I never, in all my life, thought that I would have a blog, must less post to it. Anyway, I'm a graduate student in American Religious History, and I am hoping that some of you out there in the untamed wilds of the Internet will hook me up with your opinions about the things that keep me up at night. They are peculiarly Baptist questions, but I am looking for input from other Christians, and non-Christians as well.

For starters, I have been wondering: what does it mean for a church to be a "free church?" If it just means that a church is free from government interference, then EVERY church in the United States, and other places as well, would be free churches. Perhaps being a "free church" means that a church is free from interference from an ecclesial body outside the local congregation. What do you think?