Baptist Young People's Union of Gaston County circuit photo

Collection — Map Case: 2.6, Folder: 4

Identifier: MS0216

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Panoramic photograph of people of all ages. Several different banners are held among the crowd: Gaston Co. Junior B.Y.P.U. Banner, Gaston Co. Intermediate B.Y.P.U. Banner, Associational Banner B.Y.P.U., and Gaston County Associational B.Y.P.U. Banner.

Dates

1925

Creator

Perzel, Edward Spaulding (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Baptist Young People's Union of Gaston County circuit photo is the physical property of J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections. Access unrestricted, copyright not held by J. Murrey Atkins Library.

Biographical / Historical

The Baptist Young People’s Union of America (BYPUA) was an organization designed to foster Christian growth and loyalty, and was a successor to the 1887 Loyalist Movement led by O. W. Van Osdel. The objectives of the BYPUA were six fold: unification of Baptist young people, increased spirituality, stimulation in Christian service, edification in Scripture knowledge, instruction in Baptist doctrine and history, and enlistment in missionary activity through existing denominational organization. Started as an ecumenical body, the Baptist Young People’s Union of America became an organization mainly of the Northern Baptist Convention by 1909. Other denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention continued to maintain their own Baptist Young People’s Union, but as a separate entity from the BYPUA. This Gaston County group was such an example. The SBC’s BYPU operated as an auxiliary to the Convention until an annual committee took over the agency’s work in 1909. By 1934 the movement had developed into a fully graded church training program and the Baptist Young People’s Union within became the Baptist Training Union.