It has been 35 years since the Southern Baptist Convention “conservative resurgence/fundamentalist takeover” began in earnest, 27 years since the Alliance of Baptists was formed by frustrated Baptist progressives, and 23 years since the birth of the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship out of the ashes of denominational defeat. (Full disclosure: this year I am serving as theologian-in-residence for the CBF, though this column has been neither authorized nor vetted by CBF staff.)
Institutionally, it’s far more complex than this, of course. Baptist polity is congregational, so each congregation has faced its own, sometimes quite difficult, journey. The Baptist state conventions, and state-based Baptist institutions such as Baptist colleges, each have their own history, of which the Baptist battles and their aftermath are a part. Baptist media and publication outlets continue to evolve. Over a dozen new ex-Southern Baptist theological programs and seminaries have been developed.
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