Okay – this happened a long time ago. But only this week did I read this very interesting article by Terry Mattingly, “Why I Am No Longer a Southern Baptist”. It was in fact published anonymously (to protect him and his family) in 1983 (written in 1982? some confusion on this point). What I find significant about it is that he articulates well some of the same misgivings and frustrations I have – not just with the Southern Baptist Convention (old news) but with moderate Baptist groups as well.
One could easily entitle the piece, “Why I Am No Longer a Baptist”. And in fact it was shortly after publishing (anonymously) this testimonial that Mattingly and his family joined an Episcopal church. (And in 1999 – ? unclear exactly when – they went a step further and joined the Antiochian Orthodox Church.)
“Why I Am No Longer a Southern Baptist” by Terry Mattingly (1982)
What I do not understand is why he is so frequently cited and his articles so often carried by Baptist Press (the news organ of the Southern Baptist Convention). I assumed he was Southern Baptist!
One interesting fact is he used to (still does?) teach at Milligan College in Tennessee – just down the road from Elizabethon where my wife grew up.
