Every year
our church’s Denominational Relations Committee leads a month-long emphasis on
Baptist heritage. The approach each year is different, but the point is to
remind us of who we are as a Baptist congregation. Someone asked this year, “Why talk about
denominations in a post-denominational age?
Aren’t we beyond all that?” The
answer would be “Yes” and “No.”
To understand
what we mean by post-denominational, we must consider how we use the term “denomination.” If you are talking about judicatories,
conventions, and bureaucracies when you use the term “denomination,” then we
are well on our way to being post-denominational in the United States. Even in churches that embrace a connectional
or hierarchical approach to church government (Roman Catholics, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, etc.), less attention is being paid to what the “denomination”
(read national leadership and governing bodies) decides and what a church as a local
expression of that faith practices. Baptists
are no longer the only ones who break away to form new churches or affiliations
with like-minded congregations. This
trend will continue.
On the
personal level, many people no longer think of themselves as parts of a
denomination, so they would probably describe themselves as “post-denominational.” They feel free to pick and chose the beliefs,
doctrines, and practices that they will follow.
In fact, most Americans tend toward espousing a self-defined, syncretic
faith that “works for them.” This practice
has been around for a long time and is not going away.
When local
congregations use the term “denomination,” however, they are often talking
about more than an affiliation with some particular entity or
organization. They are talking about
their identity. One of my professors in
seminary pointed out that”Baptist” is a denomination. We are part of the worldwide denomination of
believers called “Baptist.” There are many expressions of this denomination
through alliances, assemblies, conventions, and associations, but they are all “Baptist.” They are not separate denominations.
Every church
carries the heritage of some stream of the Christian faith. Even if the church calls itself “non-denominational”
or “interdenominational,” it embraces a theology that it has received from the
past—free church, Calvinistic, Pentecostal, or something else. Each church is the heir of a rich theological
tradition whether it owns that tradition or not. This is true of “emerging churches” as well.
Our church is
a Baptist church. It is both similar to
and different from other Baptist churches, but it holds more in common with
other Baptist churches than it does with Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians,
and Roman Catholic. Although Baptists
would affirm many of the doctrines of those other churches, there are some that
we as Baptists think are particularly important as heirs to the Baptist tradition.
Does this
make us better than anyone else? Not by
a long short, but it is who we are. We
need to own that identity.
This is why
we take some time every year to openly reflect on who we are as Baptists. We may disagree on the best way to carry out
the mission that God has called us to, but we do it as recipients of a robust
faith tradition.
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