Wednesday, May 23, 2007

What Does It Mean to be LAST?

Everywhere you go, you likely see one white clapboard church that is in the center of town, or near it, with the legend, "First Baptist Church of (insert town here)." It meant a lot to be the first, to be out there on the green, with the Town Hall, the Unitarians, and the local saloon. But, as characters say in King's The Gunslinger: "The world has moved on."

They say that when two Baptists gather there are three opinions. Funny thing is, there are fewer and fewer of us who still cleave to historic baptist principles, the things that made our brand of Christianity important. In light of that, we set up a lot of meetings, network, send e-mails, call for this, call for that, and...nothing much happens. Meanwhile, a vast number of folks have adopted the appellation "Baptist" to mean a whole bunch of things that have little to do with what it meant to be Baptist in the first place.

Who will be the last Baptist standing? That's unknown, but I can assure you: we'll have to choose from among the available Baptists. All three or so.

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Why am I here?

I began this blog in preparation for what has been billed in some circles as the "last desperate hope for non-SBC Baptists," the New Baptist Covenant.

Who's us? Well, in my case, American Baptists. I am a cradle American Baptist, having grown up in the Union Baptist Church of Mystic, Connecticut (see links) where I was baptized into the faith in 1981. I pursued various secular goals for a while before recognizing a call to Seminary at Andover Newton Theological School, which led to ordained ministry here at First Baptist Church in Newton.

I am a disciple of the writings of C.S. Lewis, Walter Rauschenbusch, and William Sloan Coffin. As such, I am a student of "liberality," as so well expressed in the recent Christianity for the Rest of Us by Diana Butler Bass. That means I personally believe in welcome and inclusion of ALL persons into the Christian faith, even the folks I disagree completely with.

Is the title self-referential? No, not by a long shot. However,"...a vast number of folks have adopted the appellation 'Baptist' to mean a whole bunch of things that have little to do with what it meant to be Baptist in the first place.Who will be the last Baptist standing? That's unknown, but I can assure you: we'll have to choose from among the available Baptists. All three or so."