Carson-Newman’s Smith named editor of Baptist history series

Carson-Newman University’s Dr. Andrew Smith has been named series editor of the “America’s Baptists” monograph series. Published by the University of Tennessee Press, the series explores the denomination’s history and sometimes complex intricacies.

Smith, who serves as C-N professor of history of Christianity, has his own history with the series. It began with meeting the late Dr. Keith Harper of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary many years ago recalls Smith.

“A mutual friend introduced us, and we hit it off immediately,” he said. “It was only later that I figured out that Dr. Harper hit it off with everyone involved in Baptist history immediately, and that he had a far-flung network of scholars constantly talking about the questions that were being raised in our little corner of the world of church history.”

Earning his master’s and doctoral degrees from Vanderbilt University in 2008 and 2011 respectively, Smith joined C-N’s faculty in, what is now, the School of Biblical and Theological Studies. It wasn’t long before Smith and Harper reconnected once again, this time over Smith’s book, “Fundamentalism, Fundraising, and the Transformation of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1919-1925,” which the young C-N professor was interested in publishing.

Harper sold Smith on the idea of the “America’s Baptists” series as well as UT Press. The result was Smith’s work becoming the inaugural book in the new series.

“After getting published myself, I stayed as close to the project as I could, reading manuscripts and writing reviews of the books as they appeared,” Smith noted.

Fast forward to July 2024, when Smith received a call from Harper who shared that due to his failing health, he had offered Smith’s name to succeed him as editor of the series.
It was a role Smith graciously accepted.

Now overseeing the series, Smith has a specific vision for the project and the network of scholars looking toward the future.

“My goal now is to serve that network by helping Baptist historians find the press as an outlet for their scholarship,” Smith said, “and to help the wider Baptist academy by providing it with a steady stream of high-quality, thought-provoking monographs.”

The thought of reviewing the work and ideas of others is a responsibility that Smith doesn’t take lightly.

“It’s like holding someone else’s newborn baby,” he explained. “They’ve been gestating and struggling for months, and now this new person is born into the world. If you are holding that baby, you’ve got to be careful. Support that child’s head. Don’t drop her,” he said. “And that’s exactly what it feels like to read someone’s manuscript and make a respectful, helpful determination about whether and how to publish it.”