VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 2/19/15)—The American Baptist Historical Society and Acadia Centre for Baptist and Anabaptist Studies announce “The Legacy of Walter Rauschenbusch,” a conference marking the centenary of Professor Rauschenbusch’s death. Scheduled for spring of 2018, the conference will be held on the Atlanta campus of Mercer University. Conveners of the Planning Committee are Dr. Deborah Van Broekhoven of the American Baptist Historical Society and Dr. William Brackney of Acadia University.
The content for the conference will be broad – as Dr. Brackney explains: “The life and work of Walter Rauschenbusch created a watershed in Christian thought and more broadly contributed to the conversation among social and political theorists, ethicists, historians, and theologians of many faith traditions. His international impact is huge, beginning in North America and Europe, and later globally. Now after a century, the Prophet is still sparking lively debates about the ethics of immigration, war and peace, and social justice.”
The location of the conference is also exciting, as the American Baptist Historical Society holds the most extensive collection of Rauschenbusch family papers and staff have begun the work of making these records more readily available to researchers. Also Dr. William Brackney, in conjunction with Mercer University Press and the American Baptist Historical Society, is editing a multi-volume edition of the major works of Walter Rauschenbusch
This conference is for all who want to be in conversation with or about Walter Rauschenbusch. The planning team for the conference includes David Gushee (Mercer University), David Yoon-Jung Kim (Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School), Michael Dennis (Acadia University), Ralf Dziewas (Baptist Seminary at Elstal), Greg Henson (Sioux Falls Seminary), and Marc Jolley (Mercer University Press).
Founded in 1853, the American Baptist Historical Society cares for the largest and most diverse collection of Baptist materials in the world and publishes the oldest Baptist historical journal, the American Baptist Quarterly. Researchers come from around the globe to research the contributions Baptists have made to church and society.
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.