"This is more than just a congregational history--although it is a masterful exemplar of that. It is a story situated in both a particular place and in a larger culture and time. Gardner pays needed attention to a sometimes invisible corner of Baptist life--the world of southern white progressive Christians. And he does so with a critical and caring eye on a real place where real people live out their faith."--Nancy T. Ammerman, author of Baptist Battles: Social Change and Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention "If Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church sought to reform and reimagine the 'southern part of heaven' that was Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Gardner himself rectifies as well as reconceives congregational history, rescuing it from the parochialism and hagiography that have so often informed the genre's reputation. While indeed the tale of a particular church, with its own peculiar personalities and in-house happenings, Binkley also discloses the courage and resilience as well as the failures and misgivings of Southern liberal Christianity.

" --Elizabeth Flowers, associate professor of religion, Baylor University "Surprise! We've been duped to think all Baptists are conservative and reactionary, but not all Baptists are the same. Historian Andrew Gardner reveals how progressive white churches like Binkley Memorial Baptist Church embody a Southern, congregationally based liberalism consistently opposing exclusion and hate. Their ecclesial stance on controversies over race and gender from the past century remains a cornerstone of ministry. Read this book to discover a neglected yet sorely needed history of a white liberal Baptist church persistently striving for a more just and inclusive Christianity." --Gerardo Martí, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Sociology at Davidson College "Andrew Gardner's rich and evocative historical narrative of Binkley Memorial Baptist Church demonstrates the vitality and challenges of a church planted in southern evangelical soil but sown with the seeds of a progressive and justice-oriented vision of faith. Truly, a captivating and informative account that both clergy and scholars should savor.

" --Scott Thuma, professor of sociology of religion at Hartford International University and director of Hartford Institute for Religion Research.