It has been quite a while since I have posted anything to this blog. For a while I considered discontinuing it altogether; after all, I am no longer the pastor of a Baptist church, having recently become the pastor of a Disciples of Christ congregation. However, following the advice of some good Baptist friends, I have decided not to give up thinking out loud about what it means to be Baptist. I now just happen to be doing that thinking from the perspective of an exile. On top of that, I getting ready to begin a Master's degree in History at East Carolina University working on the early English Baptists and their relationship to the English Separatist movement. I have always been encouraged by the way these early dissenters were willing to put everything on the line for the freedom to worship according to their conscience. They understood what it was like to be an outsider in the midst of an oppressive religious environment. In a lot of ways, that is where many Moderate Baptists are today. I am looking forward to this endeavor and to learning and writing about my heirs in the faith.

Looking In from the Outside

I am no longer the pastor of a Baptist church, and so I have struggled with whether or not to continue this blog. But, I have decided that simply because I now pastor a church of a different denomination, that should not preclude me from thinking out loud about my Baptist heritage. In one sense, I will always be Baptist to a certain degree. I will say that these last four months in Disciples of Christ congregation has helped me reflect on all of the things I loved about being Baptist. It is sad that I have had to go somewhere else to do that. The Disciples, though, cherish all the things that Baptists have traditionally stood for. There is a freedom and respect for people who have different opinions about what I would consider non-essentials. At the same time, there is a commitment to following Jesus in its entirety. Not only are we concerned about a person having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we are also concerned with the physical needs of people. So, I will continue this blog, and occasionally "think out loud" about what it means to be Baptist. One of the questions that many of us have tried to answer is can we remain Baptist if we have to go to a different denominational tradition in order to really stay Baptist. I think the answer is yes.

Thinking for Ourself

I went to the high school graduation tonight for the school where my children are in elementary school. I am still trying to figure the school out. It was born in the early 70s as an alternative to integrated schools. It is now segregated, but the public schools in our county are in such disarray that it is really the only option for many people. I have been impressed though by many of the high school students I have met there. Tonight, the valedictorian gave a wonderful speech about the importance of taking risks, stepping outside the box, and questioning everything. I thought that was a wise thing to say to a group of students, many of whom will soon be stepping into contexts in which much of what they have been taught in small-town Eastern NC will be questioned and ridiculed. It is important for young people to begin to think for themselves, and to question the things they have been taught. The same could be said for Christians. In the Baptist tradition in which I was raised and now serve as a pastor, that sort of thing used to be celebrated, but no longer. The Southern Baptist seminaries used to be some of the greatest theological schools in the world; now they are indoctrination centers, where students are force-fed information, and then criticized for thinking differently from the party line. God speaks through many different methods and people. Tonight he spoke to me through an 18 year old high school senior. I don't know what her religious affiliation is; she talked about God, so in this part of the world, my guess would be she is a Protestant Christian of some sort. Regardless of her denominational tradition though, she spoke words that Baptists should listen to. Don't accept something as true just because your pastor says it; read and study scripture, listen to the Holy Spirit and make decisions about what you believe. One of the great Baptist distinctives is soul freedom, which Walter Shurden describes as the historic Baptist affirmation of the inalienable right and responsibility of every person to deal with God without the imposition of creed, the interference of clergy, or the intervention of civil government. I sure hope this young lady who spoke so eloquently to me this evening is a Baptist; if so, it shows me there is still hope for us.

Who Are we as a Church

I recently read a blog article by someone who used to be affiliated with the church I currently serve in which this person referred to us as a congregation with a liberal bent. I must admit I was a little surprised by this. And then I started to think about this word liberal. What does it mean? So, I looked up some definitions of liberal. Here's what I found. Liberal means not limited to or by established, traditional, or authoritarian attitudes, views, or dogmas; free from bigotry; and it means open to new ideas and tolerant of the ideas and views of others. The more I thought about this, I concluded that maybe we are liberal, but is that really a bad thing? Is it bad to be open to new ways of doing things? Is it wrong to admit that as human beings we don't have all the answers, and therefore to recognize that others might be right about things in which we have some disagreement?

The real problem then has to do with how one views this word liberal. Now I know what the person who referred to us as liberal meant. There are some Christians who want to apply litmus tests in order to determine who is and who isn't a real Christian. Very often, these litmus tests include things that other Christians would consider non-essentials. For instance, the debate over women in ministry has gone from a difference over Biblical interpretation to the question of whether or not one believes the Bible. The same could be said for the insistence on the part of many in the Southern Baptist Convention that we all use their word inerrancy to describe how we view the truth of the Bible. That has never been the Baptist way of talking about scripture. Why can't we just way we believe the Bible and leave it at that? The real issue here has to with a lack of understanding of what Baptists believe and who Baptists are. Those of us who just want to live out our call to be the people of God in a traditional Baptist context are being maligned by those currently in power who think it is their job to think and make decisions for everyone else. Thank goodness though, that there are still some places that are committed to being Baptist - really Baptist, in a way that even sometimes gets called liberal.

Dishonesty and the Body of Christ

Over the last couple of months, there has been a lot in the press in North Carolina concerning the recent decision by the Baptist State Convention of NC to change the way it allows congregations to contribute to the state convention. Until this decision, churches could elect to have 10% of the money they sent to the state be forwarded to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. That is no longer allowable, and as a result, the BSCNC has forced churches to make some important decisions about their identity. Will they be CBF or will they be BSCNC/SBC? I guess there is nothing wrong with people choosing with whom they want to identify. And the reality is, the Southern Baptist Convention and the BSCNC are continuing to move further and further away from historic Baptist principles. Churches who are committed to what is has traditionally meant to be Baptist would eventually have to separate from the SBC. The problem though has to do with honesty. Over and over again, the BSCNC and the SBC has characterized CBF in ways that are just flat out dishonest. They have accused them of not believing the Bible and of being pro-gay. Neither of these assertions is true, but the leadership of the BSCNC and the SBC don't care about the truth. They are simply continuing a trend that has been going on for 30 years in the SBC. It is ok to cut corners with the truth if you believe the end justifies the means. And that is what has happened. One group of Baptists has decided they know the mind of God and they are going force the rest of us to accept their views, or by golly, they are going to make us look like a bunch of heretics. I cannot imagine that this sort of thing pleases God. God told us to love other people. I am still trying to figure out how dishonesty plays a part in obeying that command.

Looking for a Home

As Baptist congregations deal with questions about identity, one of the most important issues they have to deal with is finding like minded people with whom to associate and cooperate with in the fulfillment of the Great Commission. First Baptist Scotland Neck is in the process of doing just that. Our deacons just recently unanimously agreed to support members of our church going to a North Carolina CBF Fellowship on the Move at Edenton Baptist Church next month. This will be an opportunity for members of our congregation to meet Baptists who have already begun and moved along the journey that we are currently just beginning. Baptists in North Carolina who have affiliated with CBF in some way are not anti-Southern Baptist. Rather, they have come to the realization that the SBC is no longer what it used to be. In other words, we have no desire to leave the SBC, but the SBC has decided to leave behind what it has traditionally meant to be Southern Baptist. So, we at FBC are searching for a home, we are looking for a place where we can, with honesty and integrity, live out who we believe God is calling us to be.

Being Baptist

I am constantly thinking about identity as it relates to being a Baptist. Just recently, the church I serve as pastor, First Baptist, Scotland Neck, NC made an important decision about its identity. We decided to officially align ourselves with the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) rather than the 2000 version. The two versions are more similar than different; but there are some major differences. The issue for our congregation had to do mainly with women in the life of the church. The 2000 BFM states that the office of pastor should be reserved for men. Implicit in the 2000 version and in Southern Baptist life in general is the belief that women should not hold leadership positions in local congregations. While there has always been diversity within SBC congregations, there has never been such a push on the part of the hierarchy to tell local congregations what they can and cannot do as it relates to women leaders. First Baptist, Scotland Neck has women deacons and recently ordained their first woman to the Gospel ministry (she is currently a staff member). We believe strongly in congregational autonomy and therefore cannot support a document that seeks to usurp that autonomy. I wish I could say that the SBC's attempt to control local congregations was going to end with this issue, but I doubt that is the case. I fear that they will continue to try to dictate to local congregations what they can and cannot do in all areas of church life. That is not however what Baptists have traditionally done.