VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 3/31/16)—The current issue of American Baptist Quarterly (ABQ) entitled “John Bunyan and the Baptist Academy” features articles written by participants in the Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy which met in July, 2015 at Regent’s Park College in Oxford, England. During the conference each scholar spoke about his or her submitted article.  Another participant of the conference then delivered a rigorous response to the submitted article, often continuing the line of inquiry into another field of study. Roundtable discussion from the interdisciplinary group of Baptist scholars then ensued about the essay and response, using Bunyan and The Pilgrim’s Progress as the common text. Both the essays and responses are included in this issue of the ABQ.

Illustrations for this issue are drawn from the rare book holdings of the American Baptist Historical Society. Upcoming issues of ABQ will cover the following topics: Sam Sharpe and Jamaican Baptists, A. J. Gordon, Baptists and Conscience, An Unexpected Wilderness, Baptists on Race, and Missions on the Old and New Frontier.

Subscriptions to the ABQ are $50/year; individual issues can be purchased from the American Baptist Historical Society for $15. Send a check and your name and address to American Baptist Quarterly, P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851.   Information about how to contribute an article to the ABQ can be found on our web page at: http://abhsarchives.org/publications/american-baptist-quarterly/.

Founded in 1853, the American Baptist Historical Society preserves and shares its collections documenting the influence Baptists have had on religious and civic life. Its six miles of shelving hold the archives of the national mission societies of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., of which it is a part; the personal papers of prominent Baptist leaders; original church records; periodicals representing the world-wide Baptist press; national, state and associational published minutes from the vast array of Baptist denominations in the U.S.; and books and pamphlets that are by, about, for and against Baptists. Researchers come from all over the world from a multitude of disciplines, including American history, political science, women’s studies, anthropology and sociology. For more information about ABHS, including how to make a research appointment or to volunteer, visit our website at www.abhsarchives.org.

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.