New volume traces history of Black Baptist Church from beginnings to present day

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 10/19/20)—From its theological roots in the Radical Reformation of Europe and North America, the praise houses of slavery’s invisible institution, and the evolution of distinctively black denominations, the history of the Black Baptist Church unfolds in the newly released book “A History of the Black Baptist Church: I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired.”

The volume examines the following:

• the emergence of the Black Independent Church Movement and the historical development of the Black Church from its African origins;
• social concerns that influenced the growth of the Black Baptist family of churches and
• the strengths, potential threats and future of Black Baptists in a postmodern and post-denominational world.

The book will interest not only church historians and professors of church history and Baptist polity but also clergy and laity interested in Black Baptist history and individuals involved with Baptist denominations and conventions.

Author the Rev. Dr. Wayne E. Croft Sr. is pastor of St. Paul’s Baptist Church, West Chester, Pa. Serving as the Jeremiah A. Wright Sr. associate professor of Homiletics and Liturgics at United Lutheran Seminary, Croft has more than 20 years of experience as a professor of Homiletics, Liturgics, and African American Baptist History and Polity. He has published several books, including “The Motif of Hope in African American Preaching during Slavery and the Post-Civil War Era: There’s a Bright Side Somewhere” (2017).

Founded in 1824, Judson Press is a publishing ministry of American Baptist Home Mission Societies, American Baptist Churches USA. It is committed to producing Christ-centered leadership resources for the transformation of individuals, congregations, communities and cultures.

American Baptist Home Mission Societies partners with American Baptists to promote Christian faith, cultivate Christ-centered leaders and disciples, and bring healing and transformation to communities across the United States and Puerto Rico.

American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with approximately 5,000 congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.