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Baptist History Celebration
-- 2007
 
An unprecedented meeting on Baptist history
was held on August 1-3, 2007 at the historic
First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina.
This meeting featured an interesting array of topics and speakers in
commemoration of the founding of the Philadelphia Baptist Association in 1707
and First Baptist Church of Charleston in 1682. First Baptist has the
distinction of being the oldest Baptist church in the South.
Five years in planning, the steering committee was made up of Baptists from over 20 different Baptist groups
and included
Thom South, Philip Bryan, and the late Hal McNeill
from BMA Seminary.
Approximately 200 different
people registered for the Conference--from California in the
West to the Atlantic in the East and from Canada in the North to
Texas in the South. BMA Seminary professors
Drs. Thom South, Philip Bryan, and Donald Davidson, and Library
Director James Blaylock were participants/presenters in three different Breakout
Sessions. These Breakout Sessions were related to Associational
and Landmark Baptist issues, both historical and doctrinal. At
least one other graduate and his wife and two students attended
the meeting. The students were enrolled in a special course in
Baptist Heritage. Three faculty wives attended also.
All seemed to agree that
this was truly an outstanding and unique program.
The symposium consisted of Five Plenary Sessions plus six Breakout
Sessions which offered a total of twenty-four different topics.
 
The three nights and two days of Sessions were divided into Plenary
Sessions when everyone attended and Breakout Sessions in which
participants could choose to attend one of four meetings according
to their individual interests. Five of the presentations were related to
music among Baptists and their distinct contributions to Christian
worship and music. A variety of different Baptist groups received
attention, including, for example, Baptist contributions to freedom of
religion and the civil rights movement. One Breakout Session focused
on Baptist women. Theologically speaking, attention also was directed
to Primitive and Landmark Baptists. Special book displays featured many different books and pamphlets written by Baptists. Some of the
Sessions focused on Baptist books, periodicals, and libraries. Some
dramatic "profiles" of historical figures were presented also.
The good pastor and members of First Baptist, Charleston, South
Carolina, were
most hospitable hosts, assigning rooms for the various sessions and even providing lunch on Thursday and Friday.
Most of the attendees apparently wish for there to be a continuation
of such historical meetings. One of the original purposes for the
conference was to stimulate interest among Baptists concerning our
history.
--Philip Bryan
8/14/07
 
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