The Shiloh Stories: Historical Narratives from the Shiloh Baptist Association
By Various Writers (Shiloh Baptist Association)
In his preface to this volume, director of missions Lanny Horton summarizes the historic nature of the association of churches he serves. “Much of the fight for religious liberty took place in our association. James Ireland and others spent time in the Culpeper jail because they refused to get a license from the Church of England to preach the gospel, proclaiming ‘only God ordains (one) to preach!' It is said that Culpeper locked up more Baptist preachers than any other county in the state” (p. 5).
An engaging first chapter of introduction provides historical synopsis for the association. Told in narrative style, the book escapes merely acquainting the reader with historical names, places and dates. Rather, personalities of individual Baptists and, indeed, of the churches themselves shine through.
Occasionally, the pathos of some long-past event grips the reader, as in the following: “… [W]hen Harris preached a second day, he was harassed by a mob of people carrying sticks, clubs, and a variety of other weapons. He left that night for Orange County, just to the east. Soon afterward, Allen packed up his young family and followed him. For now, the work in Culpeper would have to wait” (p. 8).
Or, even more poignant: “There were personal losses, too, of sons and brothers and fathers. One of the most tragic was the story of Albert Gallatin Willis, the twenty-year-old licensed minister from Crooked Run [Church]. …. In retaliation for the execution of a captured Union spy, the Federals decided to hang young Willis from a poplar tree beside the road leading to Chester's Gap. His body was taken to the Baptist church in nearby Flint Hill and buried the next day.” Years later, a gavel was carved from that same poplar tree and presented to the Shiloh Association.
Each church in the association contributed a narrative chapter that vividly introduces the reader to ordinary Baptists who often made extraordinary sacrifices to advance the Redeemer's kingdom. Some churches have predictable names: Bethel, Beulah, Good Hope, New Salem. Other church names are as unique as their individual histories: Crooked Run, Gourdville, Brandy and F.T.
Thanks to an 1865 issue of the Religious Herald, we know that F.T. apparently gets its name from a man named Francis Thornton who carved his initials in a tree beside a spring. It came to be called the F.T. spring; later a community and hence the F.T. Baptist Church.
Some stories are full of victory and hope, while others indicate struggle. The stories faithfully depict the ups and downs of congregational life.
For Virginia Baptists interested in history, and particularly for those in the central region of the state where some of these names are more familiar, The Shiloh Stories is a delightful and rewarding read.
A Living the Legacy: The Church Which Gave Itself Away
By Nancy Elliott and Alberta Lindsay
Soon after the decision was made by Weatherford Memorial Baptist Church to give its facilities to The St. Paul's Baptist Church, long-time member Ruth Guill decided Weatherford's uncommon story and remarkable sacrifice needed to be told. And, as authors Nancy Elliott and Alberta Lindsey discovered, Ruth Guill is not someone one can say “no” to.
Elliott, a long-time Virginia Baptist and author teamed with Lindsey, who for years was the religion writer for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, to “record the history of the church that gave itself away in order to continue living and ministering.”
All its active life, the church sought to live up to its namesake, John Weatherford, an early Virginia Baptist pastor who was jailed in Chesterfield for preaching without a license and whose release was secured by Patrick Henry.
The book chronicles the intricacies of congregational life as the church began the Sunday after a tied vote — 122 for each side — prevented the establishment of a mission congregation. The wisdom of the church start soon became obvious as it grew far beyond initial expectations.
Visionary pastoral leadership combined with deeply committed congregational ministry to produce mission endeavors like the nationally-recognized “Sing Out South,” which had its genesis at Weatherford in the mid-1960s.
Missions, commitment to racial equality and harmony, and sacrificial giving are themes which materialize in the pages of the Weatherford story.
Eventually changes, some of which it could have controlled and some of which it could not, took the church past the point of organizational recovery. But unlike many congregations that opt to remain stuck until they can no longer meet their financial obligations or until the last member dies or moves away, Weatherford decided to carry its identity as a giving congregation forward by making a series of courageous decisions.
Guided in the process by Glenn Akins, assistant executive director of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, the church awakened to the possibility that it could make a noble gift of itself to another church. The St. Paul's Baptist Church, by virtue of its leadership and makeup, was in a position to reach the South Side of Richmond in ways Weatherford Memorial could not.
Seeing the kingdom of Christ as more important than the life of one individual congregation, the church voted to give itself away. “We had to ask what would serve God best ….We had to die so the ministry on this corner could grow. Our hearts came together. We ended with hope. It was a God thing” (p. 77).
This book will serve as a model and inspiration to many congregations who come to the end of their life cycles but seek to establish a living legacy of faithfulness. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24, NIV).
Baptists and Religious Liberty: The Freedom Road
By William Pinson (BaptistWay Press)
Bill Pinson is a household name among long-time Baptists. He has distinguished himself as a seminary and college professor, as former executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, as a preacher and as a writer. In the latter regard, he continues to distinguish himself with his latest book Baptists and Religious Liberty: The Freedom Road.
Although not in the spirit of the trail of blood, Pinson begins his discussion of Baptists and religious liberty with the early church and continues a historical march through the reformation and the appearance of the Anabaptists. As Baptist churches came to be established, so, too, did the principle of religious freedom.
Through early Baptists in the new world, religious liberty gained a commanding voice, with Virginia Baptists often doing the speaking. Citing the contribution of John Leland in his historic meeting with James Madison in Gum Spring to discuss an amendment to the proposed constitution which would guarantee religious freedom, Pinson notes the epitaph on his gravestone: “Here lies the body of John Leland, who labored 67 years to promote piety and vindicate the civil and religious rights of all men.”
Other Virginians distinguished themselves on the road to religious freedom; among them, James Ireland. Churches, too, figured prominently.
Although Pinson delivers an engaging history of religious freedom and exposes contemporary controversies in its interpretation, his primary purpose is to challenge current Baptists and others to protect the fragile freedoms so many gave so much to secure.
“What are the reasons for their [Baptist's] unconditional commitment to religious freedom? Baptists look to the Bible for their faith and practice and believe the Bible teaches that religious freedom is a God-given right. ” (p. 143).
With this he concludes: “In 1832 Samuel Smith, a twenty-year-old Baptist seminary student, overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude for freedom in America, penned these lines:
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Reviews by Jim White, Editor