Great events assume a life of their own. It is true with weddings. They start small with the excitement of an engagement and little by little the plans develop. So it is with an event planned for three days in May.
It began by Bruce Gourley, executive director of the Baptist History & Heritage Society, a national organization, asking if the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, both at the Univer-sity of Richmond, would host their annual meeting. With the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and emancipation it seemed a natural to come to Richmond, former capital of the Confederacy. The Virginia Baptist history organizations have hosted this group before, both under its present name and when it was known as the Southern Baptist Historical Society. But this event is the most ambitious joint sponsorship.
Fred Anderson
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It has been in the planning stages for about a year. In January 2012 a group of University of Rich-mond librarians came to visit the Virginia Baptist Historical Society’s exhibit entitled “free indeed!,” which focuses on the relationships between blacks and whites in the Baptist churches of Virginia prior to emancipation. The group was told about the national conference planned for May 2013 and given a long explanation about its focus: “It will be on religion and the Civil War, Emancipation and racial reconciliation today.” We needed a catchy title and suddently one of those brilliant librarians whispered (well, she is a librarian), “Call it ‘Faith, Freedom & Forgiveness.’” And so now the event had a name.
The insert in the print edition of this week’s Religious Herald highlights “Faith, Freedom, Forgiveness: Religion and the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconciliation in Our Time.” It is a once-in-a-lifetime event. This is our moment and the program which has been planned is an embarrassment of riches in terms of experiences, speakers and personalities.
The program is so big that it had to be stretched over three days, Monday through Wednesday, May 20-22. Early birds can register for a Civil War battlefields tour scheduled for Sunday, May 19, to be given by an expert on the engagements in the Richmond and Petersburg campaigns. And we hope many Richmond-area churches will incorporate some aspect of the theme in their Sunday services. After all, it will be Pentecost Sunday.
The program is so big that it calls for the combined efforts of three Baptist heritage organizations: the Baptist History & Heri-tage Society, which is national in scope and membership; the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, which is the oldest and largest of the various state Baptist historical organizations in the United States; and the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies, which is a think tank and educational organization headquartered at the University of Richmond. Just think of a show staged by great combined circuses: Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey.
The program is so big that it will occur at the two schools of higher education in Richmond which are historically related to Baptists — the University of Richmond and Virginia Union University. There will be events scheduled on both campuses. Despite all these references to Baptist history, hosts and schools, the conference is focused on religion and its impact on those three areas — the war, emancipation and reconciliation — so the conference should attract not only Baptists but anyone interested in the subject.
The line-up of keynote speakers is impressive. Ed Ayers, president of the University of Richmond, is one of the leading historians on the South. An indefatigable scholar and administrator, he leads a major university, teaches classes, writes books, participates in a history show on radio, and speaks widely on the subject of “the War.” Harry Stout is a professor of religious history at Yale University and author of numerous works, including Upon the Altar of the Nation: A Moral History of the American Civil War.
Lauranett Lee is the curator of African-American studies at the Virginia Historical Society (not to be confused with the Virginia Baptist Historical Society). A Baptist herself, she is engaging and well versed on her subject. When she visited the Virginia Baptist Historical Society to view our exhibit, “free indeed!,” she arrived at 10 and left at 3, having read every word on every label. Andrew Manis taught at Averett University in Danville, Va., and he is a specialist on the civil rights movement. He is a professor at Macon (Ga.) State University.
And there are at least 28 more presenters! These include Betsy Showalter Muhlenfeld, former president of Sweet Briar College in Virginia, who will share about women in the Civil War; two pastors of downtown Richmond churches — Alex Evans of Second Presbyterian and Levi Armwood of Ebenezer Baptist — will share how their white/black congregations have forged a partnership; and Claire M. Rosenbaum, a Richmond Jewish leader and avid historian, will share about the role of Richmond Jews in the Civil War. Jim Somerville, pastor of First Baptist Church in Richmond, will offer a creative treatment on the third word in the conference title: Forgiveness.
And there’s lots more planned, including a motorcoach tour of historic sites in Richmond associated with the theme. There will be stops at the American Civil War Center, a state-of-the-art museum at the old Tredegar Ironworks where cannon was made for the Confederacy. The Center interprets the war from three perspectives: the North, the South and the enslaved people who were caught in the middle and whose hopes rested on the outcome.
The tour also will stop at one of the historic African-American Bap-tist churches, Sixth Mount Zion, where its historian, Benjamin Ross, will tell about the legendary John Jasper, pastor at the church’s beginning. Pastor Tyrone Nelson will discuss the role of the black church today. The tour group will conclude at Virginia Union Univer-sity for dinner and a program in the chapel.
One of the sessions will include a panel discussion on racial reconciliation in our time, using Rich-mond as a case history. The city has a checkered past in regards to race relations and it will be challenging to hear the perspectives of the panelists.
Consider the insert an invitation to share in this extravagant event. The time to register is now and the site is www.baptisthistory.org. Hope to see you at “Faith, Freedom & Forgiveness.”
Fred Anderson ([email protected]) is executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and the Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies.