Barnabas File

If your church is not interested in reaching young adults, it should be! For many years, campus ministry was the laboratory for the church in reaching young adults. Denominational collegiate ministry was a place of experimentation and innovation in finding new ways to tell the old story. I am not so sure that is true today (but that is a story for another time). From time to time, a new resource surfaces to aid churches and church-related ministries in their outreach to young adults. My friend Dick Olsen of Central Seminary introduced me to a new one recently: Googling God: The Religious Landscape of People in Their 20s and 30s by Mike Hayes ( Paulist Press, 2007). I did a quick survey of the book and have to start with a couple of disclaimers: First, it is written from a Roman Catholic perspective, so the reader will have to work through that and interpret the comments in his or her own context. Second, if Hayes talked about postmodernism, I missed it. He takes a generational cohort...

In his book Christmas: A Candid History , Bruce David Forbes "deconstructs" the holiday. He is not attempting to be the Grinch, but he points out that much of what we love about Christmas predates Christianity. Romans, Scandinavians, and others attempted to break the hold of the coldest and darkest time of the year with celebrations that involved hospitality, gift-giving, eating, and drinking. Forbes points out, One idea I do not recommend is a campaign to turn Christmas into the purely spiritual holiday it never was. My understanding is that the Christmas message is "incarnation," that God entered fully into the world. So combining Jesus' birthday party with at least some worldly celebrating seems appropriate. We talk about being a missional people--those who are on mission with God and speaking the truth of God to our culture. Perhaps we should adjust our paradigm a bit and consider Christmas as a model of how the Christian message can engage the culture by br...

In his book The World Without Us , journalist Alan Weisman poses an interesting question: "What would the world look like if humankind were suddenly removed from the planet?" Actually, he develops this idea in two steps. First, he speculates what the world would be like today if humanity had never developed, then he looks at what the earth would be like if we no longer existed. He makes a good case that, from the beginning, humanity has impacted the ecosystem through pollution, farming, and species extinction. Wherever we have lived, we have both used and abused the environment. Weisman gives some fascinating examples of how the environment has experienced a resurgence when a certain area--such as the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula--has been abandoned by humanity. He argues that nature tries to restore the proper balance when given the opportunity. In an interesting thought experiment, he discusses both the consequences of a sudden absence of humanity for the ...

I finally got around to watching the DVD of "An Inconvenient Truth", the award-winning documentary about Al Gore's presentation on global warming and climate change. Although it comes across at times like a political campaign film, the film makes quite an impact on several levels. For one, it shows us a man's passion. We don't know what kind of president Al Gore would have made, but it is interesting to see an interesting, articulate person who was once "the next president of the United States" (as he jokingly notes) make a clear case about a difficult issue. That's rather refreshing. Humankind is a force of nature. Even if one wants to skip over the Genesis account and its theology of stewardship of all creation, there are others besides Gore who make this case. In his book The World Without Us , Alan Weisman argues that humankind and its progenitors started affecting the ecology very early and were responsible for the annihilation of whole sp...

Chapter 24 of Matthew's gospel begins with Jesus responding to his disciples' comments about the grandiose nature of the Temple with these words: "Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down." His comments remind us of the transitory nature of all man-made institutions, even those built to attest to the Holy. November is a good time to think about the evanescence of institutional relationships in Baptist life. State Baptist conventions have been meeting and many continue the process of renegotiating their relationships with institutions such as colleges, hospitals, and charitable entities. When the interim president of Carson-Newman College was asked if he could foresee a time when the college might want to sever its relation to the Tennessee Baptist Convention, he responded, "No, but a time may come when the convention will want to leave the college." Although he did not spell out the circumstances, we ...

Church membership and participation are very fluid for young adults. I often find myself in discussions about the future of the church, especially at it relates to reaching and engaging young adults. As we watch our committed church members grow older, it is natural to ask the questions, "Who is next? Who is stepping in to take their places? Who is willing to serve?" I could probably make a case that these are the wrong questions and ones that speak more to our desire to maintain an institution that build a community. At any rate, I think there are some questions that the church must answer if it is to be viable for anyone in the 21st century. First, what is the church? We have been tied to buildings, trained professional staff members, and programs for so long that we have come to think of these things as the church. These things represent the church, especially in a modern American context, but we must remind ourselves that the church is actually an organism that mu...

On Saturday, my wife and I took our eight-year-old grandson, Noah, to visit Stones River National Battlefield here in Murfreesboro. This is the site of the Battle of Stones River, an engagement that lasted from December 31, 1862, to January 2, 1863. The battle is characterized by historians as having the largest percentage of casualties on both sides, a total of 23,515--some 13,600 on the Union side and about 10,600 on the Confederate side. Once inside the Visitors Center, we found ourselves in front of a map showing the initial deployment of forces. This produced Noah's first question: "Which one is our side?" This led to some discussion. His mother's family grew up in the South--Mississippi and Alabama--and she was born in Tennessee. Noah's father is originally from Indiana, and all his family lived in the North. We talked about this for a few minutes, and then he asked, "Who were the bad guys and who were the good guys?" The historian in me tried to k...

While attending the Ancient Future Community Group Life Conference at Willow Creek, I had the opportunity to participate in a spiritual tradition that is both ancient and present (and hopefully will be future). Amy and Judge Reinhold led a breakout session on contemplative prayer, actually a presentation and demonstration of lectio divina or "sacred reading" of scripture that incorporates periods of silence to listen to what God might be saying to us through a text. This was not a new practice for me, but the testimony provided by this couple of the impact it had made on their small group (at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles) and their own lives was inspiring. The Bible has actually become the agenda of their small group. The simple truth of their presentation is that reading and meditating on the Bible can make a difference in people's lives. Many of us come from a tradition that says it values Scripture but that actually tends to ignore it. Episcopalians ...

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to hear a presentation by a couple who do mission work in a very challenging part of the world. There are perhaps a 100 believers in the people group with whom they work and no indigenous churches. They were very candid in saying that they did not have any "warm fuzzy" success stories to share, but they provided some great insights into the strategy they are using to reach people and plant churches in a difficult environment. Although they are working to develop relationships with people through a specific platform that will give entree into the society, their goal is developing house churches that are indigenous, organic, and reproducible. There was a good time of discussion in response to the question "What might not be reproducible?" in a church located in a non-western, resource poor area. We talked about how a perceived need for credentialed clergy, printed literature, and buildings could hamper church growth in thei...

I have always been interested in the way that organizations function. There is a new organizational phenomenon among us, one that I hesitate even to call an "organization." This is the decentralized structure exemplified by Napster, Wikipedia, or even the Internet itself. Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom have written a book entitled The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations that gives a very informal but insightful introduction to this type of structure. The key to this book is understanding the difference between a starfish and a spider. A spider has a head. If you cut it off, the spider dies. If you cut off a leg, it’s gone; it doesn’t grow back. A starfish does not have a head. If you cut off a leg, it will grow another one. If you cut it in half, you will have two starfish. A spider is a centralized system. A starfish is a decentralized system. In spider companies, power and knowledge are concentrated at the top. In starfish...

As I listened to a profile of General David H. Petraeus on NPR today, I was reminded again of how much I respect the men and women who were the military uniform of our country. I supposed this goes back to 1952 when Dwight Eisenhower ran for president on the Republican ticket and my parents, lifelong Democrats, voted for him. They felt that Eisenhower, as the supreme military commander in Europe during WW II, was a hero, a man of integrity who had proven himself in the service of his country. I have a great of respect for men like Colin Powell, Wes Clark, John McCain, Jimmy Carter, John Kennedy, and others who have held command and then continued to serve their country in other ways. I respect and honor the men and women who serve in our armed forces today. They have various motivations for their decisions to become part of the military, but they all place their lives on the line on behalf of other Americans. They endure hardship so that the rest of us can avoid it. I have worn the un...

My wife and I had the opportunity to share lunch this week with a young Christian couple who pursue their vocations in a southeast Asian country. Although the young man originally went there to do evangelistic work, they now operate a ministry center that provides outreach, fellowship, and skill training for people in the community. The husband pointed out that he had initially seen his ministry as reaching people for Christ and then introducing them into local churches so that they might be discipled and nurtured in the Christian faith. He was surprised and disappointed when he discovered that this second step was more difficult than he had anticipated! The local churches erected barriers (both cultural and theological) that were difficult for new believers to overcome. In many cases, these barriers were western in origin--practices, worship styles, and customs that were completely foreign to the indigenous culture. As a result, this young man is helping young believers as they form a...

A couple of weeks ago I attended an ordination service in east Tennessee. Loyd Allen, professor at McAfee School of Theology, brought the "charge" to the young woman who was being ordained. He presented some excellent comments, but one stuck in my mind. He said, "Love the church but don't worship the church." He reminded the candidate (and all of those present) that the full allegiance for the believer is to God alone. He was warning us that worship of the church can become an idol. We may accept the fact that we are to love our spouse, or our children, or our work, and not to worship any of those, but can we accept that warning when it comes to the church? Are there times when we really seem to be worshipping the church? I think we worship the church when we are not willing to acknowledge its failures. Failure is not bad, but if we do not learn from failure, we are missing an opportunity for growth. I think we worship the church when we allow church acti...

I spent the last three days attending the Leadership Summit of the Willow Creek Association at one of the several hundred satellite sites to which it is broadcast. This is my fourth time to attend--once at the South Barrington , Illinois, campus. I am sure that there will be some who will wonder why I attend this conference and ask "What can you learn from a flashy, seeker-oriented, mega-church?" Honestly, I believe that this is one of the best leadership conferences offered. The program planners bring in a diverse group of speakers from the church, management, and business. This year's roster included Carly Fiorina , former CEO of Hewlett-Packard; Marcus Buckingham, author and management consultant; Colin Powell, former Secretary of State; John Ortberg , pastor of Menlo Park (CA) Presbyterian Church; Richard Curtis, writer, film maker, and poverty activist; and Jimmy Carter, former President of the US. They are not afraid to bring folks to the platform who might present...

I just finished reading An Ordinary Man, the autobiography of Paul Rusesabagina. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, Rusesabagina is the focus of the movie Hotel Rwanda , the story of how one hotel manager saved over 1200 people during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. During 100 days, over one million people were killed in politically-motivated ethnic violence. Yes, that’s 1,000,000 people. Rusesabagina does not spare any details in describing the brutality and insanity of this genocide. The book is not only Rusesabagina’s life story, it is a brief history of the country of Rwanda, a discourse on good in the face of evil, and a political critique of those who allowed it to happen—Rwandans, the United Nations, the United States, and various European countries. This is a chilling and ultimately frustrating story, but it is a book that is hard to put down. We are left asking, “How could this have happened?’ We are also left with the message that it could happen again. An interesting t...

I continue to struggle with finding a good adjective to describe what kind of Baptist I am. It would be nice to have a brief, short-hand way to communicate what my commitments are. "Liberal" is not a bad term if one uses the dictionary meaning ("marked by generosity and openhandedness") but it has been used so much in a pejorative sense that I hesitate to embrace it. Many of us like to call ourselves "moderate" Baptists, but this tends to bring to mind the "lukewarm" church at Laodicea that the narrator wants to "spit out of his mouth"! I like the term "progressive," especially as it is defined by Fisher Humphreys in his book The Way We Were --informed, committed to women in ministry, concerned about the world's needs. Of course, at least one national Baptist convention has made this a part of its name, so the use of the term may be a bit confusing. Some have drawn the distinction between "conventional" and...

Someone once told me., "Planting new churches is not rocket science." Probably not, but that doesn't mean that it is easy. Perhaps church planting is closer to an art, something like planting an ornamental garden! The organization which I serve has blisters, sore muscles, and thorns to prove it. We have learned a great deal about starting new churches, in large part by making mistakes. We have had more failures than successes. I can tell you a lot of things one ought NOT to do in starting a new church, but I cannot guarantee that if you simply avoid these errors that you will succeed. We continue to try and to learn in the process. One thing I am learning is that the "high tech/high touch" principle is significant in starting a new church. The idea comes from John Naisbit's book Megatrends . Naisbit explained that in the emerging world people want to utilize technology to do their work and communicate, but they also desire healthy relationships. How does ...

These comments on the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship/American Baptist joint worship service are a logical followup to my comments earlier about the Baptist family. Last night was the closing session of the CBF General Assembly in Washington, DC, and the opening session of the ABCUSA Biennial Meeting. The worship service was an opportunity to celebrate what brings us together as Baptists. The music styles were varied as befits our diversity. Church state separation was celebrated. Missions was emphasized. Rather than feature one person as the keynote speaker, we had the opportunity to hear from Roy Medley, general secretary of ABCUSA; Tyrone Pitts, general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention; and Daniel Vestal, (executive) coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. These leaders shared their insights about the values that unite Baptists generally and the personal events that have brought them together as individuals. As Vestal said, "We need to get t...

We hear a lot about "dysfunctional families" today, but I have come to the conclusion that most families fit the description. In fact, most of the family stories we have in the Bible are about troubled families beginning with Adam and Eve and their sons and going on to Abraham and his sons, David and Absalom, Hosea and Gomer, and innumerable other families. In our own families, we live with the consequences of perceived favoritism, unwise choices, and "the roads not taken." Even so, we try to get the family together for special occasions and holidays to break bread together and celebrate our common heritage. When I consider our Baptist family, I see a lot of dysfunction. As Bill Leonard has said, Baptists were conceived in such a way that conflict is assured! The slavery issue was a key conflict that resulted in the founding of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845 and created a major division in the Baptist family in our country. In recent days, the SBC co...

As long as I can remember, I have heard Baptists talk about "the autonomy of the local church." It is a tenet of faith for most of us. In an article published by Associated Baptist Press http://www.abpnews.com/www/2469.article.print , Beth Newman comments on this idea from the perspective of a recent Baptist World Alliance symposium. She observes that the most important statement to emerge from that meeting was, "We affirm that for Baptists the local church is wholly church but not the whole church." I may unpack this more in future postings, but this is an important concept. Although we celebrate the opportunity and responsibility of each local congregation to "discover and fulfill its God-given mission" (in CBF terms), we must not forget that each congregation is just one small part of the bigger picture that God is creating that is the Kingdom or Reign of God. Just like a massive mosaic made up of many colored tiles, all are necessary to make a coh...

Here's a report on my latest experience on the web. I have discovered Facebook. If you are not familiar with Facebook, it is an online site that facilitates social networking. Wikipedia defines a social network as "a social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of relations," such as values, friends, kinship, etc. With Facebook, you can invite people to be your "friends" online. If they agree, you then have access to their friends list and can grow your network of friends. Of course, you can invite folks to join directly or browse established networks, but I have enjoyed "mining" other people's lists! It is a bit addictive. This discovery has resulted in some observations: First, our networks tend to overlap with one another. I started out with one colleague and pretty soon found myself in networks that involved young adults, those who work with young adults, former ca...

During the spring, our church provided a Sunday School emphasis called Leadership First. Fifteen church members were exposed to a 13 week study that provided (very) brief surveys of the Old and New Testaments, Baptist beliefs, Sunday School principles, age group training, and class observation and evaluation. Although the content was helpful, the opportunity for these leaders to spend time together, build community, and dream about the future of our church were probably the most important outcomes. The primary evaluation by the group was, "It was too short." For more information, go to Caleb's Cafe http://www.calebscafe.com and look for the "Leadership First" group.

Forgive me if I continue down memory lane in this posting, but we have been doing some cleaning and rearranging at our house, and I came across a paper I wrote when I was in college. OK, I haven't saved all the papers I wrote in college or seminary, but this is a very special paper to me. Let me set the context. In 1965, I was a senior at the University of Southern Mississippi, a public university. My major was history with a minor in religion and philosophy. At the time, there was not a single African-American student at the college. Our sister institution, Ole Miss (the University of Mississippi) had been integrated about two years earlier with the assistance of the Army. I was taking an ethics course with Robert Arrington, a young professor still working on his doctorate who was, to the best of my knowledge, not a Christian. When we were assigned a term paper, I asked Mr. Arrington if I could write a paper on "Christian Ethics and Racial Discrimination." He not...

I attended the memorial service today for Art Driscoll , a friend and mentor who helped me a great deal in my early days in collegiate ministry. Perhaps it was fitting that Art passed away on Memorial Day weekend. Art was a B-17 pilot in World War II, served as campus minister at the Universities of Oklahoma and Virginia, and worked for 20 years at National Student Ministries. He was in his early twenties when he entered the military. We forget how young these men were (my Dad was an "old man" in his unit since he was 28 when he was drafted!). Many of them left the senior prom and went right into basic training. They experienced conditions that most of us who served in subsequent conflicts did not have to endure. Their girl friends and wives heard from them only sporadically and had their own challenges to deal with at home. When they returned from the military, men like Art remade our society and had a significant impact on college ministry as they entered college wit...

My friend, Jerry Gaither, is a retired school administrator who has experienced all of the knocks and bruises that come from being a true "public servant." Some time ago, he shared with me a sheet he calls "An Administrator's Ethics Test." I think it serves as a good guide for any of us who are called to be stewards of other's resources. Here are Jerry's questions: Will I be violating board policy, the law, or the rights of others? Is it equitable? Can I sit down around a table and face all parties concerned at the same time? Does it promote wholesome relationships? Can I look in the mirror and feel good about myself? Is it explainable? In a clear and concise manner that the general public can understand it? (If you can't explain it to all concerned, it may be perceived as being unfair.) Will it leave me with a clear conscience? Will it make me proud? Will it stand the light of day--tomorrow, as well...

I like to read. At any particular time, I may be reading two or three books (some with more enthusiasm than others!). Over the past year, a number of the books I have been reading have been connected to the two seminary classes I have taught. Right now, the books I am working on are completely my choice. One that is going pretty fast is a new book by Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, a former Baptist Joint Committee staffer who now lives in east Tennessee. The book is 10 Things Your Minster Wants to Tell You (But Can’t Because He Needs the Job). Thomas applies sound biblical scholarship to such issues as “What About Women?” “Other Religions” and “Why are We Here?” The thesis of the book is that your minister would tell you about these things if you trusted his/her ability to understand and interpret the Word of God and were willing to be challenged in your own faith! I was attracted to Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why because of author Bart Ehrman’s person...

OK, I admit it. I watch 24. Although I have watched it on and off for several seasons, this is the first year that I have seen every episode (sometimes by recorded delay). I know it has violence and some pretty unlikely plot twists (who would have thought that Bauer's father would be the greatest threat to our national security?) and I know that many Republicans are fans, but it challenges me as it puts our hero into situations where he has to make some difficult choices. And quite honestly, his moral compass is usually better than the elected leaders represented on the show. As I watched the last scene last night (I had recorded it earlier in the week), it became clear to me that here was a man who needed some grace in his life. He started the season willing to die voluntarily to save his country after being held prisoner by the Chinese for years, he found out that both his father and brother were traitors, he rediscovered his lost love only to see her in a near-catatonic sta...

The CBF Leadership Team is meeting in Little Rock this week (this team includes state and regional coordinators as well as national coordinators). We spent some time today learning about two presidents. One is Dr. Fitzgerald Hill, president of Arkansas Baptist College, the only historic black Baptist college west of the Mississippi (founded in 1884). Dr. Hill spoke to our group this morning and hosted us for lunch on campus. The other president we had the opportunity to consider was Bill Clinton, 42nd president of the United States, as we visited the Clinton Presidential Center and Library. Hill, a former football coach, has a vision not only to revitalize a formerly declining institution, but to raise up a new generation of male African-American leaders. A committed father, he has rearranged his priorities to place his family first. He is a believer who is committed to challenging young men to grow mentally, spiritually, and physically. He presents his vision clearly, with ferv...

When it comes to Christian missions, we live in interesting times. I thought about this last night as I listened to a young American woman talk about the ministry that she and her husband do in southeast Asia (I will not refer to her by name or to the location where the couple works.) She is an articulate and attractive person who is using her creative gifts to reach out to people through a holistic ministry grounded in her Christian faith. Her parents have both been involved in Southern Baptist causes for years. This woman served with Cooperative Baptist missionaries in southeast Asia for two years after college. While there, she met a young man from another country working with an independent missionary agency. After her term of service, he came to the states, met her parents, they became engaged, married, and returned to their new home to work with the aforementioned missions group. To understand where we are in missions work today, let's get this straight. Here is a youn...

While listening to a call-in radio program on media censorship recently, I overheard a comment to this effect: "Having children is a choice. If you choose to have children, it is up to you to monitor what they see and hear." My immediate response to this was, "Really?" I think that the speaker might want to rethink this comment. What if we applied this to public education? Does the public have the responsibility to educate someone else's children? I have a problem with those who argue against support for public education with the comment, "I raised my children. Why should I have to pay higher taxes to educate other people's children?" I presuppose a couple of things. First, when we agree to be part of a society, we agree to accept certain responsibilities. One of those is nurturing an educated populace. You may call this social planning, but in frontier America the first institution planted after the church was (sually) the school. Why...

Our pastor raised a good question on Sunday morning in talking about the conversion of Saul of Tarsus: "Is anyone beyond the reach of God?" He went on to talk about overlooking the possibilities of reaching out to people that we think are unreachable or, perhaps more realistically, that we are uncomfortable reaching out to. He commented, "Do we spend too much time reaching out to people like ourselves?" Why do we restrict those to whom we reach out? Perhaps they just make us uncomfortable because of their lifestyle, appearance, or actions. Then maybe we feel inadequate because we perceive that they are smarter, better dressed, or more affluent that we are. Could it just be that we are afraid that we will make fools of ourselves? The pastor suggested several groups that should be considered for outreach--families with special needs children, senior adults who are becoming less independent, and those who are intentionally single. Who would you add to that group?...

Easter morning brought a full house to morning worship at our church. At least 150 more attended than on the usual Sunday morning. I am sure that the situation was similar in your place of worship. It was a great time of worship with many families sitting together, powerful music, good preaching, and a public profession of faith. But what are we to make of all these additional worshippers? Why don't we see these folks all the time? Of course, Easter is a special day. There are many worshippers who attend two or three times a month, but most make a special effort to be there on Easter. Some come because it is a family affair. Others may come out of curiosity or a sense of obligation. So how do we treat these folks? Should we make them feel guilty that they aren't there all the time? Should we take the occasion to exhort them to more regular attendance? No, we should do what our pastor did this morning: share a message of hope. Where do we find hope? At the entrance ...

I ran into a friend at Starbucks this morning. When I asked about his family, he told me about the work that his son and daughter-in-law are doing in Africa with an independent mission board. They are enjoying their ministry with local church leaders, but they are having to raise their own support. Remember the "old days" when we used to proclaim proudly, "Our missionaries don't have to go out and raise their own support because we have a unified program of missions giving"? My, how times have changed. You can still support missionaries through a unified program (such as Global Missions of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship), but have you noticed how many "freelance" missionaries there are out there these days? Some of these folks are part of established organizations but a number have set up their own ministries that are incorporated, have their own boards of directors, and have carved out their own missions niche. I don't necessarily see thi...

Some of you may remember the explanation of sanctification that we learned in Sunday School, Training Union, etc.--"We have been saved, we are being saved, we will be saved." Since sanctification seems to be another way of saying "converted" or "saved," this might be a helpful way to look at the previous topic from another perspective. Salvation is not just an isolated event in time, but an on-going process. In a very real sense, all who have named the name of Christ are still in the process of being saved. No matter how one first entered onto that path, the work has started, and the work of becoming more like Christ goes on from day to day. It is not finished yet; I would say that it will not be accomplished until "the day of Christ Jesus"--either His return or our leaving this life. So if we are in the process of being saved, what contributes to that process? First, worship--both private and corporate. As we come close to God and God com...

I suppose that the apostle Paul's conversion experience has become the template for many Christians--a rabid persecutor of Christians, he had a life-changing experience with the risen Christ on the road to Damasacus, and subsequently became the foremost promoter of the Gospel he had once reviled. I think we assume several things about Paul's experience, and I may unpack some of those in the future, but holding up his experience as a standard for all conversions is the one I want to look at in this posting. I had the opportunity to lead a deacons' retreat for one of our churches last Friday night. The material I was using is very good (Bill Hybels' Walk Across the Room) and , like all good evangelism training resources, explains how to tell your faith story with humility, simplicity, clarity, and brevity. The pattern goes something like this--What was your life like before you knew Christ? How did you come to the point of submitting to His leadership in your life? W...

After a meeting today at the University of the South in Sewanee, I took a few minutes to walk into the magnificent All Saints Chapel on campus and enjoy the beauty of that sacred space. It may seem odd that I enjoy such beautiful architecture. I am a pretty practical Baptist who knows that God is present everywhere, but there are several reasons that being in such a building is a blessing to my soul. First of all, a place of worship like All Saints is a testimony to the faith of men and women who loved God enough to do their best to honor God in constructing the edifice. The chapel itself (like all great places of worship) took years to complete, surely testing the patience and faith of many supporters. The stone walls and stained glass windows are a material testimony to their commitment. Another reason standing in such a place blesses me is the stillness of the building in the midst of a busy, bustling campus. It reminds me of the presence of God with us even in the busy-ness of life...

Since I no longer consider myself a Southern Baptist, you may be surprised that I would say this, but there are some Southern Baptists who really "get it"--that is, they are able to read the signs of the times and move to adapt organizations that will respond effectively to the needs of churches. One such case is Mike Day, (executive?) director of missions for the Mid-South Baptist Association in Memphis. At a symposium in Jackson, Tennessee, last month, Day made this statement: "[Southern Baptists] will proclaim [local church] autonomy as sacred and necessary, yet we behave sometimes like we require the approval of others or we behave as if we have the right to approve. It's an implied hierarchy, for sure. We won't ever admit that it exists." Now, we could get into a long discussion about how this "hierarchy" operates in Baptist life today, but my immediate response was appreciation for Day's vision. He was calling for a renewed commitme...

Growing a new church is much like growing a crop. It takes time, work, and patience. In short, it is an organic process. Crops are not manufactured; they are grown. The church is more than an organization; it is an organism. In Natural Church Development , Christian Schwarz observes, “The organizational realm of church ministry can be ‘manufactured’—the organic level can’t.” We have been working for about a year to start a new church in a growing part of our city. What do we have to show for it? We still don't have regular weekly worship and the monthly gatherings we hold are not as large as they were six months ago. We have had one successful outreach event that was led by about 30 folks from First Baptist, our sponsor church, and drew about as many uninvolved folks, but we have not been able to integrate these new folks into the groups that are meeting on a regular basis. We do have three home Bible study fellowships meeting that involve about 25 people. They are not as...

For over a year, I have been working with a group of folks to put down roots for a new church start in a rapidly growing part of our city. Starting new churches is not a task for the weak! It is very much like a roller-coaster ride. As we met yesterday in a community gathering (about 20 folks), we shared prayer requests, gave thanks for what has already happened, and prayed about our future direction. One of our group made a very significant comment, "It's hard to start a new church when people are not already upset or angry about something!" I have heard the same sentiment expressed in different ways, but it does prompt some thinking about the philosophy we have adopted in starting this new church. First, we are not looking for those angry about their present church situation. Folks like that usually just bring their anger with them. On the other hand, if a person is presently part of a fellowship but has a vision for outreach that is not being fulfilled in their pr...

Last week I received a call from a reporter with a middle Tennessee newspaper asking for comment on President Carter's convening of a group to call for a meeting of progressive Baptists in 2008. Of course, she said almost immediately, "I have not been writing religious news very long. Can you explain to me what's happened to Southern Baptists and how your group differs from them?" This led to questions about inerrancy and the "official position" of Fellowship Baptists on women in ministry. Those of you who have found yourself in this position know how frustrating this can be. How can you explain 400 years of Baptist history in general and 25 years of Baptist history in the South specifically in a 5 minute discussion? Although I did spend some time explaining my personal understanding of the role of women in church leadership and some examples of Fellowship missions, I tried to make several points. First, if you want to know how Fellowship Baptists diffe...