November 17, 1999

1920-1929: Recession,
Norris fail to derail Texans
___By Rosalie Beck
___An air of confidence permeated Texas at the beginning of the 1920s. The "War to End All Wars" proved America was strong, and Texas Baptists looked forward with anticipation.
___But optimism faded into post-war recession. Agriculture, the financial mainstay of Texas, began a spiral that bottomed out in poor cotton crops, low cattle prices, an oil slump and bank closures. Agriculture, financial problems and nature combined forces to decimate the work of Texas Baptists. These factors combined to make the 1920s an economic disaster in many ways.
___Frank Shelby Groner, corresponding secretary of the Baptist General Convention of Texas from 1918 to 1928, commented on the severity of the problems confronting Texas Baptists, noting, "The general economic depression has been most serious in the memory of man." Yet from this difficult position, Texas Baptists emerged strong and ready to move through the Great Depression into a better future.
___The BGCT experienced growing pains during the '20s.
___The Seventy-Five Million Campaign and its results dominated the life of Texas Baptists in the 1920s. Begun by the Southern Baptist Convention, the campaign ran from 1919 to 1924 and tried to raise $75 million for all denominational entities at one time. Texas Baptists were asked to contribute leadership and $15 million. T.V. Neal, organizer for Texas, coined the slogan "Millions for the Master," and I.E. Reynolds wrote words, "When the Millions Come Pouring In," to be sung to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" to catch the attention of Texans, who pledged more than $16 million in 1919.
___But then the Texas economy collapsed, and churches, organizations and individuals did not meet their pledges. As BGCT funds fell short, the Catch-Up Campaign began in 1922 to collect the money pledged. This was vital for Texas Baptists, because state institutions began expansion programs and made financial commitments based on pledged funds. When the money did not materialize, debt threatened to overwhelm Texas Baptist institutions.
___The Catch-Up Campaign collected more than $4 million, an astounding accomplishment in a time of economic recession. Even though Texas Baptists reached deep to redeem their pledges, the only group that met its pledge was Texas Woman's Missionary Union. All others fell short. Eventually, Texas Baptists gave a total of more than $8.7 million, a bit more than half of what they pledged.
___Although the Seventy-Five Million Campaign saddled the state with debt, the effort to raise funds for all Baptist causes benefited Texas Baptists. More money was raised for foreign, home and state missions in this five-year period than at any other time in Baptist history, historian Leon McBeth asserts.
___A spiritual renewal took place, and young people responded in large numbers to God's call to Christian service. Denominational commitment deepened as Texas Baptists worked for the good of all Baptists, and a stewardship consciousness grew that brought a complete restructuring of how Texas Baptists did business.
___God produced great Texas Baptists leaders during the '20s.
___Mrs. A.F. Beddoe, Mrs. B.A. Copass and Mrs. F.S. Davis led Texas Baptist women

IN 1929, Baylor Medical Center developed an insurance program that later became known as Blue Cross. (Photo: Texas Baptist Historical Society)

to contribute millions of dollars, time and effort to Baptist causes, especially missions, around the world. Through goodwill centers, cottage prayer meetings, neighborhood Bible clubs, homemaker clubs, Americanization clubs, visitation of prisoners, day nurseries, sewing for the poor and many other activities, Texas Baptist women expanded the kingdom of God during this decade.
___BGCT leadership rested in the capable hands of corresponding secretaries Frank Shelby Groner and Thomas Luther Holcomb. Groner served wisely and well until 1928, when he became president of Mary Hardin-Baylor College. Working hard to make the state financially solvent and responsible, he led Texas Baptists to expand mission efforts and help struggling churches meet their commitments. Holcomb served one year before becoming pastor of First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, but during those months, he placed the financial feet of Texas Baptists firmly on the road to financial responsibility and good stewardship.
___Texas Baptists in the '20s experienced "the most severe controversy to that time"--the agitation of J. Frank Norris, pastor of First Baptist Church in Fort Worth, according to McBeth. Norris' story intertwines with that of a great Texas Baptist, George W. Truett, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas for 46 years. Competing on many levels, Truett and Norris locked horns over multiple issues, but while Truett became a respected Baptist statesman, Norris was excluded from Texas Baptist life and formed a competing body, the Baptist Bible Union.
___During the 1920s, Norris employed his pulpit, radio station and newspaper, The Searchlight, to attack the fiscal integrity of state leaders, to hinder the Seventy-Five Million Campaign and to challenge the Christian educational commitment of the administrations and faculties of Baylor University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Leading his church into frays at the associational and state levels, Norris created havoc in the BGCT. In 1923, shortly after Norris formed the Baptist Bible Union for fundamentalist Baptists, the BGCT excluded First Baptist Church in Fort Worth from the state convention. In 1924, messengers to the BGCT voted to exclude Norris permanently. By the end of the decade, Norris was effectively partitioned off from state Baptist life, but he remained, as Barry Hankins writes, "one of the most controversial figures in the history of Christianity in America," and certainly in the life of Texas Baptists.
___The BGCT program expanded during the '20s. At the state level, several departments were added, including the publicity department, the department of evangelism, a budget control committee, the Education Commission and a full-time Baptist student secretary. This growth indicated the expanding concerns of Baptists. Colleges increased their enrollments, Baptists moved throughout the state and established new churches, churches became concerned about more effective evangelism in their communities. All these and many more factors necessitated the expansion of the state administration.
___Texas Baptists put forth a major effort in this decade to establish fiscally responsible policies and practices, so that the fiasco of the Seventy-Five Million Campaign-generated debt never would be repeated.
___State leaders encouraged churches to restructure their giving. Before this decade, churches took two major offerings, one in the fall and one in the spring. The amount given depended on the crops and other physical factors. Between offerings, the BGCT borrowed money to keep programs and institutions going, accruing a huge debt. Local churches and state institutions were encouraged to plan annual budgets and stay within budget constraints. The BGCT provided financial planning to churches and institutions that requested it.
___Encouraged to tithe systematically and send funds to the state on a monthly basis, Texas Baptists began climbing out of debt.
___As the Great Depression approached, Texas Baptists coped with continuing economic recession, internal conflicts with people like Norris, and expanding membership and commitments. Local churches evangelized their communities, supported missions and took joy in being part of the work of the kingdom of God. Having come through terrible moments in the 1920s, Texas Baptists faced the future with confidence in God and hope for their non-Christian neighbors across the state.
___Rosalie Beck is associate professor of history at Baylor University
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