New Baptist Covenant Responses
February 4, 2008
At least 25 Kentucky Baptist churches were represented at the New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta, January 30-February 1, 2008. For news articles and streaming videos, click on the following link: New Baptist Covenant.
Editor’s Note: For responses from several KBF participants to their New Baptist Covenant experience, click, “Read the rest of this entry” below.
An Honor to Attend the New Baptist Covenant
By Drew Prince, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Shepherdsville
The positive feeling of inclusiveness was as real as the building in which we met. I have never been more excited about the future of Baptist life than I am right now. The first thing that I noticed was the embrace of diversity. Baptists come in all kinds. There were over 30 North American Baptist groups in attendance. All came to widen our circle. There was no hint of conflict among this gathering of believers.
Baptists no longer have to be known for what they oppose. This was not an attempt to create a denomination. It was an effort that was started by those who wanted to protect historic Baptist principles and to collaborate on what we can do together. It was an effort to concentrate on what Jesus said was important. This was all done by widening our circle.
One of the most basic aspects of the ministry of Jesus was a focus on reconciliation. This meeting seemed to do just that among all of these wonderful Baptist groups. It was as if all of the people, regardless of race or gender, we able to come together as equals. We all know in our hearts that this was the intention of Christ all along.
It seems clear to me that we have started something that has taken us a step closer to our Baptist roots. We are unique as individuals and individual groups. But we can come together in an effort to take seriously what Christ took seriously. Politics was not a part of the equation. But the words of Jesus were. And there is nothing more basic to Baptist principles than putting those words above all others.
Many questions remain about where to go from here. But there is one answer that seems obvious to me. The gatherings that follow will emphasize what we have in common and what we can do together. And we will continue to widen our circle because of it. It is a natural consequence to holding the words of Christ up first and putting everything else aside. We all know in our hearts that this was the intention of Christ all along.
Come and Go with Me
by Bill Shoulta, Pastor, Melbourne Heights Baptist Church
What a joy to be a part of a meeting about Baptists unity rather than focusing on what is wrong with everybody else. I experienced meaningful worship in a variety of ways. I was inspired by everything from a concert violinist to hip hop music with a deep Christian message; from a speech by a soft spoken white Republican Senator to a fiery alliterative sermon from a black preacher.
I was blessed to be accompanied by my 24 year old son who is training for
the ministry. I had been burdened since he answered his calling that he
would not know or experience the wonderful Baptist cooperation, fellowship, and mission that I had experienced in the early days of my ministry. This gathering gave me hope for my son that as a Baptist committed to Christ above all he will find unity in his message of setting the captive free rather than Pharisaic conformity by captivating or scrutinizing the free.
I urge you to seek the true accounts of this mountaintop experience rather than those who would seek to diminish its relevance by understating its size and impact and politicizing isolated comments from the spirit filled speakers. We truly felt God’s presence and God’s blessing on the time we spent together in Atlanta. We left the meeting believing “the moment had become a movement” for which many had prayed.
I have returned with a renewed commitment to reach out to my brothers and sisters in Christ who want to be a part of Christ’s purpose of “preaching good news to the poor, setting the captive free, healing the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Excited About the New Possibilities
Tim Hobbs, Pastor, Community Baptist Church, Henderson
Wow! What a tremendous experience was the New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta. I expected great things in anticipation of this event and was not disappointed.
The Nay Sayers said that it would be a bastion of liberalism. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Nay Sayers said that it would be a partisan political event. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, the only thing that could be considered partisan was when Bill Clinton (a Democrat) had words of praise for Lindsay Graham (a Republican).
That’s the kind of spirit that pervaded the New Baptist Covenant Celebration. It was truly a spirit of unity and love while still recognizing and celebrating our diversity of race, theology, gender, worship style, and socio-economics. I knew from the very first session that we had fallen onto something special. The music was so stirring that one could not help but to stand in praise of our Creator. I think I know what King David must have felt when he danced before the Ark of the Covenant in the presence of God.
The preaching and presentations were spectacular and represented a wide variety of Baptist life. There were former Presidents and Vice-Presidents who are accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the world’s elite, and there were missionaries accustomed to toughing it out among the poorest and most abused people on earth. There were PHD’s and No D’s. There were male and female, black, white, Asian, and Latino, conservative, moderate, and progressive all together worshipping as one body united by the common cause of Christ’s Kingdom work. It was truly a portrait of the Kingdom of God at its best.
I hope and believe that the New Baptist Covenant Celebration is the beginning of a new movement. For so many years, Baptist life has been about the things that separate us. Now there is an opportunity for us to focus on the things that unite us. I hope we will have future meetings every two or three years as a visible expression to the world that Baptists really can get together and behave themselves. I also hope we will find ways to cross some of the lines that have historically divided us to participate together in missional activities. After all, we are one in Christ. It’s past time that we use that unity for the sake of Christ’s work.
Reflecting on the New Baptist Covenant
by Leslie Hollon, Senior Pastor, St. Matthews Baptist
Church, for his Pastoral Reflections on Feb. 4, 2008
The New Baptist Covenant began last week. Organized under the umbrella of the North American Baptist Fellowship, ten traditions of Baptists gathered representing more than 20 million members. Approximately 10,000 people were in attendance, including ten from St. Matthews Baptist Church. This was a gathering of Baptists, unified in Christ, of different racial & cultural backgrounds. The gathering was historic.
The media primarily knows how to report controversy. Therefore, the coverage before & during the Atlanta event focused on edgy controversy that never materialized. The Covenant is not about politics. Christ’s followers who are vocational politicians, spoke but not as Republicans or Democrats. They spoke from their faith.
The same focus was true of other lay leaders-coaches, authors, entertainers, educators . . . The message was aimed toward the positive future which we can shape be serving God together.
A New Baptist Litmus Test
by Mark Johnson, Pastor, Central Baptist Church, Lexington
James Earl “Jimmy” Carter, Jr., former President, elder statesman and seasoned peacemaker was also the principle convener of the meeting in Atlanta that brought nearly l5,000 Baptists of different races, affiliations and perspectives together. President Carter called the celebration of this New Baptist Covenant, “the most momentous event of my religious life.”
Other reactions were equally gushing. Rev. Joseph T. Lewis, a Virginian pastor and the president of the Baptist General Association for his state said, “This is a new day for a new way for Baptists in America to fulfill their great commission in the spirit of love.”
It “was like heaven on earth to me,” said Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, who over a year ago was snagged in the doctrinal disputes of Southern Baptists. One young seminary student remarked how this event was “the most incredible religious experience and gathering” of his life.
I join this chorus of compliments and accolades. The Atlanta meeting was inspirational, informative and invigorating. A new vision is being cast for Baptists. Now the question remains, “Will this moment become a movement?”
And just like the conclusion of any great sermon, it all depends on the follow-up. Doing the gospel is always the real test of hearing the gospel. Putting some things into context is helpful.
The splintering from the Southern Baptist Convention for some was due to the denial of historic Baptist principles. Others, like me, completely left the SBC, not only for these reasons, but more because of the anemic appeal of resurgent moral superiority.
We heard the call of Jesus for more than the conversion of the individual heart to heaven or as a subjective plateau for personal achievement and purity. The incarnation taught us how dirty hands of service grew out of open minds and accepting hearts. Yet we felt isolated and alone, like a voice crying in the wilderness as we sought to embrace rather than judge the neighbor.
In this world of power politics, extreme religious intolerance, explosive population, gross poverty, revolutionary travel, incessant communication and global resource depletion, it all became overwhelming. It was easier to sit on the sidelines than swim against the stream.
Now, we have this moment, a time to critically ask and hopefully provide some answer to the penetrating questions we face as Americans, as Christians and as Baptists. A conversation has begun and somehow it must continue in the friendships we forge, the meetings we attend, the policies we endorse, the purchases we secure and the investments we support.
Meanwhile, the prophetic voices of fellow Baptists and leaders who took the stage in Atlanta still echo in our memory with the beginning of this Lenten season in 2008:
* “I’ve been speaking for about 14 minutes. And in those 14 minutes, 225 are estimated to have died of hunger,” (U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa).
* “If we heap contempt on God’s creation, that is inconsistent with glorifying God,” (Former Vice-President Al Gore).
* “5.6 million American children live in extreme poverty” and “A black boy born in 2001 has a one in three chance of going to prison in his lifetime,” (Marian Wright Edelman, President and founder, Children’s Defense Fund).
* “Jesus preached more and taught more about helping the poor and the sick and the hungry than he did about heaven and hell. Shouldn’t that tell us something?” (John Grisham, perhaps the world’s most read Baptist).
* Not long ago, Baptist fundamentalists spoke of a doctrinal litmus test. With the arrival of the New Baptist Covenant, maybe a Luke 4 litmus test is the old/new way to begin all over again.
The Real Test
by David Hinson, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Frankfort
The real test of success for the New Baptist Covenant will be found in its translation to local churches and communities. If and when Covenant Baptists unite to communicate and practice Jesus’ ministry found in Luke 4, our world will become a better place. If not, history will record another meeting with a lot of talk, but little action. Today, I am optimistic. Tomorrow, I will be even more optimistic if I have done something with my church and myself to contribute to Jesus’ ministry with persons who are in need.
New Baptist Covenant Offers a Progressive Voice for Baptists
by Joe Phelps, Pastor, Highland Baptist Church, Louisville
15,000 pastors and laypersons representing churches across the land met last week in Atlanta under the banner of the New Baptist Covenant to offer a progressive voice for Baptists.
All Baptists in North America were invited, and every major group signed on except Southern Baptists.
This ground-breaking event affecting millions of Baptists received no coverage in our Courier Journal, but was an image-changing, agenda-shifting event worth the attention of people in Louisville even beyond Baptist borders.
That black, white, and Hispanic Baptist groups met together seems hardly significant, though it was a historic first meeting of its kind. The three day event was organized and orchestrated by a cross-section of leaders from both all participating conventions. There were obvious differences in practices (the crowd more animated and participatory when black pastors spoke; quiet and reflective for a white speaker) and in beliefs (we differ on who can preach, who can join, and what the text says here or there).
But differences were tolerated, even welcomed, because of what united us.
I think we were being brought together by a deeper understanding of the Baptist concept of conversion.
For too long personal conversion has been the sum total of the Baptist message: become a disciple, then go make disciples. My childhood memories as a Baptist is of conversion sermons three times a week (twice on Sundays, once on Wednesday). We were also encouraged to do good deeds but, truth be told, it was too often a kind of bait and switch: we mostly did good things in order to impress non-believers in hopes that they might be attracted to the faith and be converted. We were conversion machines.
The New Baptist Covenant recognizes that there is more to Jesus’ message than saving souls for heaven. Jesus’ inaugural sermon quotes from the prophet Isaiah about good news for the poor, blind, prisoners, oppressed, and proclaims a new day. Converted people, that is, those who respond to the call to be Jesus’ disciples, are charged to re-enact his sacrificial, healing compassion for the least and last in our world.
We progressive Baptists still seek to convert people, not just to an ideology, but to active participation in caring, healing, becoming good news for broken people, and not merely as a ploy for recruitment.
With so many Baptists in the U.S. and here in Louisville this new self-understanding could have many hopeful, helpful implications for our community.
Coupled with this deeper, more faithful understanding of conversion is a deeper understanding of one of Baptists most cherished principles: the separation of church and state.
Baptist children are taught that our forebears championed the Bill of Rights’ First Amendment which protects both religion and government from each other.
Somewhere along the way, however, we falsely assumed that this Baptist hallmark limited our voice in the public square. We were told that politics and religion don’t mix, that churches should only focus on personal conversions instead of worrying about today’s needs.
This notion that politics and religion were a toxic cocktail was exacerbated in the last two decades when fundamentalist Baptists used partisan politics as a way to promote their particular religious agenda. They rewrote history to their liking, turned the First Amendment disestablishment clause on its ear, and worked to restore the U.S. to its supposed place as a Christian nation.
Progressive Baptists wanted no part of this bastardized history or this partisan conscripting of politics.
And so some worried when politicians were invited to last week’s Atlanta gathering, fearing that partisan politicking and electioneering would creep into the agenda.
What we are discovering is that there is a profound difference between sectarian partisan politics that seeks power, and politics that selflessly focuses on the common good of all people regardless or religion or practice.
The New Baptist Covenant was political but not partisan. It talked about Jesus’ concerns for poverty, child welfare, equality, the environment, and other issues that affect the common good. It never once came close to promoting one candidate or party over the other, but rather held up those concerns that we believe Jesus would champion.
This felt faithful to our Baptist heritage and to the people of our communities who need us to be our best.
A Long Overdue Family Reunion
by Creed Caldwell, First Baptist, Middlesboro
The New Baptist Covenant Celebration was like a long overdue family reunion within which I found thousands of folks, who once were strangers, but now are family members with many of the same concerns, needs, and either similar experiences or better yet complementary experiences and abilities that, when shared, can make for a stronger family. Introductions were made to more resources, opportunities, joint ministry and mission possibilities that will enable us as Baptists to participate in the unity of seeking peace with justice, bringing good news to the poor, respecting diversity, welcoming the stranger, and setting the captives free.
As a Baptist World Alliance trademark slogan puts it: “Your network to the world!”–that basically is what I felt the Celebration was and is and can become. Another organization we don’t need, but perhaps if a current partner in this mix such as the North American Baptist Fellowship (BWA region) could serve as keeper of the new website, coordinator of occasional gatherings, and general clearing house of our individual networking efforts; the moment of the Celebration could indeed become a movement.