ABSTRACT
BAPTISTS, OLD REGULAR Old Regular Baptists (ORBs) descend from the Calvinist wing of the Reformation and are found today in the central, coal-mining region of the southern Appalachian Mountains, where they are the largest single religious denomination. Their close-knit communities are notable for having preserved “the old way of singing” (lined-out hymnody) prevalent in English-speaking North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and for their intoned extemporaneous
sermons and prayers. Their expressive culture includes life storytelling, singing, praying, preaching, and various sacred beliefs and customs, including handshaking and hugging (virtually a sacrament), foot washing (part of the Communion service), baptism, and the particularities of their liturgy.
