We are moving ahead on this significant project. At first I wish to give a little background information to bring you up to date on where we are. In the early 1990s various members of the Heritage commission began talking about the need for a centennial history and we sensitized the BWA leadership to the importance of such a venture. Several years were spent in trying to conceptualize the project, and finally a 'core committee' was created in 1997 to oversee the enterprise. The people named to it were James Leo Garrett, Gerald Borchert, Eljee Bentley, Horace Russell, John Briggs, Denton Lotz, and Tony Cupit, with Ruby Burke as staff support. It in turn was to select a 'workgroup' that would actually put the thing together.
Meetings of the core committee took place in Durban in 1998 and McLean and Dresden in 1999 to further flesh out the project. In 1998 Leo Garrett agreed to serve as the editor but the demands on his time were such that he had to relinquish the post the following year. At the Dresden General Council meeting the Core Committee decided to ask me to take on the job. I was invited to a conference of its members in McLean on August 30, 1999, and there we developed the basic outline of the project. It was agreed that I would assume the role of general editor and Eljee Bentley and Gerald Borchert would function as associate editors. They would read all manuscripts and make suggestions for necessary rewrites.
The structure that was accepted included a number of 'work group' people who would contribute ideas and materials, and a centennial history advisory committee comprised of 20-25 individuals from around the world. The volume would be organized to include ten chapters along with an introduction and afterword. The main writers were to be people who have established reputations as published scholars [particularly on Baptist topics], and they would be drawn from a number of Baptist bodies and countries so as to reflect the diversity of the BWA. It took some time to get the list firmed up, as we sought the sort of highly qualified writers that would encourage others to pay attention to the book.
This is the basic outline: (author, country, and convention/union)
Introduction: Richard Pierard (ABC-USA)
Chap. 1 The historical background--Horace Russell, Jamaica (ABC-USA)
Chap. 2 From Baptist World Congress to the end of World War I--John
Briggs (U.K.)
Chap. 3 The postwar era and the 1920s--Robert Wilson (Canada)
Chap. 4 Depression and World War II--Erich Geldbach (Germany)
Chap. 5 The Cold War era, 1948 to 1960--Morgan Patterson (SBC-USA)
Chap. 6 Forward to internationalizing the BWA, 1960-70--Leo Garrett
(SBC-USA)
Chap. 7 Facing a changing world, 1970-80--Faith Bowers/David Russell
(U.K.)
Chap. 8 The maturing of the organization, 1980-9--Ian Randall
(I.B.T.S, Prague)
Chap. 9 Fall of communism and the new world, 1989-95--Albert Wardin
(SBC-USA)
Chap. 10 Forward into the new century, 1995 to 2005--Ken Manley
(Australia)
Afterward: Denton Lotz (BWA-USA)
We also plan a number of sidebars and
vignettes on leading personalities of the BWA and developments
in our history. I intend to use this aspect of the project to
bring contributors from all over the world and enhance the diversity
of the book. Also I will be looking to each of the chapters writers
to suggest things that might be included, and I will be depending
heavily on volunteers from our commission as well for suggestions
and
writing sidebars, etc.
My retirement from Indiana State University and move to Massachusetts has thrown me off somewhat timewise, but this traumatic situation did have the advantage of bringing me closer to the BWA office and major libraries. In fact, I was able to meet with Denton, Tony, and Ruby on May 1, 2001 and work on the logistics of the project. We were convinced that it must be a readable book as well as one of scholarly integrity. This will require tight editing to keep it down to a reasonable length, somewhere around 300 pages, and also insure that it will be an affordable volume for our constituents.
Denton and I met with Judson Press in Providence, R.I. and worked out the contractual arrangements for publication.
We expect to have one or two signature clusters of black & white pictures in the book. It will be done this way in order to help contain costs. Furthermore, I have supplied all the writers with an extensive bibliography of sources, largely gathered by Eljee Bentley. I can make copies of this available to other commission members who wish them.
Although this is a larger BWA endeavor, I intend to keep the Baptist Heritage and Identity Commission informed about the project and take advantage of the vast resources we have in our midst. I want to thank the chair, Chuck Weber, for his constant encouragement and support. This as well as the backing we are receiving from all of you is a sure guarantee of the success of the project.