Southern Baptists have been, for the last few decades, one of the more polarizing denominations within the Christian faith. The largest Baptist sect in the world, and the largest collection of Protestants in the United States, it ranks second only to the Catholic Church in terms of the number of Christian believers in the United States. Its history is rooted in the racist troubles of the American South, though, as it split off from the Baptists in the northern part of the country in 1845, in a disagreement about the morality of slavery. Once the Civil War ended, the black members of the Southern Baptist Convention split from white churches and organized their own congregations.
Over the last seventy years, though, the Southern Baptists have spread across the country, now with conventions in 41 of the 50 states. Unlike denominations such as Presbyterianism or Methodism, though, individual churches are not bound to the local convention by any authority; each church is empowered to make its own decisions. Doctrinally, the primary distinctive of Southern Baptists include a rejection of the validity of infant baptism, requiring instead immersion in water at an age when one can actively and consciously claim faith, instead of sprinkling an infant soon after birth.
Today, Southern Baptist churches have a reputation for being extremely conservative in social matters. Several of their seminaries offer classes to women on the proper care of the home, and the best way to be a wife – and rather than a casual seminar, it is a diploma program that is available. Such matters as taking care of the home and being a supportive spouse are actually academic subjects in this program.
In my visit to a Southern Baptist worship service, I found the people in the congregation to be quite friendly. The church that I attended offered a traditional and a contemporary service, but I chose to go to the traditional service so that I would get a more accurate look at the way that Southern Baptists have worshipped over time. A lot of the men wore jackets and ties or even suits, and most of the women were in dresses, while the rest were in nice slacks and blouses. The children were a little more casual, with some khaki shorts and the like, but overall it was dressier than many churches that I have heard of.
When it was time to sing, some of the members got out hymnals from behind the pew, while others watched the large screens on the back walls of the sanctuary, where the words were shown using a multimedia projector. The primary instrument was the organ, although there was a soloist with a flute while they passed baskets around to collect the offering, which is the support system for the whole church, financially speaking.
The most unusual part, for me, was the baptism. With the layout of the sanctuary, the members of the choir sat in banked seats behind the stage where the pastor and other ministers led the service. Above the choir was a recessed area, into which the pastor stepped about a third of the way into the service. He was wearing a white robe over his shirt and tie, and the young woman with him was also wearing a white robe. He said a blessing over her, asserting that she had “professed faith” in Jesus and so was being “obedient” in baptism. Then, he laid her back into the water, all the way under, and then brought her back up and out. The audience applauded, and then there was a song.
The other Baptist sacrament is the Lord’s Supper, which is the Baptist term for Communion or the Holy Eucharist. The components are the same (bread for the body of Christ, wine or juice for the blood). They do not do this sacrament every week, as in other denominations, but only four or five times a year, according to the person I interviewed. The method that they use in this church is to take unleavened bread (with a texture of crackers) for the bread, and then a small plastic glass of grape juice. Volunteers distribute these items to the entire congregation, and when they all have them, the presiding minister gives the indication, and all members eat the bread and then drink the juice at the same time.
As with many conservative religions, the Baptist faith applies itself, for its members, in many different areas of their lives. Because of the strict moral code by which Southern Baptists claim to live, there are many activities that Southern Baptists simply won’t do. Some Southern Baptists will not dance under any circumstances, although this has become much more rare than it was thirty or forty years ago. Alcohol consumption is still a taboo topic in many congregations. On matters of the woman’s body, such as contraception or abortion, the denomination has strong feelings that a woman’s body belongs to God, and that human life is more important than personal convenience – which explains their views on those two topics.
Most of the beliefs that Southern Baptists espouse about political and moral debates reflect this conservatism as well. The vast majority of Southern Baptists are Republicans, according to my interviewee. Despite the fact that Jesus often advocated for the poor and needy in the New Testament, Southern Baptists tend to vote Republican. While their churches often intervene for the poor and destitute as a corporate body, and while church members will volunteer to help in projects of that nature, most Southern Baptists believe that it is the job of the church and of individuals to help out in social circles, not the government. They also believe that it is the individual’s responsibility, in the vast majority of cases, to solve his or her own problems, particularly if they are adults.
The most important holidays, to Southern Baptists, are Christmas and Easter. Easter is of particular importance, because it is the day on which Jesus Christ rose from the dead, in their tradition, but they do not use the same liturgical emphasis that other denominations do. Lent is barely emphasized at all; in contrast, Catholics and other Christian denominations celebrate the stages of Lent more visibly, holding services on Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday. Southern Baptist churches generally hold a Good Friday service and then an Easter Sunday service only. Christmas Day is also important, because it celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, and many congregations celebrate each Sunday in Advent, the four-week season leading up to Christmas. The traditions around these two holidays form the most powerful associations in the interviewee’s life.
Works Cited
Smithson, Mike. Personal Interview. 11 January 2012.
