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Page One<br /><br />
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Introduction<br /><br />
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In May 201815 the POWELTON Baptist Society for foreign missions was formed with Jesse Mercer as it's president. Today. Powelton, Georgia is a village no miles south of interstate 20 leading from Atlanta to Augusta. In 1815 it was larger than either city. The stated purpose of the society was, "to evangelize the heathen in other lands." At the conclusion of the meeting establishing the society, Jesse, Mercer, William, Rayburn, and others, all slaveholders, prayed earnestly for it success. This story has to do with an oblique answer to their prayer; long time passing. Like an echo that ricochet is through Groves and mountain peaks and returns an octave higher than what was uttered. <br /><br />
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In May 1845 another meeting was held in Georgia, this time in Augusta, also having to do with missions. John L Dag, Mercer's third president, met with 325 other delegates and organized the southern Baptist convention. Although it is well known that the real issue with slavery, the stated reason was a difference in methods of mission. The existing national Baptist body, called the triennial convention, had refused to approve James E Reeve, a slaveholder, as a missionary. 118 years later, Sam Oni, an African convert, was admitted to Mercer university, the first black issue of the southern Baptist missionary enterprise to be enrolled.

First page of the manuscript for The Stem of Jesse.

Cover of the book The Stem of Jesse: The Costs of Community at a 1960s Southern School.

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