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In partnership with the Baptist History and Heritage Society, American Baptist Churches of New York State co-hosted a public webinar on NYS Baptist history on Thursday, February 9, 2023. This ZOOM-based event featured Dr. Curtis D. Johnson, author of The Power of Mammon: The Market, Secularization and New York Baptists, 1790-1922 (Univ of Tennessee Press, 2021). This event is made possible by a Humanities grant received by the BHH Society, offering throughout 2022 and 2023 monthly free webinars about different aspects of Baptist history and heritage (www.thebhhs.org).
Reviewing a trove of local church and Association records in upstate New York, Johnson traces the many rapid changes that Baptist churches experienced in the late 18th to early 20th century as New York’s own rapid expansion and growing economic fortunes brought great opportunities and challenges to upstate communities and cities. During this webinar, Dr. Johnson will present the general overview of his research with a response from Dr. Jeremy Spencer, Senior Pastor of Odessa Baptist Church (Living Waters Association) and instructor of Baptist Heritage for the Lay Study Program. ABCNYS pastors and congregants are encouraged to join this ZOOM session, as we live out history and heritage that sometimes goes less remembered. Johnson’s book helps us see where we’ve come from and the surprising ways that our present day and future can be approached with the wisdom gained through Johnson’s careful reading and analysis of our upstate New York Baptist forbearers. Speaking from his perspective as a long-time upstate NY Baptist pastor and scholar of our Baptist heritage, Dr. Jeremy Spencer will give his thoughts on the book from the experience of a local church, particularly in the area of upstate New York researched by Johnson’s book. |