CHARLESTON, S.C. (BP)–History professors from three Southern Baptist seminaries will join Baptists from other denominations in Charleston, S.C., Aug. 1-3, to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the first Baptist association in America.
The Philadelphia Baptist Association — the first such association in America — was formed in 1707. The event, dubbed the “Baptist History Celebration,” will take place at First Baptist Church in Charleston, which was founded in the late 1600s as the first Baptist church in the South.
“The Baptist History Symposium is the culmination of over five years of meeting and planning by a wide range of Baptists across America,” said Bill Sumners, vice chairman of the celebration and director of the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives. “The planning for this meeting has allowed me to be involved with other members of the Baptist family outside Southern Baptists. The enjoyable side of these planning sessions was the focusing on the distinctives that we shared.”
The following Southern Baptist church history professors are scheduled to speak:
— Michael Haykin of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who will speak about 18th-century Baptist theologian John Gill.
— Tom Nettles of Southern Seminary, who will speak about the Philadelphia Association and the Philadelphia Confession and their influence on American Baptist history.
— Lloyd Harsch of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, who will speak about Baptist ethnic and immigrant history.
— Keith Harper of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, who will speak about Baptist mission movements.
Sumners will speak about Baptist archives.
A host of other Baptist denominations and organizations will be represented, including the American Baptist Churches in the USA and the National Baptist Convention USA.
For more information, visit www.baptisthistorycelebration.org.
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Compiled by Michael Foust.
