Barnabas File

Denominationalism reached its peak in the United States in the 1960s. I use the term for the horizontally integrated organizations that emerged in the early 20th century to “do the work of the churches.” Although some decry denominationalism as a bad thing, an objective observer could easily come up with a list of the advantages of this coordinated approach. Churches were able to identify with something greater than themselves. Curriculum was written, ministers were educated, missionaries were sent out, lay persons were trained, and people came to know the Lord. Denominations—Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians—were movers and shakers especially on the American scene. That was then; this is now. Denominationalism is not what it used to be. George Bullard is in the process of developing a typology of denominations that should be helpful for framing future ministries alongside churches. At the same time, there are a number of ministries—some of which have been a...

I think I surprised a friend over the weekend when I told her that I would be looking for another job after December 31 when I step aside as coordinator of Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. She pulled me aside later and said, “Were you serious?” I assured her that I already had a couple of things in mind to do after the first of the year, but this was always my intent (even before the economy took a nosedive). Cecil Sherman noted in By My Own Reckoning , “Never retire FROM something; retire TO something.” When I notified the Coordinating Council early in the year that I would be leaving TCBF, I avoided using the word “retire.” I already did that once when I left the Tennessee Baptist Convention. I am not leaving TCBF because I have reached a certain age but because it is time for me to do something else and for the organization to seek new leadership. When someone has been part of an organization (especially a small “start-up”) for as long as I have, the entity tends to ta...

“Why would anyone want a woman as a pastor?” A female friend asked me this recently when she heard about the action of the Georgia Baptist Convention to withdraw fellowship from First Baptist Church, Decatur. The church’s pastor is Julie Pennington-Russell. The question points to one of the major barriers to a church calling a woman as pastor. My friend, like so many of us, has never seen a woman as the lead pastor in a local congregation. The concept is foreign to us because we have never seen it in action! We see similar stereotyping if we think about all nurses as being women or all physicians as being men. There are enough examples today of men nurses and women physicians that we have to rethink such assumptions. Given that sixty percent of our church members are women, shouldn’t we expect that—from time to time--a woman might receive the call to pastor? How can we address this? One way is to seek opportunities to have women preachers in our pulpits. Even if she is not in the pasto...

“Mentoring” has been around for years, but we seem to be more intentional about the practice today and more aware of how useful it can be in helping a person develop skills and practices for a particular vocation. Basically, mentoring is a developmental relationship between a more experienced person and a less experienced person, usually referred to as a protégé or apprentice. The mentor does not do the work for the mentee but provides a model (not “the” model) for doing the work and provides feedback for the person being mentored. On Monday, I attended a panel presentation by five women ministers. One of the questions asked was, “What would you do differently in preparation for ministry?” I think particularly every one said something to this effect: “I would have sought out an experienced minister and developed an intentional mentoring relationship.” Such a relationship is especially helpful for women who are seeking to thrive in any environment. This may well identify issues to be ad...

Bob Ferguson—Robert U. Ferguson—was my pastor when I was a teenager. He was a good preacher, looked handsome in a suit, and was a strong pastoral influence for me and my family. He actually pastored the church on two different occasions and was back at the church when I was ordained to the ministry in 1970. I have a lot of good memories of Bob Ferguson. One is of him sitting in a group of youth as he showed us how to use Bible commentaries and other material to better understand the Book of Genesis. Another was a time when he spotted me—a hapless teenager—standing at the side of the road trying to change a flat tire. He stopped, took off this suit coat, and got down on his knees to help me change the tire. Brother Bob had another life as well. He was a pioneer among Southern Baptists in seeking peace and good will across racial barriers. This led to appointment as director of interracial relations for a state Baptist convention. I did not realize at the time how challenging and...