The Problem of Slavery in Christian America: An Ethical-Judicial History of American Slavery and Racism

by Joel McDurmon

Through all of this, the churches of the South almost universally either sat in passive approval or engaged in active support. One study reviewed 1,003 Southern Baptist district association meetings during the height of the lynching era and found only nine references to lynchings. Worse, of 117 districts in which actual lynchings had taken place, and in which over half had pastors or other representatives from the lynching communities attending the meeting, only one single meeting even made mention of the incident.78 While the main denominations, including Southern Baptists, at their highest levels did condemn violence such as lynching, they nevertheless abounded with silence and inaction in the local churches. Though exceptions certainly do exist, examples of “sunshine saints and summer parsons” were common throughout the era. One questionnaire in 1935 asked 5,000 ministers if they had ever preached against lynching or written their congressman about it. Only 3.3 percent responded positively.