Over the next several weeks, this blog will feature posts about the early nineteenth century camp meetings such as the Cane Ridge Revival [1] in Bourbon County Kentucky which happened in August 1801. It was organized and promoted over several months as a Presbyterian celebration of Holy Communion. While Holy Communion remains a very important ordinance in every modern Christian denomination and church, it is usually embedded in a regular congregational meeting, taking no more than about 30 minutes. This was not the case with eighteenth and early nineteenth century Presbyterians. Consistent with the traditions brought to the United States by Scottish Presbyterians, Communion took at least three days. First the prospective participants were required to prove that they were spiritually qualified to receive the bread and wine that represented the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The next day was for the actual sacramental meal. The third day was given to praise and thanks to God for ...

  When world history teachers introduce the Christian religion to students, it is often as a cultural factor in the transition from the ancient era to the Enlightenment. Rarely do the textbooks present Christianity as a religion that, from the beginning, has had a global aspiration because of Jesus’ instruction to His disciples to go into all the world, teaching, making disciples and baptizing. Perhaps it is assumed that the students already understand this missional objective. Much of Western history, from the Crusades to the colonialization of the Americas and the exploration of Africa can be contextualized as an expansion and defense of Christianity. This has often included actions and dogmas that are inconsistent with the core tenets of the faith even though, in many cases, the words of the Bible have been extracted to strengthen the resolve of the religious activists. Andrew Walls wrote that “Christian history may be seen as a succession of cross-cultural movements” [1] sta...

  The Kentucky Faith and Public History Education project published the first four high-interest, easy-reader chapter books in its Famous Kentucky Christians Club (FKCC for short) Series in August 2020, making them available for sale on Amazon. They are examples of historical fiction written at a second through fourth grade reading level that are appropriate for elementary and middle school students. Our plan is to release the books in sets of four where one is about a white man, one about a black man, one about a white woman and one about a black woman – with Hispanic and other minority men and women included as we discover their stories. Each book treats the Christian religion factually, using secular, objective, and non-devotional language without minimizing the extent to which the famous Kentuckian valued, prioritized and represented that faith. Each enjoyable plot that follows the same pattern. There is a state competition for fourth grade students. Each book is about the ...

Women are often left under-acknowledged in the historical record. African American women are even less likely to be named. It is our commitment here at the Kentucky Faith & Public History Education Project to honor the contributions of past Kentucky Christians including men, women, whites, blacks, Native Americans, Hispanics, and others. It takes a lot of work to find documented evidence of their existence and of how they explained the importance of their faith to their lives and work. An example of the minimal mention given to Dinah Durrett in the written record is the subject of this blog. Peter Durrett organized the first two African American churches in Kentucky beginning in 1808. His was the second African American church in the United States, an oddity given that Kentucky is a southern state and that Durrett was enslaved. His nickname was Old Captain. He emigrated to Kentucky in 1781 with the Traveling Church, a pilgrimage of some 500 Baptists from Spottsylvania, Virgina....

  Tony Snow was born in Berea, Kentucky. In his various journalistic roles, including that of White House Press Secretary under President George W. Bush, he found ways to insert statements that give us glimpses of the personal faith that helped him battle the colon cancer that eventually took his life. For example, he told a graduating class at Catholic University: “Don't shrink from pondering God's role in the universe or Christ's. You see, it's trendy to reject religious reflection as a grave offense against decency. That's not only cowardly. That's false. Faith and reason are knitted together in the human soul.” [1] This statement is interesting in that it connects to a six-year study that the Templeton Foundation funded about the spiritual development of college students during the time they were in college. The Templeton study surveyed over 100,000 freshmen from 236 American colleges and universities in 2003 and then followed up with them when they were ...

  The Kentucky Faith & Public History Education Project is committed to discovering, honoring, and telling factual stories about people who lived and worked in this state who also gave a public account of their Christian faith. Researching the stories of women and minorities from the past is frequently more difficult than researching what happened to men from the majority culture. Many times their perspectives are missing from the standard historical narratives. Often, written accounts of their lives were neither created nor have they been preserved. Because of past gender, ethnic and racial biases, what is written is about them often disregards their own beliefs and opinions. To discover their stories takes tenacity and creativity as well as an ability to read between the lines. Take Martha Cross, for example. She, her husband, Alexander, and their seven-year-old son, James, left Hopkinsville, Kentucky, for Liberia in 1853. They were sent from the Ninth Street Christian Ch...

  Core Christian Beliefs When presenting information about the Christian religion in the classroom, it is important to realize that the religion is made up of many different branches, sects or denominations. Each branch has its own history, traditions and distinguishing doctrines around which they have gathered its community. However, the following core beliefs are shared among most Christians: ·          Christianity is centered on the understanding that Jesus Christ is God’s son, born of a virgin, who was crucified, died, was buried, rose again and ascended into heaven from where he will return to earth at the end of time ·          The Holy Bible is the source for Christianity’s teachings and practices ·          Christianity, like Judaism, believes that there is only one God who created the heavens and the earth, that God is invisible and immortal, a...