Barnabas File

Yes, it is summer. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, children are happy, and pastors are moving! At least six ministers of my acquaintance are in the process of leaving Tennessee to serve churches in other states. The interesting thing is that four of these folks are leaving churches that have little or no affiliation with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to work in churches that are clearly identified with both CBF and their state CBF organizations. Now, these are not “bait and switch” situations. These ministers are moderates. Even those who served churches that would not openly espouse the CBF cause have been friendly with me and a couple have even participated in TCBF activities while working with churches that had no interest in CBF. So what’s going on here? Are we just grooming leaders for greater kingdom service in greener pastures? Would these people have stayed in place if their churches had been more open to moderate Baptist life? I don’t have answers, but I am a...

An interesting combination—a vacation in Daytona Beach with two grandchildren, a movie theater next door, and three rainy days. The result—seeing three movies in three days (but a couple out of necessity rather than desire). So what did we see? Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D, Wall-E (with the younger grandchild), and The Dark Knight . I am sure that each film has its merits, but my favorite was the latest Batman offering, The Dark Knight . Director Christopher Nolan has once again produced a remarkable addition to the Batman mythos. Christian Bale is back with just the right balance of self-doubt and righteous anger as the Caped Crusader. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman return in small but essential roles as the men who keep Bruce Wayne grounded. Aaron Eckhart gives an excellent performance as the courageous and unfortunate Harvey Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal is so good as Rachel Dawes that you forget that Katie Holmes played the role in the previous movie. Gary Oldman is outstan...

I have just finished Cecil Sherman’s autobiography, By My Own Reckoning . Although a generation younger than Sherman, I grew up with many of the same experiences, so I can identify with his pilgrimage in many ways. Sherman’s memoir discusses very candidly his commitment to and ultimate disillusionment with the denomination that had nurtured him. He explains how it was necessary for him to leave one Baptist entity and begin another in order to maintain his integrity. This is more than a report on the “controversy,” however. Sherman shares warm memories about his family of origin in Fort Worth, his preparation for ministry, and finding Dot, the love of his life. His accounts of his pastoral experiences in Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas will be informative reading for anyone who is in the ministry or plans to be a minister. His role in opening the doors of First Baptist Church, Asheville to African-Americans is a true "profile in courage" as well as a lesson on congregation...

As I read Cecil Sherman’s By My Own Reckoning , I was reminded of my own journey growing up in the Baptist culture of the South. Although I am a generation younger than Sherman, many of my experiences were similar to his. I grew up thinking that Southern Baptists were “God’s last and only hope” (a phrase chosen by Bill Leonard as a book title). I was active in the youth group at church, served as a summer missionary with the Home Mission Board, went to conferences at Ridgecrest and Glorieta, attended a Southern Baptist seminary, used the Sunday School Board curriculum (I even wrote some of it!), took the training, did the time, swallowed the Kool-Aid! When I discovered that denominational identity was not all it was cracked to be and could even be idolatry, I went through something of a crisis of faith. Sherman’s memoir discusses very candidly his commitment to and ultimate disillusionment with the system that had nurtured him. He explains how it was necessary for him to leave one...

In his book By My Reckoning Cecil Sherman, the founding coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, notes that one of the tasks that he took on was to lead churches to leave the SBC and join the new CBF movement. He writes, “If the CBF were to grow, it had to grow at the expense of the SBC.” Later in the book, he comments that the inerrancy controversy that divided the SBC “continues to splinter churches away from the SBC.” This is no longer true, at least among Baptist churches in Tennessee. As new conflicts appeared on the scene (over missionaries, women in ministry, and higher education institutions), those of us who are moderate Baptists would say, “This is the tipping point. This will bring moderate churches to their senses.” Nope. Hasn’t happened. There has not been a windfall of churches “coming to see the light” and joining the CBF movement. For some folks, the sun has not come up yet (to paraphrase one of Cecil’s popular sayings). Although some CBF leaders may s...