The Gospel Working Up: Progress and the Pulpit in Nineteenth-Century Virginia PDF
Preview The Gospel Working Up: Progress and the Pulpit in Nineteenth-Century Virginia
The Gospel Working Up: Progress and the Pulpit in Nineteenth-Century Virgina BETH BARTON SCHWEIGER OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS the gospel working up Recent titles in religion in america series Harry S. 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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Schweiger,BethBarton. Thegospelworkingup:progressandthepulpitin nineteenth-centuryVirginia/BethBartonSchweiger. p. cm.—(ReligioninAmericaseries) ISBN0-19-511195-8 1.Virginia—Churchhistory—19thcentury. 2.Baptists—Virginia— Clergy—History—19thcentury. 3.MethodistChurch—Virginia— Clergy—History—19thcentury. I.Title. II.Series:Religionin Americaseries(OxfordUniversityPress)13. BR555.V8S38 2000 277.55'081—dc21 99-17992 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica onacid-freepaper to Tom, and in memory of Kevin, who did not go gentle This page intentionally left blank Preface ‘‘Up’’may be the wrong direction. —WendellBerry T he renowned nineteenth-century evangelist Sam Jones’s grandmother read the Bible through thirty-seven times on her knees. In Flannery O’Connor’s view, the South—rural, small town, and city—was ‘‘made up of descendants of old ladies like her.Youdon’tshakeofftheirinfluenceineven several generations.’’ I began this book in the belief that Sam Jones’s grand- motherexperiencedsomethingabouttheSouththatismissinginitshistories. And in studying the sources, I found that what we know about the mystery and manners of Southern religion we have learned more from writers like O’Connorthan from historians. Thisbookdescribesoneofthemainreligiousmannersofthenineteenth- centurySouth.TheGospel‘‘workedup’’—thatis,convertsthoughtitimproved everything it touched. They believed that it worked up mysteriously of itself, like a physical principle. True religion not only brought progress, it was the main source of progress in their world—spiritual, moral, and material—and itdidnotencourageconvertstodistinguishbetweenthethree.ButtheGospel ‘‘worked up’’ in another way. It stirred people to act. The men andwomenin this study worked very hard. Though they considered their work ‘‘Southern,’’ likemostotherAmericanstheyneveraskedwhether‘‘up’’wastherightdirec- tion. The goal of their work was not the top of society. Their aspirations had clearlimits,mainlybecausetheysucceededsowell.Bytheendofthecentury, church leaders were largely satisfied with their own progress up and out of thefields.Theirmainworrywasovertheruralrankandfiletheyleftbehind. Nor did pastors work up together. The nineteenth-century pastorateem- bracedavarietyofmenandmotives.Ithingedonnegotiation—betweenthem- selves and those in the pew. Clerical authorityintheSouthwasfraughtwith tension.Itrequiredconstantvigilanceincongregationswheretheboundaries betweenleaderandpeoplewerepermeable.Thisisnotastoryofinstitutional religion versus popular religion, priests versus people. Instead, itisastoryof viii Preface popular institutions headed by pastors who wielded an authority rooted in consensus.Manyinthepewsharedpastors’beliefinreligionasprogress,but not all pastors had equal influence in the institutional church. Power both within the larger denominationandwithinindividualcongregationswasfluid inwaysthatdisturbedtheseleaders,whostrovefororderandstabilityintheir churches and in their own professionallives. Thebeliefinreligionasprogressbroughtinstabilitybeyonddividingwhite pastors and congregations. It also widened the breach between already es- tranged white and black Protestants. The very success of the Gospel among slavesandfreeblacks—forwhom,mostwhiteswereconvinced,religioncould bringneithersocial,intellectual,normaterialprogress—raisedtroublingques- tions among those for whom racial inequality was just as firm a principle as progressive religion. Ironically, white Southern preachers became thevictims of their own success. By the end of the century, the wealthy denominations thattheybelievedwouldwidentheirauthorityinSouthernsocietyonlylimited it. Pastors found that they administered increasingly insular bureaucracies that choked off their influencein societyat large. Much that is important about religion in the South does not appear in these pages. I have not fully explored how religion may have shaped the as- pirationsofAfrican-Americansorwomen.Thegrowthofreligiousinstitutions on both sides of the color line shows, as so many things in Southernlifedo, howblackandwhiteSouthernersmovedinthesamedirectionseparately.That religion was a critical source of aspiration for Southerners of all races, and thatitmovedtheminthesamedirection,isapointforfurtherstudy.Although the male clerical profession gained a new, more systematickindofcontrolin religious life, women (who were two-thirds of the congregations) and what they understood to be ‘‘women’s concerns’’ increasingly defined the terms of that control. A fuller understanding of how these changes affected women andhowwomenshapedtheirchurchesawaitsfurtherstudy.OtherProtestant traditions—particularly the Presbyterian and Episcopalian—were, of course, crucial tothe religious cultureoftheSouth.Buttheirgenerallyhighersocial status meant that they were not as eager to better themselves as the Meth- odists and BaptistsI have studied here. It is a genuine pleasure to thank the many people who have helped me with thisbook.MyresearchwassupportedbytheCorcoranDepartmentofHistory attheUniversityofVirginia,theCongregationalHistoryProjectoftheDivinity School at the University of Chicago, the Institute for the Study of American EvangelicalsatWheatonCollege,andthePewPrograminReligionandAmer- ican Historyat Yale University. I relied on the diligence and expertise of archivists and librarians at Al- derman Library of the University of Virginia, McGraw-Page Library at Randolph-Macon College, the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and Boat- wright Memorial Library at the University of Richmond, the Virginia His- torical Society, the Library of Virginia, the Southern Historical Collectionat Preface ix the University of North Carolina, William Smith Morton Library at Union TheologicalSeminary of Virginia,and Ferrum College. Edward L. Ayers was an exemplary mentor over the long course of this study, and he has seen it through with grace and good cheer. I am grateful for the exacting standards of humane scholarship he set for me from the beginning. Many friends and colleagues generously read and commented on conference papers and drafts: Donald G. Mathews, TedOwnby,JanetteTho- mas Greenwood, John C. Willis, Lawrence Hartzell, Gaines Foster, Bill J. Leonard, Samuel S. Hill, Samuel C. Shepherd, Robert D. Cross, Joseph F. Kett, James Davison Hunter, Catherine O’Brion, Harry S. Stout, Eugene D. Genovese, Lendol Calder, Timothy Hall, Anne Loveland, James O. Farmer, Charles Reagan Wilson,and David G. Hackett. I am grateful for conversation and correspondence with E. Brooks Holi- field,R.StephenWarner,JohnBoles,MarkNoll,WilliamA.Link,RobertM. Calhoon, John Quist, Anne Rubin, Bertram Wyatt-Brown, Daniel Stowell, Jewel Spangler, Briane Turley, Gregory A. Wills, Michael O’Brien,StevenM. Stowe, David Moltke-Hansen, Daniel Woods, and the historians’ seminar of the Young Scholars in American Religion at the University of NotreDame— Karin Gedge, Phil Gleason,Eugene McCarraher,LindaPrzybyszewski,Kath- leen Riley, James Treat, Roberto Trevino,Beth Wenger, and David Yoo. AgiftedandkindcohortofhistorianswhomaketheirhomesinRichmond or who did research here have offered conversation and encouragement at critical times. I thank Hampton Carey, Peter Carmichael, Michael Fellman, Tony Iaccarino, Gregg D. Kimball, John Kneebone, Blair A. Pogue, Brent Tarter, and Sandy Treadway. I have my grandparents, John Allen and Edna Gist Barton, and my par- ents,JohnAllenandPatriciaLawsheBarton,tothankforCentralTexastomb- stonesandGeorgeWashington’sdentures.Theirinsistencethatthepastmat- ters took deep root and has borne fruit in this work. Mitchell Snay, Tatiana van Riemsdijk,andPaulHarveyamiablyplowedthroughlargechunksofthis study in amazingly short time and offered both practical advice and enthusi- asm. Suzanne Wolk edited the manuscript, and it is much better for her ex- acting care. Cynthia A. Read and MaryBeth Branigan of Oxford University Press have been skilled guides throughthe perils of publishing. ImetKurtBerendsinthefinalstagesofthiswork,buthisfriendshipand expertise have proven invaluable. David L. Chappell has proven his mettle mainly through his relentless reading of what I have written. Mary Mc- Laughlin has helped me to see differently. Elisabeth W. Sommer has been unfailingly interested in my ideas for many years, and I havebenefitedmuch from her knowledge, encouragement, and friendship. Elizabeth Kurtz Lynch provided clean linens, hot coffee, and regular updates on her own work on SusannaWesley,inadditiontoheruncommongoodsenseaboutthepastand many other things. Thomas A. J. Schweiger has lived with this book from its beginning and hasbeenthebedrocksupportingitinsomanylovingways.MargaretEleanor
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