Memory and Hope: Strands of Canadian Baptist History

T.D. Regehr is a professor of history at the University of Saskatchewan,
and the author of Mennonites in Canada, 1939-1970: A People Transformed.

Canadian Baptists are described by editor David T. Priestley as one cord
with many strands. Those strands come in virtually all colors of the
Protestant rainbow. Some have distinct linguistic and ethnic roots,
others are products of bitter religious schisms, and still others owe
their existence to individual charismatic leaders who had few
denominational or institutional loyalties.

This book consists of 14 scholarly papers presented, in 1990, at the
Baptist Heritage Conference in Edmonton. All the authors apparently have
close institutional ties to one or another of the Baptist conventions,
federations, or educational institutions. Half are either ministers or
former ministers.

The book is divided into an introductory section with two essays,
followed by three major parts. Part 1 focuses on a few Baptist ideas and
their expressions. Unfortunately, instead of focusing on broad aspects
of Baptist life and thought that would be applicable to all Canadian
Baptists, this section deals with two fairly restricted issues:
Ontario’s Baptist tradition and changing Baptist thought regarding the
Lord’s Supper.

Part 2 consists of seven essays that have to do with Baptist movements
and their structures. These contributions deal with the origins of
various Baptist groups, with fragmentation, and with unification
attempts. Also discussed are the bitter Modernist–Fundamentalist feuds
early in the 20th century, the divisive activities of charismatic but
denominationally uncommitted evangelists, and the search for a shared
heritage.

Part 3 examines the life, work, and ideas of controversial Baptist
leaders, including a pioneer Baptist missionary, three colorful
fundamentalist preachers, and two Social Gospel advocates.

The essays are scholarly in tone and methodology. In the words of the
editor, the book “represents the hope that Canada’s Baptists may
continue to uncover one common heritage amidst the diversity of how each
union and congregation strives to be Baptist as well as Christian.”