Monday, July 20, 2026

It is the 20th of July 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Hey, It’s a Monday. I survived VBS week. Let’s go to the mailbag.

 

“Long time listener, first time emailer! I am considering pursuing a doctorate degree in Church History and am especially interested in church history in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Southern Appalachia. As I drive throughout the countryside, I notice that there are many Baptist and Methodist churches but not many Presbyterian ones. Why is that? Why do they seem to be concentrated closer to the city?

 

Thank you (and go Braves),

Dylan from Etowah, NC”

 

Etowah… there are a few of those in America- Georgia and Oklahoma, too… this one in North Carolina is just south of Asheville- one of my favorite places in America. I was going from Athens to Asheville a few years back and may have passed by. As for the Braves… one of the great teams of the TBS and TNT years when I was growing up, and we all watched the Braves and the Cubs on basic cable.

 

So, this is a fascinating observation- and it’s not just what you notice- this is backed up by the research done by the Association of Religion Data Archives- go to thearda.com and you can find all of the maps and charts that show you that the south is predominantly Baptist with a long history of Methodist churches whereas the Presbyterian churches (and Episcopalian for that matter) are fewer and clustered in more urban centers.

 

The answer to “why?” Can take us to a pretty simple, but important question in church history. If you move to a new place where there is no church, or a church of your particular brand, what do you do? Can you start a new branch? This is the great question for what was the frontier in the 18th and 19th centuries. As settlers came, and as the Second Great Awakening set off from Cane Ridge and the like… we have a ripe field for church planting.

A betting person may have thought the Presbyterians would be most likely to come out on top- after all, the predominance of Scots-Irish and Ulster Scots- this would make sense. BUT- the Presbyterian model, parallel to the Episcopalians and many Lutherans, had a stricter requirement for clergy. They needed to be educated and formally ordained. This is going to put most clergy on one side of the “Urban/Rural” divide that is developing.

 

It was also the model for the Presbyterians in the South to send educated and ordained ministers to existing churches with the expectation of a salary. The Presbyterians in the 18th and 19th centuries (also parallel to Lutherans and Episcopalians) tended to be wary of revivalism. So, taking these things into account, you can see how the Baptist and Methodist churches would be the ones to explode- you didn’t need extensive training or ordination from a central office- you got on your horse, you set up a tent, and voila… you have yourself a church. And not only that, a church that isn’t opposed to modern and popular forms of worship.

 

Before the schism in the 20th century between so-called “Liberals” and “Fundamentalists,” the Protestant divide was between this kind of “high” or “low” church, and this often saw parallels between the urban/rural divide on the frontier.

 

Dylan- this is the way to do history, church or otherwise… look at the churches in your area and ask, “why?” Observe who is who and where they do what they do and ask “why?” You then start putting together your sources- things like TheArda or books by figures like Mark Noll, George Marsden, etc…. I think the interesting connection to follow up with would be the relationship between the Methodist and Baptist churches that consolidated and which ended up morphing into the ubiquitous “Non-Denominational” church- arguably the church most emblematic of American Christianity Today…

 

Thanks for the question, and for listening, Dylan! And I’m happy to give you any advice or help as I am able should you decide to keep going down the path of academic church history.

 

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and from Psalm 139—a favorite of many:

For you created my inmost being;
 you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
 your works are wonderful,
 I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
 when I was made in the secret place,
 when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
 all the days ordained for me were written in your book
 before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
 How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them,
 they would outnumber the grains of sand—
 when I awake, I am still with you.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 20th of July 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by Cubs fan Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who doesn’t watch Baseball… nope… they try to do it, but whatever the Angels are doing they’re not doing it right… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.