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And those sighs of relief are from those who are relatively well informed. It's not uncommon to meet folks who have never heard of a white Baptist being anything but a (caricatured) Southern Baptist "or worse".

The premise of Patterson's message had to do with not taking the conflict of the church before unbelievers. During the resurgence, I don't really recall ever seeing Patterson involved in a television interview. There was a "debate" on the subject televised on a Sunday night that was simulcast on stations in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, involving some Texas pastors. Lester Collins, of Tallowood in Houston, was one of the moderate representatives, I don't recall the others, Vestal, perhaps, maybe Cecil Sherman. The conservatives included John Bisagno, W.A. Criswell, and I think maybe Ed Young. Patterson wasn't involved. Nor did he make an appearance in Bill Moyer's documentary on the subject. Pressler did, though not to comment on his involvement in the SBC, and cut the interview off when that line of questioning developed.

Patterson always insisted, though the whole controversy, that if Southern Baptists in the pew had the opportunity to know what their leaders were preaching and teaching when it came to the issue of Biblical authority, they would reject that view. He most definitely used the denominational press to attempt to get that message out, and when he discovered that was going to be a difficult process, he utilized the rapidly developing independent media. I don't ever recall seeing him on television, and I lived in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area for several years while that was going on, or even directly quoted in the secular media, and I don't think he believed that was a viable means of getting the message to the people in the pew.

April 87; first time I laid eyes on him. I got to a microphone and asked him a question; forgot what it was. He was crafty. Neal Rodgers cooked his goose early with the Laity Journal photo of that invitation to all of Criswell's Bircher friends event, some right wing group in Dallas in 88. Pressler was livid as he often was.

That at core was what Patterson was about the Advancement of the John Birch Society. His "Biblical" Convictions were a tool.

Notice he never called James Deloach down, even when Jim was ready to usher in Armageddon with the blood of a Red Heifer while Ass Pastor of Ed Young at 2nd Houston. That was after Deloach led the push to oust Randall Lolley at SEBTS.

In the Name of Christ? In their Minds only.........

Patterson was on the 7th and Ken Chafin on the 9th. Chafin Said: "A Bible in the Hands of a Believer who will not submit it to rational means of Investigation is a Dangerous Thing, and has often been used to Buttress Up Injustice"

See the new Book Dallas, 1963; see Pressler at Work with Jesse Helms on the side of Roberto Daubuisson in El Salvador.. See Criswell 56 in Columbia South Carolina, and today see Franklin Graham with Judge Roy Moore in Alabama and his cousin Tully discipling Tea Partiers to diss Jesse Jackson at Furman University!

Almost every state in the South has a state Baptist newspaper. Does Patterson allow people to talk to those reporters? If not, there isn't much need for those papers. BTW, our Virginia Baptist paper The Religious Herald, after being published for over 100 years, is merging with Associated Baptist Press on January 1, 2014. Instead of 48 issues per year, I will get 6 issues per year. I am paid up well into next year. Is that fair?

Several denominational papers have websites and alerts that go out to subscribers that arrive in a timely way. Baptists Today no longer seeks to report much news. It concentrates, thankfully, on in-depth analysis and stories that will not otherwise be covered.

Chris is right about the risk of crippling attacks on our electronic media and electronic finances. If and when that "Big One" hits the lack of Baptist newspapers will be among the least of our worries, even for those of us who now spend much time with them.