Disfellowshipping isn't new-the history of Southern Disfellowshipping

dawg

Ok, so I'm doing research on my family.. we've been in this country since 1650, and like Lt. Dan on Forrest Gump, I have had someone from my family fight and die in every US war.

So my family came to Georgia in 1789, they were given a land grant for their services in the Revolutionary War and settled here near UGA/Athens. When they came to the area known as "Goose pond" there was only one church that was established.... it was called "Millstone Creek" Baptist. While searching through their records yesterday I found that they had kept records of disfellowshipping... hell yea, they'd throw your ass out if you did something wrong.

I had to find out if anyone in my family was thrown out, so I read almost every record of disfellowshippment they had... and there were quite a few and they were funny as hell!

One man had been caught several times screwing around on his wife, caught red handed too... his excuse, "well, the lady in question is very nice looking and I just couldn't help it"....LOL! He wasn't thrown out for that, he was eventually thrown out because he got caught having sex with her like three times after that... they'd thrown people out for far less, so the men who were judging must have either agreed that the lady was in fact too hot not to have sex with, or they had in fact had sex with her themselves.

OK, so there was a Huff that was disfellowshipped, he was my GGGG_uncle, and his name was George Washington, a moniker that many in my family share to this day... he was caught "dancing and drinking" spirits... he told the tribunal, "I do no regret doing either" and was thrown from the ranks of the Church... My GGGGG-Grandmother, named Martin, she left the church just a year after that and joined up with the Methodists... I believe it was for two reasons, she lost the family farm after the Civil War, and she was pissed because of the church disfellowshipping George. LOL!

What do you guys think? Why did this church/and the southern Baptist stop shunning?

SirNose586

Maybe they threw out the wrong guy and they caught hell for it!

Dawg, do the records indicate the degree of shunning practiced? Was it more like, "You can't come to this church anymore," or was it more along the lines of JW-style shunning?

DanTheMan

Ha, great stories dawg. I come from a long line of German Catholics, don't know if there were ever any excommunications.

I don't know how or why or when southern protestants stopped kicking people out of church for sins of varying sorts, I imagine that since individual protestant churches are much more autonomous than JW congregations are, that it was probably a gradual, un-deliberate process.

dawg

That's a good question sir nose???? I don't know, it just says they were expelled from the congregation.

Dan, I know some Catholic families that shun... but not like the JWs do

Octarine Prince

Mmmm.

No corresponding reinstatement records, huh?

I am curious as to how much time they took to "let them back into the fold."

dawg

I don't think my family went back, they joined the Methodists. But, then later, my grandmother brought this deplorable religion called the JW's into the family.

dawg

Slavery is a very interesting subject in this area... my family was abolitionists and freed their slaves before the war... but several slaves were disfellowshipped from the church.. adultery and dancing were the worst offenses.

jaguarbass

What do you guys think? Why did this church/and the southern Baptist stop shunning?

I'm thiniking so the JW's could say they are the only true church that follows the bible?

You cant have 2 the only true churches can you?

dinah

If Southern churches still disfellowshipped people, there would be no money in their collection plate. Also, you'd be hard pressed not to find some serious sinning going on in your local church.

Junction-Guy

I am not sure about southern churches, but mountain churches still do, I don't know how frequently, but they still do, and it is only for biblical offenses such as adultery, murder, or whatever, and only then are they shunned, and even at that they can still socialize with their family members.

JW style shunning wouldn't happen in mountain churches unless the disfellowshipped person interrupted services or something. People are free to change religions and not be shunned by their family.

Baptists are a fierce independant lot and don't take kindly to people telling them who to speak to.

Disfellowshipping isn't new-the history of Southern Disfellowshipping

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