The advent of the civil rights movement in the United States and the collapse of colonialism internationally thrust racial inequality into the global limelight in the mid-twentieth century. The proposed paper explores the influence of foreign missions on racial perspectives within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) during a period of approximately 40 years until 1970. It will argue that foreign missionaries were key agents in a glacial—yet persistent—reshaping of the SBC’s attitudes towards segregation and racial reconciliation.
The paper will employ historical-analytical methodology using a wide range of primary and secondary sources. Primary sources for this paper will be drawn from Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives (SBHLA) and International Mission Board (IMB) archives. They will include periodicals, meeting minutes, and press releases from the SBC, focusing on the contributions of foreign missionaries. Secondary sources will include works that explore the development of racial opinions and attitudes in the SBC and other American denominations. A critical analysis of these sources will reveal a contrast between the views of foreign missionaries and those of the broader SBC community. Missionary voices were amplified by other denominational figures and, ultimately, altered the denomination’s approach to key racial issues of the period. I will underscore how unique missionary experiences—interactions with other cultures and non-white majorities—influenced their perspectives. Instead of experiencing Christianity through a predominately white, Southern culture, missionaries found it necessary to consider how their faith interplayed with cultural and social forces, including cultural attitudes toward race.
By the end of the 1960s, the convention had begun to realize that it could not legitimately continue to preach the gospel “to all the nations” when it would not welcome all people into its white churches. The gospel demanded desegregation. Changes in the SBC included new public statements, stances, and programs in the convention and its affiliated churches. Even so, the SBC has still not met the vision articulated by its denominational missionaries. The discussion of racial issues remains a sensitive and divisive subject. Despite open door policies, churches continue to be largely segregated in practice. Issues of race in the United States are still intertwined with cultural and societal forces. The intent of this project is to illuminate how experiences of and engagement with a truly global evangelicalism can assist American Christianity in renewing efforts toward addressing racism and pursuing more significant racial reconciliation.