Father Mercer: The Story of a Baptist Statesman (James N. Griffith Series in Baptist Studies)

## Son of Silas A person who had never met Jesse Mercer would have little trouble locating him in a crowded room. He was slightly above average in height, standing just over six feet tall, a bit round in the waist ("moderately corpulent," as his biographer noted), and he had a receding hairline that revealed an exceedingly round yet somewhat pointed head. If further confirmation were necessary, one only needed to observe who was receiving the lion's share of attention. Better yet, if this were a gathering of Baptists it was a virtual certainty that Jesse Mercer would be the moderator or the main speaker. Upon his departure one would also notice that he left riding in one of the most comfortable horse-drawn carriages money could buy. He was called "Father Mercer" by people who had no love for the priesthood, and a university was named after him when a college education for Baptist ministers was the exception, not the rule. To be sure, there were people who thought little of Jesse Mercer. He made enemies in both politics and religion-once by publicly comparing a Georgia governor to Rehoboam (King Solomon's defiant son) and by openly calling Primitive Baptists the "anti-effort party" who specialized in "do-nothing" doctrine. His detractors did not call him Father Mercer, but "the Old Man." and they claimed any endeavor he supported was not worth supporting. By his own estimation he was inadequate as a pastor, frustrated as an editor, and only sometimes successful in bringing people to see things his way. But there is no doubt he was immensely influential. Mercer University (now with two locations in Atlanta and Macon), the Part 1. Mercer's Life: Son Of Silas; Father Mercer; The Old Man -- Part 2. Mercer's Writings: Letter To A Friend; Prefatory Notice For The Doctrine Of Particular Election: Stated And Defended In Two Sermons By The Rev. John Sladen; Ministerial Education: The Plan; Dear Brother Shuck; Handwritten Prayer; Dear Brother Butterfly; Reply To H-- No. 2; An Elevated Standard Of Christian Morality; Prerequisites To Ordination; Letter Vi: Addressed To The Rev. Cyrus White; To The Georgia Association -- Appendix: Timeline Of Jesse Mercer's Life. Anthony L. Chute. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Father Mercer tells the story of the life and labors of Jesse Mercer, a leader in Georgia Baptist life during the first half of the twentieth century. Yet, rather than telling the story of a larger-than-life pastor with whom few "ordinary" pastors can identify, the books reveals how one who is faithful in small things can, over time, bear much fruit for the Lord.