An Investigation of Public Address As Taught by the Baptist Training Union of the Southern Baptist Convention
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1958 An Investigation of Public Address as Taught by the Baptist Training Union of the Southern Baptist Convention. Thomas Lee Tedford Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Tedford, Thomas Lee, "An Investigation of Public Address as Taught by the Baptist Training Union of the Southern Baptist Convention." (1958). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 474. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/474 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN INVESTIGATION OF PUBLIC ADDRESS AS TAUGHT BY THE BAPTIST TRAINING UNION OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Speech by Thomas Lee Tedford B.A., Ouachita College, 1951 M.A., Louisiana State University, 1953 May, 1958 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The writer would like to express his sincere ap preciation to Professor Waldo W. Braden of the Depart ment of Speech, Louisiana State University, for his assistance and encouragement throughout this study. The writer wishes to thank Miss Helen Conger, Librarian of the Dargan-Carver Library, Nashville, for her cooperation in making available many primary materials Also, the writer wishes to thank Dr. J. E. Lambdin, Sec retary of the Baptist Training Union, and his staff for their assistance. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION . ....................................... 1 I. BAPTIST HISTORY, BAPTIST DOCTRINE, AND THE TEACHING OF PUBLIC ADDRESS ............... 10 Baptist History ................................. 10 Baptist Doctrine .................. ............ 23 II. TRAINING UNION BEGINNINGS AND THE PERIOD OF L. P. LEAVELL: 1894-1925 ...................... 34 The Beginnings of the Union . 36 The Period of L. P. L e a v e l l .................... 45 The Young People’s U n i o n ................ 45 The Junior Union ................. 78 The Intermediate Union . ......... ..... 89 III. THE PERIOD OF J. E. LAMBDIN: 1926-1957 92 Public Address in the Training Union Departments 94 The Young People’s U n i o n ..................... 94 The Junior Union ................. ...... 113 The Intermediate Union ........................ 124 The Adult U n i o n ............................ 133 Public Address Theory and the Training Union M a g a z i n e ....................................... 160 Special Activities for Training in Public A d d r e s s .......................................... 188 Visual Education and the Teaching of Public A d d r e s s ............... 195 iii CHAPTER PAGE IV. THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST SPEAKERS’ TOURNAMENT .... 199 The Development of Tournament Rules and Procedures: 1935-1957 200 The Speakers’ Tournament of 1957 ....... 215 The State E l i m i n a t i o n s ................. 218 The Southwide Finals ........................ 236 V. SUMMARY AND EVALUATION .......................... 247 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................ 258 APPENDIX A .............................................. 268 APPENDIX B .............................................. 271 AUTOBIOGRAPHY ............................................ 279 ABSTRACT The purpose of this investigation is to determine (1) the extent to which the principles and practice of public address are taught by the Baptist Training Union of the Southern Baptist Convention, and (2) the nature of the instruction in public address. The study considers the teaching of speaking to Baptist laymen of the ages of nine through adulthood. It attempts to ascertain why Baptists feel that learning to speak is important, to whom speech instruction is given, to what extent the principles of public address are taught, in what manner speech principles are communicated, to what degree speech practice is provided, and by what method speaking is taught. The sources of the study include Training Union publi cations, correspondence with writers and officials of the Union, interviews with writers and officials of the organi zation, questionnaires from the twenty-four states which con duct a Southern Baptist Speakers? Tournament, records of the Baptist Sunday School Board, and the production script for an educational film sponsored by the Union. The Training Union published in its various periodicals numerous articles which dealt with speechmaking, some on discussion, and a few on public debate and parliamentary law. v It does not have, however, an organized plan for regularly presenting the principles of public address, as is evidenced by the fact that there have been no significant articles on speechmaking since 1951> and none on discussion since 1953. The Union has no study text which deals solely with the principles and practice of public address. However, it does have one text for adults which includes a chapter on speech- making, and some texts for juniors, intermediates, and young people briefly discuss the importance of learning to speak, how to prepare a talk, and parliamentary law. The main method whereby speech practice is provided is as follows. (l) Each member of a local union is assigned to one of two to four groups. (2) When a group is scheduled to conduct a weekly meeting each member is given a npart on the program” which usually consists of a short talk. (3) The individual who is to deliver a talk studies specified material from a Training Union periodical, especially the expository paragraphs which concern his subj'ect. He is encouraged to look beyond the periodical for additional information. (4) The speaker is to plan his speech carefully, then (5) deliver it extemporaneously before the union. In 1929 the leaders of the organization promoted problem-solving discussion as the method for conducting the weekly meeting of the newly constituted Adult Union. By 1935 vi they changed the meeting for adults into a symposium-forum because many Baptists were unable, because of poor educational background, or unwilling to plan effective problem-solving discussions. The Southern Baptist Speakers’ Tournament is a special training activity for Baptists of the ages of seventeen through twenty-four. Participants in this annual event pre pare an original six-minute speech based upon one of the several Baptist-centered subjects published annually by the Training Union, then take part in an elimination contest in the local church. The church winners go to an associational elimination, the associational winners to a state elimination, and the state winners to the Southwide finals. Because of the promotion it receives, plus the element of competition involved, the Southern Baptist Speakers’ Tournament probably produces the best speaking of any Union activity. The study seems to indicate that the Training Union has an effective* plan for training Baptist laymen to speak in the evangelistic, educational, and governmental activities of a Baptist congregation. INTRODUCTION The Constitution of the Southern Baptist Convention states: It is the purpose of the Convention to provide a general organization for Baptists in the United States and its territories for the promotion of Christian missions at home and abroad, and any other objects such as Christian education, benevo lent enterprises, and social services which it may deem proper and advisable for the furtherance of the kingdom of God. Baptists are careful to specify that the convention is only a denominational organization, not a comprehensively authoritative body, since they ”do not have . any eccle siastical organization covering a wide territory that can be 2 designated as ’The Baptist Church.’” To Baptists, a church is a ’’local, independent, self-governing organization,” while the term denomination ’’refers in a general sense to all mem bers of Baptist churches co-operating with the Southern 3 Baptist Convention.” Therefore, the convention is composed of Baptist congregations which voluntarily participate in Annual of the Southern Baptist Convention: 1956 (Nashville: The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1956), p. 22. 2 Austin Crouch, Bow Southern Baptists Do Their Work (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1951), p. 2. 3Ibid. 2 the promotion of missions, education, benevolent enterprises, and social services. The Baptist Training Union is one of the many educa tional organizations which Southern Baptists promote. Organized in 1895 as a Baptist Young PeopleTs Union,^ it has evolved from an inspirational prayer meeting for youth to a comprehensive educational project for all ages. No other Southern Baptist organization functions as the Training Union. Meeting each Sunday evening one hour before the worship service, its members are led by sponsors and officers to conduct the meeting themselves. This system of religious education is explained as follows: The basic method of the Training Union is described in the two words "individual participation." It seeks to lead all of its members to take part in all of its studies, all of its programs, and all of its activities. The things in which a Training Union member