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Christian Denominations and Sects

Selected Works

2008

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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Revivalism In The Baptist Bible Fellowship, 1959‐60: A Burkean Analysis, Gregory A. Smith Jan 2008

Revivalism In The Baptist Bible Fellowship, 1959‐60: A Burkean Analysis, Gregory A. Smith

Gregory A. Smith

By 1960, the 1,100 churches of the Baptist Bible Fellowship (BBF) claimed a cumulative membership of 1,000,000--an impressive number given that the movement had begun with 120 churches in 1950. The Baptist Bible Tribune provides the most extensive documentation of the BBF's early history. The 1959-60 volume of the Tribune contains numerous references to revivals. Analysis of these references via Kenneth Burke's dramatistic pentad demonstrates the centrality of revivalism to the life of the BBF in its early years. Members of the BBF’s first generation viewed revival meetings as (one of) the foremost means of building a fellowship of churches …