The third task of the Intentional Interim (II) ministry is the exploration of denominational relationships to the congregation. In my case, I will be working almost exclusively with Baptist churches. This stage will be an opportunity to guide the church through what it means to be Baptist and will explain the fact that we as Baptists come from a theologically rich tradition of the Reformation.
As Baptists, we have done a poor job explaining the traditions and doctrines that form our distinctives. I taught a Reformation course a few years ago and covered the Radical Reformers (who gave birth to the Anabaptist tradition). After class one day, I spoke to a student who had been raised Baptist but converted to Catholicism when she married. She explained to me that she learned far more about what Baptists believed in the several months of her confirmation classes than she did in several years of growing up in a Baptist church.
Southern Baptists do a reasonable job teaching the Bible. We do a horrible job teaching what it means to be Baptist. We tend to define Baptists in our churches in terms of what we do not believe (i.e. witness the current debate among Baptist Bloggers over alcohol) rather than defining ourselves by what we embrace. Many good men and women have died for Baptist beliefs; I want to help churches to understand why they did. I think that the interim time is a natural time when many pastorless churches turn to their denominational resources for help. The interim period is an opportunistic time to explore the beliefs of us Christians who also happen to call ourselves Baptist.
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2 comments:
Isn't it more important that many good women and men died for their belief in Christ than it is that they died for their belief in Baptist beliefs? I guess we have to call it something (Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic), but why emphasize the denomination so much when Christ and the Bible are the real important issues at stake? Bartolo
Bartolo,
Your comment is a helpful reminder that our allegiance should always be to Christ. I could’ve made that point more explicit in my original post. Understanding the Bible, and the corresponding discipleship that flows from that understanding, should always be preeminent in the Christian’s life—whatever flavor of faith they embrace. That was the point I alluded to in my poorly worded final sentence.
Having made that disclaimer, the fact that I am Baptist reflects my position that the Baptist tradition most closely corresponds to Biblical teaching. There are doctrinal teachings (soul competency of the believer, church/state relations, religious liberty etc.) that are important to the Christian faith that were first clarified in Baptist thought. (All three of those doctrines, by the way, are also essential for our understanding of the place of religious expression in contemporary American society too). As one example, of the three denominations you mentioned, only Baptists started out opposing the view that the government should enforce religious expression.
Many Baptists are ignorant of their own tradition, and I think that the Intentional Interim season is a helpful time to correct that. Again though, I completely agree with your larger point.
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