In 1904 George White McDaniel was a young promising preacher in Texas. A Baylor graduate, he had completed his theological studies at Southern Seminary in Louisville. Already he was in his third pastorate, serving a church in Dallas. His name was circulated by those who realized he was a young minister on the rise.
He was 28 when he received a call from the pastor search committee at the venerable, historic and pivotal First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va. It was no small decision. Several persons familiar with the church and the community offered frank advice. One prominent Baptist on the inside of the search process pictured the scene:
Fred Anderson
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“The church is a noble old church and there is no reason why with a live energetic young pastor it should not be the largest, strongest, most influential and helpful Baptist church in the city. In many respects it is a unique church and has in its membership some of the best people our state affords. Coming from Texas, you will find the pace rather slow at first and may feel somewhat restrained and disappointed. Let me [tell you] that the thing the First Ch[urch] needs most is a lively pace. They are conservative [as far as] slowness [yet] thoroughly harmonious. If they won’t go your way they at least won’t stir up a fuss about it. You can gradually get them out of the nets.
“They need a young, energetic man and on that account I urge you all the more. Let me frankly say that the [search committee] has never had the slightest hesitation about you except your age. On this point they have debated at length. They are not aware of it but they need most of all the energy and push of a young man.”
Richmond, indeed all of Virginia, was known for its hidebound conservatism, but the meaning of “conservatism” is not the same as used in present day doctrinal viewpoints. It meant slow to make any change or to embrace new ideas. Robert Healy Pitt, the editor of the Religious Herald and a native Virginian, made the observation in the 1920s that Virginians practiced conservatism “if by conservatism is meant the disposition to be taught by experience to be judicious in launching out on uncharted seas … yet the spirit of adventure has never been lacking in our history.”
The young pastoral candidate privately confessed his concerns. “I am utterly at sea about this matter. To go to Richmond would change my plans very radically. I have begun the erection of a new church in Dallas and I want it to stand as my monument for the glory of God. It would almost tear my heart out to leave my people. The church is young and aggressive and follows every suggestion I make. Would I be as happy in Virginia as in Texas?
“I fear to go to a great church among strangers. They are old and conservative. I am young and enthusiastic. Next to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I would need a member who knows the church and understands me to whom I could go for counsel. There is not a member of the church who knows me intimately. I would run the risk of making blunders which could be avoided by a friend who knew me as well as the church.
“The problem of adaptation at Richmond is more serious than it has been in Dallas. What would I do alone? It almost scares me to death. It would break my heart if I should find the church unwilling to follow me. When I think about the age and prominence of the First Church and then think about my extreme youth, I tremble for fear.”
He turned to the one man whose opinion he most respected. B.H. Carroll, the godfather of Texas Baptists, had been a father substitute to McDaniel, who had lost his own father and mother by age 16. Carroll was pastor of First Baptist Church of Waco and also taught at Baylor. For awhile, McDaniel lived in the Carroll home while enrolled at Baylor.
Carroll wrote the young minister a lengthy letter. He pictured the pros and cons. He admitted it was an historic church and that it had “noble people & would pay well & honor you in your work.” He pictured the Religious Herald and Richmond College as welcoming to the newcomer.
As for cons, he had four: “1) Matters are crystallized, not formative; 2) The field has settled limits fixed for generations. The horizon all round is as near as 50 years; 3) Society is crystallized & customs inflexible; and 4) Leadership in counsel is established in the State and the people too conservative to take readily to new leaders. Like all old-settled countries, proud of their history & traditions, Virginians are opinionated & much self-centered.”
Carroll was used to counseling ministers discerning the call. He offered four points for consideration: “1) You alone can decide this grave question … the man called and no one else—in him is the responsibility of decision; 2) He should follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit through whom Jesus speaks, who as Lord of the Harvest, is sole final judge of each laborer’s field of labor. The field as much as the call; 3) His will in the matter may be ‘gathered’ from profound impressions, indications of providence, &c, after thoughtful prayerful study; and 4) The indications are always more reliable when there is a double-shot like that cited in Acts 16 where there was (a) a closing up of other fields (b) opening new fields.
“Before you consider the ‘whither’ you must first determine whether your work in Texas & for Texas is ended. What are the indications? Is the door here still open? Is it a great door? Is it effectual? Does it worry the adversaries?”
Carroll had his own view. He thought Texas needed the young minister and suggested that very soon the mantle of leadership would pass from some of the old heads to men like McDaniel and George W. Truett and others. “Texas needs our brightest & best.”
McDaniel accepted the Richmond pastorate. While pastor he served two terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention and wielded a wide and important influence within the denomination. But in 1904 he was discerning whether or not to answer the call to the Richmond church. The answer made all the difference in his own life and for the Richmond congregation as in time he led them to build a magnificent new house of worship. He died in 1927 at age 51 just before the church relocated.
Fred Anderson ([email protected]) is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies.