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3 pages, 119 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Editorial for Special Issue “Reclaiming Voices: Women’s Contributions to Baptist History”

by Melody Maxwell

Religions 2024, 15(11), 1361; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15111361 - 8 Nov 2024

Viewed by 491

Abstract

Women make up more than half of Baptist church members globally, yet many histories of Baptists have neglected women, focusing instead on men and the institutions they lead [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

Research

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15 pages, 224 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Reclaiming Voices: We Sent Women First

by Rosalind Mary Gooden

Religions 2024, 15(10), 1159; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15101159 - 25 Sep 2024

Viewed by 511

Abstract

“We sent women first” could well describe Australian Baptist mission history. Australian Baptist State associations were formed in the crucible of 19th-century history, shaped by divisive issues of their British Baptist heritage and the colonial influences as each pursued an independent identity. Mission [...] Read more.

“We sent women first” could well describe Australian Baptist mission history. Australian Baptist State associations were formed in the crucible of 19th-century history, shaped by divisive issues of their British Baptist heritage and the colonial influences as each pursued an independent identity. Mission work in Bengal, India, inspired by William Carey, the BMS and BZA traditions, was the common factor, and in the six independent Australian Baptist Missionary Societies, women were sent first, starting with two from South Australia in 1882. The first man (also from South Australia) joined eleven of these women for their first ‘Convention’ in 1887. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

47 pages, 721 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Southern Baptist Slaveholding Women and Mythologizers

by C. A. Vaughn Cross

Religions 2024, 15(9), 1146; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091146 - 23 Sep 2024

Viewed by 954

Abstract

Christian slaveholding should not be forgotten or minimized, nor should its mythologies go unchallenged or uncritiqued. This article surveys some of the leading Southern Baptist women slaveholders and mythologizers before and after the U.S. Civil War. It examines sources of SBC hagiography about [...] Read more.

Christian slaveholding should not be forgotten or minimized, nor should its mythologies go unchallenged or uncritiqued. This article surveys some of the leading Southern Baptist women slaveholders and mythologizers before and after the U.S. Civil War. It examines sources of SBC hagiography about the Convention foremothers and their persistent apologia for slaveholding. In particular, it discusses how female mythologizers in the antebellum and postbellum eras linked slaveholding, evangelism, and mission identity. It demonstrates how postbellum Southern Baptist women chose to view women slaveholders as moral exemplars for their current missions. It concludes that understanding the myth-making by and about women slaveholders in Southern Baptist patriarchal society is instructive for understanding this group of American Evangelical Protestants in Christian history. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

16 pages, 256 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The List: Policing Women’s Pastoral Titles and the Failure of Racial Reconciliation in the SBC

by Leslie Garrote

Religions 2024, 15(9), 1086; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091086 - 6 Sep 2024

Viewed by 799

Abstract

This article analyzes recent controversies around gender in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) by examining an online list of women pastors from 112 SBC churches created in 2023 by supporters of an amendment to restrict “any kind” of pastor to qualified men. Using [...] Read more.

This article analyzes recent controversies around gender in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) by examining an online list of women pastors from 112 SBC churches created in 2023 by supporters of an amendment to restrict “any kind” of pastor to qualified men. Using interviews with listed women and primary sources posted to church websites in the form of statements of beliefs, staff pages, church newsletters, church council minutes, and pastors’ blogs, this study examines the identity of these women and how they and their churches responded to being publicly identified. It also analyzes the making of this list in the context of denominational history and contemporaneous crises. This study argues that while the proposed amendment largely borrowed language, recycled tactics, and reiterated themes from previous changes to the SBC Faith and Message, divergent responses to the list revealed the persistence of racial divisions in the denomination. Most striking is the absence of any direct response to the list or the proposed amendment by listed Black churches, indicating the complicated and contingent relationship between these churches and the denomination. The absence of engagement also subtlety signals the underlying failure by 2024 of a racial reconciliation movement championed by SBC leaders throughout the previous three decades. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

15 pages, 252 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Changes in the Role and Status of Women in the Nigerian Baptist Convention, 1914–2021

by Matthews A. Ojo and Ezekiel Oladapo Ajani

Religions 2024, 15(9), 1079; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091079 - 5 Sep 2024

Viewed by 893

Abstract

This study interrogates the changes in the roles and status of women in the Nigerian Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist denomination in Africa, with over 10,104 churches and about 11 million members. This paper attempts to answer the critical question of how and [...] Read more.

This study interrogates the changes in the roles and status of women in the Nigerian Baptist Convention, the largest Baptist denomination in Africa, with over 10,104 churches and about 11 million members. This paper attempts to answer the critical question of how and what processes stimulated and sustained the changes in the role and status of women among Nigerian Baptists from the colonial period to the contemporary era. This paper relied on primary source publications, interviews, and secondary publications, which provided invaluable data in analysing the historical and contemporary issues that have resulted in the changing roles and status of women in the Nigerian Baptist Convention. This study found that against patriarchal traditions that subordinated women to domestic activities in the homes, such factors as access to formal education, the formation of Women’s Missionary Union as an institutional framework to mainstream women’s religious activities, the employment of women with doctoral degrees as theological educators in Baptist seminaries in the 1980s, the ordination of women as Baptist ministers in the late 1990s, and the appointment of women to key positions in the Nigerian Baptist Convention were major factors that moved women from traditional subordinate positions to public leadership in the church. Generally, this has indirectly stirred a process of empowerment for women and agitation for equality with men in the NBC in the past one hundred years. This study concluded that this development has moved women from supportive roles to taking up significant leadership positions within an African patriarchal cultural system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

16 pages, 301 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Women in the Australian Baptist Denomination in Peace and War, 1920–1945

by Rebecca Hilton

Religions 2024, 15(9), 1037; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091037 - 27 Aug 2024

Viewed by 625

Abstract

Exploring the roles and activities of Australian Baptist women is essential to present a complete history of the Australian Baptist denomination. Many historical narratives do not include women’s work in the denomination despite their numerical dominance. This article provides a brief overview of [...] Read more.

Exploring the roles and activities of Australian Baptist women is essential to present a complete history of the Australian Baptist denomination. Many historical narratives do not include women’s work in the denomination despite their numerical dominance. This article provides a brief overview of women’s work in their congregations and the broader denomination from 1920 to 1945. Women’s organisations were important as a vehicle for women’s ministries and fundraising, and they enabled talented individuals to be involved in leading and managing organisations, as well as demonstrating their theological views through speeches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

17 pages, 291 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Rev. Dr. Muriel M. Spurgeon Carder (1922–2023): A Canadian Baptist Renaissance Woman

by Gordon L. Heath

Religions 2024, 15(8), 973; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080973 - 12 Aug 2024

Viewed by 787

Abstract

“Renaissance Woman” is a colloquial expression for someone who excels above and beyond normal in a wide variety of tasks, and Rev. Dr. Muriel Spurgeon Carder (1922–2023) deserves that title, for she was an ordained Canadian Baptist missionary who worked in churches, schools, [...] Read more.

“Renaissance Woman” is a colloquial expression for someone who excels above and beyond normal in a wide variety of tasks, and Rev. Dr. Muriel Spurgeon Carder (1922–2023) deserves that title, for she was an ordained Canadian Baptist missionary who worked in churches, schools, and hospitals in India and Canada, as well as served as a professor, New Testament scholar, Bible translator (into Telegu), and hospital chaplain. She also published academic articles on textual issues related to New Testament manuscripts, on a biblical theology of sin, as well as on issues surrounding physical and mental challenges. Her personal accomplishments are striking among Baptists in India but also her Canadian denomination, the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec (BCOQ). Carder recently passed away at the age of 100, and this research is an introduction to her life and legacy. There is much more to be explored regarding Carder, and my hope is that this brief article provides some impetus for more detailed and comprehensive research on such an iconic figure in the BCOQ. That said, this article does more than merely provide a summary of her life and legacy. It also aims at using the experience of Carder to explore some common assumptions about Canadian women in ministry, identifying when she reinforces some and undermines others. In other words, the example of Carder complexifies what can be assumed about the experience of women in the church and warns against universal generalizations surrounding their experience. In 2008, the denomination changed its name to Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ), and for the sake of simplicity and clarity, CBOQ will be used throughout this article. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

18 pages, 267 KiB

Open AccessArticle

More than Daughters: Women’s Experiences at Southern Baptist Colleges during the Progressive Era

by Joanna Lile

Religions 2024, 15(8), 966; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080966 - 8 Aug 2024

Viewed by 582

Abstract

This article examines students’ experiences at Southern Baptist colleges that educated women during the Progressive era (1880–1920). Denominational leaders and school faculty attempted to recreate Christian home life on college campuses by tightly restricting students’ freedoms and behavior. This article examines female college [...] Read more.

This article examines students’ experiences at Southern Baptist colleges that educated women during the Progressive era (1880–1920). Denominational leaders and school faculty attempted to recreate Christian home life on college campuses by tightly restricting students’ freedoms and behavior. This article examines female college students’ publications to better understand their views on family and home life on the college campus. Their writings indicate that students did believe that the college was like a family. However, students reinterpreted the meaning of home life and family on the college campus by reimagining the use of residential space, developing alternative hierarchical and intimate relationships on campus, and exercising more autonomy over their religious rituals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

13 pages, 248 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“I Did Not Come to China for That!”: Intersections of Mission Work, Marriage, and Motherhood for Southern Baptist Women in China at the Turn of the 20th Century

by T. Laine Scales

Religions 2024, 15(8), 901; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080901 - 26 Jul 2024

Viewed by 915

Abstract

The private writings of two Southern Baptist women missionaries in China are analyzed to deepen our understanding of women’s perspectives on their daily lives. After reviewing secondary research on married and single women’s work in China, the author uses primary source examples from [...] Read more.

The private writings of two Southern Baptist women missionaries in China are analyzed to deepen our understanding of women’s perspectives on their daily lives. After reviewing secondary research on married and single women’s work in China, the author uses primary source examples from family letters and diaries to illustrate differences in responsibilities and opportunities for single and married women, and how motherhood changed their relationship to their work even further. Requirements for “homemaking”, and a “civilizing mission” expected of married women, increased pressure on missionary wives. Single women, arriving in larger numbers in the early 20th century, were able to focus only on the mission work and accomplish more. The success and productivity of single women further marginalized married women, particularly those with children, who could not keep up with their single counterparts in the mission work. By exploring these two exemplars we can draw an even more nuanced picture of the many ways Baptist women missionaries negotiated their callings in light of their family status. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

14 pages, 262 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Lois Chapple (1897–1989): A Life in Service of Christ

by Andy Goodliff

Religions 2024, 15(7), 880; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15070880 - 22 Jul 2024

Viewed by 967

Abstract

This article gives a narrative account of the life of Lois Chapple, a Baptist woman, who served as a deaconess, a missionary in China, and as an evangelist and a secretary for the Baptist Women’s League and the Baptist World Alliance. This article [...] Read more.

This article gives a narrative account of the life of Lois Chapple, a Baptist woman, who served as a deaconess, a missionary in China, and as an evangelist and a secretary for the Baptist Women’s League and the Baptist World Alliance. This article offers Chapple as an excellent example of how women within Baptist life found opportunities to serve in the twentieth century. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

13 pages, 266 KiB

Open AccessArticle

“She Is the Seminary”: The Life and Ministry of Dr. Olive L. Clark (1894–1989), Canadian Fundamentalist Educator

by Taylor Murray

Religions 2024, 15(4), 490; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040490 - 16 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1251

Abstract

This article explores the life and contributions of Dr. Olive L. Clark (1894–1989), a long-time faculty member at the fundamentalist Toronto Baptist Seminary (TBS). In the 1920s, Clark sided with the fundamentalists and became a vocal critic of the Baptist Convention of Ontario [...] Read more.

This article explores the life and contributions of Dr. Olive L. Clark (1894–1989), a long-time faculty member at the fundamentalist Toronto Baptist Seminary (TBS). In the 1920s, Clark sided with the fundamentalists and became a vocal critic of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. As the first person to receive a PhD in Classics from the University of Toronto, she was a gifted scholar. In 1928, she became one of the first faculty members at the newly-minted Toronto Baptist Seminary—operated by the prominent fundamentalist leader T. T. Shields—and remained there until her retirement thirty-eight years later. Through those years and even into retirement, she took an active role in the fundamentalist community by training pastors, publishing lesson plans and articles, speaking in various churches, and serving as co-editor of The Gospel Witness newspaper. In the process, she helped guide and shape the movement, both behind the scenes and in visible ways. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

13 pages, 223 KiB

Open AccessArticle

General Baptist Women in Orissa, India: Initiatives in Female Education, 1860s–1880s

by Ian Randall

Religions 2024, 15(4), 450; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15040450 - 2 Apr 2024

Viewed by 1079

Abstract

This article looks at the General Baptist mission in Orissa, India, from the 1860s to the 1880s, with particular reference to the way women who served within the mission fulfilled a role in teaching and encouraging girls and women, especially by setting up [...] Read more.

This article looks at the General Baptist mission in Orissa, India, from the 1860s to the 1880s, with particular reference to the way women who served within the mission fulfilled a role in teaching and encouraging girls and women, especially by setting up schooling. The challenges of a time of desperate famine, with many orphans being cared for, are examined. The General Baptist mission worked with other bodies, notably and crucially with the interdenominational Female Education Society. A major aim was that, through the work of the female teachers, local teachers would be equipped. The argument here is that there was integrity in what was performed, and thus, this article offers an alternative to interpretations that dismiss the validity of the mission endeavours. The Orissa mission continued on beyond the 1880s, with wider fellowship eventually happening through the Church of North India. This study does not go beyond the 1880s as that would introduce a new phase with the amalgamation in 1891 of the General and Particular Baptists and their overseas missionary societies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reclaiming Voices: Women's Contributions to Baptist History)

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