Prominent black Southern Baptist pastor Dwight McKissic and others called for the removal of the names of former slaveholders from buildings at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) on 19 June.
This date, known as Juneteenth, is when many celebrate the anniversary of the day the last group of US slaves were told of their freedom in 1865.
McKissic, who leads Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, wrote that ‘integrity demands that SBTS change the name’ of Boyce College.
Boyce College, derives its name from James P. Boyce, founder and first President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is remembered as a Southern Baptist statesman, who sought to innovate the world of theological education by making it more convictional, rigorous, and accessible. In the Report on Slavery and Racism in the History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (2018), it was noted that the seminary’s founding faculty – Boyce, John A. Broadus, Basil Manly Jr., and William Williams – all owned slaves. Together, they owned more than 50 people and invested capital in slaves. The seminary’s early faculty and trustees defended the righteousness of slaveholding.
Untangling sound Baptist theology from lives that didn’t reflect gospel living was discussed online. It was also noted that a petition to remove the names had been started previously, but had ‘been denied’. This happened after a Baptist History Professor, who has since left SBTS, showed students Boyce’s pro-slavery letters.
Current SBTS President, Albert Mohler, said in 2015 that he had no intention to remove the names of any of the founders from the buildings. Mohler said the names ‘represent the burden of history and the urgency of repentance. We the living cannot repent on behalf of those who are dead, but we can repent for the legacy that we would otherwise perpetuate and extend by silence’.
