A Texas Baptist Power Struggle: The Hayden Controversy

CHAPTER 1. Problems on the Horizon

1 THE฀NINETEENTH฀CENTURY฀WAS฀a฀time฀of฀religious฀foment ฀in฀the฀United฀States.฀The฀disestablishment฀that฀had฀accompanied ฀ the฀ American฀ Revolution฀ meant฀ that฀ previously฀ unfavorable฀religious฀bodies฀such฀as฀Baptists฀and฀Methodists฀ were฀now฀free฀to฀compete฀with฀one฀and฀all฀for฀converts.฀As฀a฀result ฀of฀this฀freedom,฀Baptists,฀Methodists,฀and,฀later,฀Cumberland ฀Presbyterians,฀the฀various฀Christian฀churches,฀and฀Roman฀ Catholics฀grew฀by฀leaps฀and฀bounds.฀One฀reason฀in฀particular฀ for฀the฀growth฀of฀Baptists฀was฀the฀concept฀of฀congregational฀ polity.฀Baptists฀believe฀that฀no฀organization฀supersedes฀the฀local฀ church,฀and฀thus฀the฀membership฀of฀each฀local฀church฀chooses฀ its฀own฀leaders฀and฀makes฀its฀own฀decisions.฀All฀affiliation฀with฀ other฀Baptist฀churches฀from฀the฀national฀to฀the฀local฀level฀is฀on฀ a฀voluntary฀basis.฀The฀Southern฀Baptist฀Convention,฀therefore,฀ is฀composed฀of฀Baptist฀churches฀that฀have฀decided฀to฀freely฀associate ฀ with฀ one฀ another฀ in฀ order฀ to฀ pool฀ their฀ resources฀ to฀ promote฀ various฀ endeavors.฀ However,฀ with฀ no฀ hierarchy฀ in฀ place,฀the฀Baptist฀denomination฀has฀often฀found฀it฀difficult฀to฀ discipline฀fellow฀churches฀that฀choose฀to฀associate,฀but฀are฀also฀ ฀ CHAPTER฀1 PROBLEMS฀ON฀ THE฀HORIZON b.text.indd฀฀฀1 10/4/05฀฀฀2:13:44฀PM 2฀ Chapter฀1 divisive฀and฀whose฀actions฀are฀detrimental฀to฀the฀entire฀Convention .฀At฀the฀state฀level,฀nowhere฀has฀this฀problem฀been฀more฀prominent ฀than฀in฀the฀Baptist฀General฀Convention฀of฀Texas,฀a฀body฀that฀ has฀known฀bitter฀controversy. Baptist฀Rivalries During฀the฀early฀1820s฀the฀first฀known฀Baptists฀arrived฀in฀a฀region฀ of฀northern฀Mexico฀known฀as฀Texas.฀Due฀to฀the฀great฀danger฀of฀hostile฀ Native฀American฀attacks฀on฀groups฀traveling฀overland,฀the฀most฀popular ฀route฀to฀this฀new฀land฀was฀by฀way฀of฀the฀Gulf฀of฀Mexico.฀These฀ earliest฀Baptists฀frequently฀traveled฀by฀ship฀from฀New฀Orleans฀to฀the฀ deep฀seaport฀of฀Galveston.฀For฀this฀reason,฀the฀strongest฀presence฀of฀ Baptists฀in฀Texas฀was฀originally฀in฀the฀south.฀Within฀a฀decade฀of฀their฀ settlement฀in฀these฀regions,฀cities฀such฀as฀Independence,฀Washingtonon -the-Brazos,฀Houston,฀and฀Galveston฀became฀hubs฀of฀the฀Baptist฀ denomination.฀By฀the฀close฀of฀the฀1830s,฀thousands฀of฀Baptists฀had฀ migrated฀to฀these฀cities฀and฀surrounding฀areas.฀ Known฀for฀a฀desire฀to฀work฀together฀in฀missionary฀endeavors฀and฀ to฀promote฀education฀for฀the฀clergy,฀these฀first฀Baptists฀formed฀the฀ Union฀ Association฀ in฀ 1840฀ and฀ Baylor฀ University฀ at฀ Independence฀ in฀1845.฀With฀their฀numbers฀growing฀rapidly,฀Baptists฀organized฀the฀ Baptist฀State฀Convention฀(BSC)฀in฀1848.฀Through฀these฀three฀organizations ฀Baptists฀were฀able฀to฀gain฀an฀early฀denominational฀foothold฀on฀ the฀southern฀regions฀of฀the฀state.฀Though฀little฀attention฀was฀paid฀to฀ the฀sparsely฀populated฀northern฀and฀eastern฀sections,฀this฀organization฀ was฀the฀first฀statewide฀Baptist฀convention฀in฀Texas.฀ By฀the฀1850s฀the฀land฀route฀through฀Arkansas฀became฀safer,฀and฀ Baptists฀began฀to฀migrate฀into฀the฀northeastern฀regions฀of฀the฀Lone฀ Star฀State.฀By฀the฀end฀of฀the฀decade฀the฀old฀passage฀from฀New฀Orleans฀ to฀Galveston฀had฀given฀way฀to฀the฀less฀expensive฀but฀more฀time-consuming ฀wagon฀trails฀that฀led฀from฀Arkansas฀and฀the฀Oklahoma฀Territory ฀to฀northeast฀Texas.฀This฀change฀not฀only฀increased฀tremendously฀ the฀Baptists฀of฀north฀and฀central฀Texas,฀but฀also฀set฀the฀stage฀for฀denominational ฀bickering.฀Although฀more฀Baptists฀now฀resided฀in฀the฀ northern฀and฀central฀sections฀of฀Texas,฀฀leadership,฀funds,฀education,฀ and฀missionary฀activity฀remained฀centered฀in฀south฀Texas.฀This฀caused฀ b.text.indd฀฀฀2 10/4/05฀฀฀2:13:44฀PM Problems฀on฀the฀Horizon฀ 3 the฀Baptists฀of฀north฀and฀east฀Texas฀to฀feel฀ignored,฀thus฀prompting฀ them฀to฀create฀their฀own฀convention,฀one฀more฀attentive฀to฀their฀geographical ฀area.฀The฀upshot฀was฀the฀East฀Baptist฀Convention,฀formed฀in฀ 1855.฀This฀organization฀was฀renamed฀the฀Baptist฀General฀Association฀ (BGA)฀in฀1868.฀These฀disgruntled฀Baptists฀also฀created฀Waco฀University ฀in฀1858.฀And฀with฀these฀developments฀a฀new฀group฀of฀Baptist฀ leaders฀began฀to฀move฀to฀the฀forefront฀in฀Texas. It฀was฀not฀long฀before฀the฀two฀Baptist฀conventions฀and฀their฀leaders ,฀having฀no฀common฀foe฀or฀threat฀to฀unite฀them฀and฀hold฀them฀ together,฀ found฀ themselves฀ at฀ odds.฀ Arguments฀ over฀ which฀ group฀ held฀dominion฀over฀certain฀regions฀soon฀began฀to฀dominate฀the฀various ฀Baptist฀newspapers.฀Furthermore,฀a฀strong฀rivalry฀between฀Baylor฀ University฀at฀Independence฀and฀Waco฀University฀began฀to฀develop.฀In฀ an฀attempt฀to฀raise฀funds฀for฀their฀respective฀schools,฀supporters฀of฀the฀ two฀fledgling฀universities฀promoted฀the฀merit฀of฀their฀own฀institution฀ and฀berated฀the฀value...