Podcast Episode 19
Jonathan Edwards Gets Fired
with Dr. Matthew Everhard & host Nick Walters
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Episode 19 of This Week in Christian History continues our mission to bring listeners into the stories, people, places, and moments that have shaped the global Christian movement. Each weekly episode features an interview with Nick Walters, founder of the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College, a Deep Dive conversation with a subject-matter expert, and two historical highlights drawn from this same week across Christian history. The goal of the program is to connect modern listeners with the rich past of the church and to make these stories accessible for pastors, teachers, students, and anyone interested in the history of the Christian faith.
This week’s Deep Dive focuses on one of the most dramatic moments in early American religious life: the dismissal of Jonathan Edwards from his longtime pastorate in Northampton. Our expert guest, Dr. Matthew Everhard, joins the program to help listeners explore the background, theological tensions, and lasting significance of Edwards’s removal. Dr. Everhard is a noted scholar of Edwards and an active pastor whose work includes preaching, writing, and scholarship on the Reformed tradition. Those interested in learning more about his ministry and his work on Jonathan Edwards can visit his website at mattheweverhard.com.
The episode also features two historical highlights from this week. On June 18, 1781, Severns Valley Baptist Church was founded in what is now Elizabethtown, Kentucky. This congregation became the oldest Baptist church in Kentucky and the oldest evangelical church west of the Alleghenies. Although the original town of Severns Valley no longer exists, the church continues to thrive and is approaching its 250th year of ministry, providing a remarkable example of the longevity of frontier-era congregations.
The second highlight recalls June 21, 1579, when Sir Francis Drake held one of the earliest documented Protestant worship services on future United States soil. During his circumnavigation of the globe, Drake landed on the coast of present-day California and read from the Book of Common Prayer while Native Americans looked on. While this reading was an expression of English Protestant worship, those present from the local tribes may have interpreted the ceremony according to their own cultural and religious frameworks. This event stands as one of the earliest intersections of European Christianity with the peoples of the Pacific coast.
This Week in Christian History is produced by the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College. The program seeks to bring attention to defining moments in the life of the church, to spotlight expert scholarship, and to provide stories that inspire deeper understanding of Christian tradition. By connecting listeners with both well-known and lesser-known moments across the centuries, the show encourages reflection on how the past continues to shape today’s global Christian movement.
Listeners interested in additional materials, interviews, and resources can explore the Center for Christian History’s growing collection through its website and YouTube channel. Subscribing, sharing episodes, and engaging with the program helps expand the reach of these stories and supports the mission of making Christian history accessible and meaningful for a broad audience.
Image citation:
Jonathan Edwards, attributed to Joseph Badger, oil on canvas, c. 1740s. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution. Public domain.
