Of all things, you may ask, why in the world would you blog about denominational history – Baptist history at that? I mean, who cares? Right? It’s a fair question and my best answer is, I care and over the course of this blog’s lifespan, I hope you will see why.
At the outset I should confess that I am not the most tech-savvy, media-oriented person on the block. Were it not for a friend’s (continued) assistance, I would not even have a blog. You know those gurus who say you can begin blogging in 30 minutes because it’s so easy? Uh, not in my case but that is a different post for a different day. Suffice it to say that: 1) I now have a blog; 2) This is more than one kind of learning experience for me.
I have friends who are veteran bloggers. They’ve been at it for years and they tell me that blogging helps their creativity and sharpens their writing skills. I’m all for that! I have ideas…somewhere…I think. As long as I’m working on my writing skills, a blog sounds like a good idea. I’m thinking of it kinda like chicken soup; it couldn’t hurt.
The question remains, why blog about denominational history? Easy. I believe it remains a viable area of serious inquiry. In fact, I am convinced that it merits close consideration for at least 3 reasons. First, some claim that American denominations are in decline and there is evidence to that effect. Of course, it may be more accurate to say that American religious institutions are undergoing a “restructuring” (See Robert Wuthnow, The Restructuring of American Religion). This restructuring is ongoing and especially pronounced in the United States, given the nation’s religious free market and abundance of entrepreneurial religionists.
Restructuring suggests change, and change invites scholarly inquiry. Over the past generation or so, scholars have produced an impressive number of well-framed inquiries into aspects of denominational life. That is another reason to explore denominational history in a broader context. Since I plan to focus on Baptists in this blog, allow me to say that works of recent and fairly-recent vintage that delve into specific aspects of Baptist life, especially race, gender, and conflict are legion. They have been valuable for scholars and casual readers alike. As significant as these inquiries may be, they are tied to a much larger picture. What do such studies tell us about that larger picture?
Finally, millions of Americans still organize their religious lives around some kind of denominational structure. As long as people continue to identify with such structures, denominational history will remain important. The question is, what will that history look like?
