"I Don't Let Nobody Blow Smoke on My Blue Skies": A Study of the "SBC Controversy" in a Local Church (Southern Baptist Convention‪)‬

Local church history, often an exercise of congregational triumphalism or hagiography, can, nevertheless, be a serious endeavor that demonstrates how a congregation understood, contributed to, or was influenced by larger Baptist (and other) issues. In particular, the study of local churches can reveal important details about how the "Southern Baptist Controversy" was handled or experienced at the local church level. A case study of the "controversy" at Second-Ponce de Leon Baptist Church, Atlanta--an influential Georgia church with a proud Baptist legacy--reveals a church that tried to avoid political involvement through a passionate promotion of the lifeblood of Southern Baptist life--missions. As one prominent church member said, "I don't let nobody blow smoke on my blue skies." Ultimately, this approach was abandoned, and a new sense of denominational identity slowly emerged from the cloudy skies of conflict.