Synopsis "Why I Am a Baptist"
I was twenty-three years old, when I joined the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church, in Jacksonville, Florida. All of my life, up until about five months before I joined Bethel, I had been a Jehovah's witness. When I left the Jehovah's witnesses, I joined the Nation of Islam, for about three months. It was during these three months that I encountered one of Bethel's deacons, who witnessed Christ to me, and shared his testimony. In New Member Orientation class, the teacher confronted us with a question that has resounded in my mind for the forty-four years, since then: "Why are you a Baptist?" to be honest, I had never learned anything about Baptists, when I was a witness. I was at this Baptist church, because my friend who witnessed Christ to me was a member of this church, and had invited me to come. Otherwise, to answer the teacher's question, I had to first know what a Baptist is. This book starts by answering that question, and finishes with my answer to the teacher's question.When I first joined the Baptist church, the teacher in New Members class challenged us to answer the question, "Why am I a Baptist?" Forty-four years later, I am writing this book, to share my answer to his question.In "Why I Am A Baptist," I tell you what I learned about me: from discovering what a Baptist IS, to discovering the Baptist in me, who has always' been there ... even when I was a JW.This book is not intended to tell you how to be a Baptist; or, to answer the teacher's question, for you. If that were my intent, I would have chosen a different title. But it will present a short history of the Baptist Church, from the early beginnings, to its arrival in North America, to the events that led to the launching of he first Black Baptist churches in the United States, and beyond.
