as pastor of North Shelby Baptist Church, Birmingham, according to The Alabama Baptist. Murphy had recently returned from serving as a church planter in Curacao Netherlands Antilles. He had been serving abroad with the Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) since the late 1980s. (TAB)

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In March 1975, The Alabama Baptist reported that Dewey and Phyllis Mayfield were appointed by the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board). Dewey Mayfield would serve as director of Christian Social Ministries in Huntsville. TAB also reported that Forest Hicks, a former dean of admissions at Hannibal-LaGrange College in Hannibal, Missouri, became the new pastor of Fourmile Baptist Church, Wilsonville. Hicks was previously a pastor in several other churches including Centreville Baptist Church; Goode Street Church, Montgomery; Vinesville Baptist Church, Birmingham; and First Baptist Church, Arab. (TAB)

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In March 1965, The Alabama Baptist reported news of a week of revival that was said to be a mighty outpouring of the Spirit.According to Ian H.C. Walker, pastor of Siloam Baptist Church, Marion, more than 100 students from Judson College and Marion Institute decided to be born again. Also the then-Foreign Mission Board appointed 28 missionaries.Pastor Hal K. Jacks, of Wedowee Baptist Church, and his wife were among the new group of missionaries to serve in Indonesia. (TAB)

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In Feb. 23, 1916, B.D. Gray, corresponding secretary of the Home Mission Board (now North American Mission Board), reported to The Alabama Baptist, “Our work in Cuba grows steadily and encouragingly.”The mission focused on four western provinces of the island and the majority of missionaries were in Santa Clara. The quickly growing Cuban population was a difficult challenge for missionaries. The ratio at the time was 1 missionary to every 50,000 people. (TAB)

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On Feb. 21, 1966, Birmingham Baptist Hospital located on Princeton Avenue opened its doors to patients. The Alabama Baptist helped introduce this new hospital which offered new modern features and was equipped with 500 beds. During the open house, visitors were able to see a post-anesthesia recovery room, operating rooms and the intensive care unit.

It was evident Southern Baptists who funded the hospital wanted it to be a place where patients could pray and worship. In the main lobby there was a chapel as well as offices for the chaplain and his secretary. Prayer rooms and visitor lounges were available on every patient floor to provide opportunity for rest, fellowship and prayer. (TAB)

In 1889, The Alabama Baptist reported that messengers to the Alabama Baptist State Convention meeting in Selma voted to establish a five-woman group — called the Central Committee — to promote missions causes among women of Alabama Baptist churches.

The action came despite strong opposition from some pastors who argued Southern women did not want to engage in the public forum.

The convention vote complied with a request by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) asking all states to appoint Central Committees to promote missions.

Mrs. L.A. Hamilton was the first president. The following year the Central Committee became the Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) affiliated with the SBC WMU Auxiliary. (TAB)

In February 1866 the South was in the early stages of reconstruction and many cities were having a difficult time recovering.

Judson College in Marion, known originally as The Judson Female Institute, was able to recover while barely skipping a beat while Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham was having a slower rebuilding process. The Alabama Baptist editor encouraged everyone to take heart and not be discouraged by the slow process.

An editorial in the paper explained the “freedmen” had mostly stayed with their original owners and were now receiving wages. It was only a matter of time before the former slaves made their own churches. (TAB)

On Saturday, Feb. 4, 1843, the first issue of The Alabama Baptist was published in Marion. Milo Jewett, president of Judson Female Institute, was listed as senior editor. The paper was printed by Love and Dykous, publishers of the Marion Herald.

The Committee on Periodicals of the Alabama Baptist State Convention quickly recommended and messengers approved the new paper as the convention’s official organ for communicating with cooperating churches. (TAB)

Nuggets of TAB’s story through its 175 years