Writing | Caleb Morell

Books

Major projects

Crossway, 2025

A Light on the Hill

The Surprising Story of How a Local Church in the Nation's Capital Influenced Evangelicalism

Winner of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's For The Church Book Award for 2025 and selected by Tim Challies as a Top Ten Book for 2025.

Crossway, forthcoming 2027

Baptist Polity

A Sourcebook of Biblical Arguments on How to Conduct Church Life

Edited by Caleb Morell and Mark Dever.

Selected articles

Church History & Baptist Life

Essays on local churches, Baptist history, Sunday schools, archives, revival, and congregational memory.

How Capitol Hill Baptist Church's First Pastor Changed His Mind on Slavery and Became an Abolitionist The Gospel Coalition, April 23, 2025
More than Childcare: The Forgotten Role of Sunday Schools in Church Planting Baptist Press, April 1, 2025
The Story of John Smyth: How Congregationalist Polity Led to Believer's Baptism The London Lyceum, March 22, 2024
7 Simple Steps to Preserve Your Local Church's History The Gospel Coalition, August 30, 2022
Revival Comes to Washington: An Analysis of the 1876 Revival in the Nation's Capital 9Marks, June 14, 2022

Selected articles

Baptist Polity & Congregational Life

Writing on church discipline, elder authority, associations, baptism, polity, and ordinary local church faithfulness.

Should the Threat of Lawsuits Keep You from Practicing Church Discipline? 9Marks, May 15, 2025
The Power And Duty of An Association: Have Baptist Associations Historically Disfellowshipped Disorderly Churches? Christ Over All, March 25, 2024
Do Elders Receive Their Authority by Congregational Vote? 9Marks, August 19, 2022
Too Young to Dunk? An Examination of Baptists and Baptismal Ages, 1700-1840 9Marks, June 21, 2021
Do Churches Really Discipline for Non-Attendance? A Brief History of Four Baptist Churches 9Marks, January 21, 2022

Selected articles

Public Theology & Evangelical Thought

Work on evangelical public witness, political theology, religious liberty, and Christian social thought.

The Myth of Neutrality: Carl F.H. Henry's Case for Prayer in Public School Christ Over All, November 14, 2025
How MLK's Letter from a Birmingham Jail Changed a White Moderate's Heart Christianity Today, April 16, 2025
The Pastor Who Almost Became President American Reformer, March 26, 2025
Carl F.H. Henry and Communism: The Failure of Liberal Protestantism and the Opportunity for Evangelical Public Theology Providence, October 11, 2022
Revangelicalism First Things, August 1, 2022

Selected articles

Pastoral Ministry & The Local Church

Pastoral pieces on preaching, membership, prayer, leadership, church size, and ministry through crisis.

How a Local Church Preserves the Gospel 9Marks, April 1, 2025
When Did Multiple Services Begin? 9Marks, December 20, 2023
Nine Ways I've Seen Mark Dever Disciple Men and Raise Up Leaders For The Church, June 9, 2023
Lessons on Church Size from the Westminster Assembly 9Marks, November 6, 2020
What Did DC Churches Do When the Spanish Flu Struck Again? 9Marks, May 11, 2020

Selected articles

Academic Publications & Reviews

Academic articles, essays, and reviews in historical theology, political thought, and Baptist studies.

Carl F. H. Henry's Anti-Communist Worldview: Insights From Unpublished Notes, 1962-1964 Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, June 2023
Making the World Home-Like: Fighting the Sexual Double Standard in the Nineteenth Century and Today Fairer Disputations, October 13, 2023
Francis Grimke: A Model for Christian Social Engagement The Gospel Coalition, May 1, 2025
Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation Themelios, December 2023