| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Baptist State Convention of North Carolina |
| Language | English |
| Circulation | 57,000 |
The Biblical Recorder is a weekly newspaper published by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC).
Contents |
The newspaper was founded in 1835 by Thomas Meredith, a prominent Southern Baptist leader in North Carolina. Apart from providing news, Meredith used the paper as a vehicle for clear and principled editorials on issues of the day such as slavery, which he strongly opposed, "Campbellism", which threatened to cause a split in the Baptist movement, temperance, and the troubled relationship with the Triennial Convention.[1] At that time, many Baptist preachers had limited formal education. Religious periodicals such as the Recorder were of great importance to pastors in furthering their theological education and staying connected to other Baptists. Meredith often published multi-issue expositions of key doctrines or defenses of traditional evangelical theological convictions, always providing a rigorously orthodox view.[2]
First published in Edenton, the paper was moved to New Bern in 1934 and to Raleigh in 1938, where it is still based. After the move to Raleigh the paper was merged with the Southern Watchman of Charleston, South Carolina, and until 1842 was named The Recorder and Watchman. Meredith continued as editor until his death in 1851. The paper then went through various changes of ownership, at some times suspended for lack of funds.[3] C.T. Bailey, who edited the Recorder in the late 1800s, died in 1895 and was succeeded by his son Josiah Bailey, aged 22. Josiah Bailey used the paper to promote the development of public education based on state aid for primary and secondary education, a change from earlier policy which had advocated parochial schools. Bailey also championed the temperance movement. After leaving the paper he had a successful career as a lawyer and a Senator.[4]
The Biblical Recorder was purchased by Baptist State Convention of North Carolina in 1930.[5] R.G. Puckett, editor of the Recorder since 1982, former president of the Southern Baptist Press Association and former board chairman of Associated Baptist Press, retired at the end of December 1998. When announcing his retirement, Puckett said the 57,000-circulation Recorder "has been on the cutting edge of issues, unafraid to take a stand -- however controversial -- and to provide an open forum for the exchange of Baptist perceptions and views on church, denominational life and trends in society".[6]
In February 2006, Editor-President Tony Cartledge announced that the Recorder would choose some of its own directors in a move to preserve its journalistic freedom, invoking an obscure clause of its charter. This was considered likely to cause loss of some funding from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. The move was in response to fears that the Convention was stacking the board with "agenda-bearing conservatives".[7] Cartledge did not follow through this move as this action as the provision in the BSCNC allowing this move also included a loss of a portion of that year's funding from the BSCNC. Cartledge retired as editor in 2007 and now teaches at the Campbell University Divinity School. The format and delivery system that makes the Recorder available to Baptists has changed over time. The bi-weekly print version that is distributed throughout North Carolina, and in 48 states and 39 foreign countries, hovers around 25,000 copies, but thousands more read the Recorder online.[8]