born a Baptist

I was born a Baptist. When my parents took me home from the Jackson-Madison County General Hospital on August 26, 1964, four days after my birth, our destination was Ellis Hall - a men's dormitory on the campus of Union University. Founded in 1823, this four-year liberal arts-based university in Jackson, Tennessee, is the oldest institution affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Both of my parents are Union grads, and when I was born they were serving as dorm parents at Ellis Hall. 

During his years at Union, Dad taught in the classroom and worked in the administration, serving as dean of students and later vice president. After running an unsuccessful campaign for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District in 1974, Dad accepted the position of the Executive Director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, where he served for the next decade. Dad always said that Baptist politics were worse than state politics. As I have gotten older, I have sadly come to understand the wisdom of his words. 

When I was an infant, my parents began taking me to First Baptist Church in Jackson, which had been the site of their wedding on August 20, 1961. Their church home became my own. When I was nine years old, I walked down the aisle of that church during a revival and publicly professed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior and became an official member of that congregation. During subsequent years, I have been a member of four other Southern Baptist congregations - three in Tennessee and one in Maryland.

Through the years, I have become increasingly reluctant to identify myself as a Baptist. The public perception of Baptists is not positive, due in large part to the divisive rhetoric of the leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention. I am a member of a Southern Baptist congregation, but I do not wish to identify myself as a Southern Baptist. When I'm filling out a form that asks me to identify my religious affiliation, as I mark the "Baptist" box I always want to write a note out to the side that reads "But I'm not that kind of Baptist!" 

Thankfully, during the past year I believe I am reclaiming my Baptist heritage as I have connected with an ever-increasing circle of like-minded Baptists. The process began in earnest when I began working part-time as a Leadership Development Specialist for the Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship last September. What a joy it has been to work with Baptists who want to cooperate with other believers to advance the kingdom of God! Another significant milestone in this heritage reclamation journey was the Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant, which was held January 30-February 1, 2008, in Atlanta. After spending three days with 15,000 other Baptists who represented 30 Baptist conventions and organizations, I departed Atlanta with a rekindled sense of hope for the future of Baptists. (Leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention officially declined to participate in the Celebration, but there sure were a lot of Southern Baptists in the assembled crowd!) Attending the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Memphis in June provide me with yet another opportunity to fellowship with like-minded Baptists, and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to participate in the 25th anniversary celebration of Baptist Women in Ministry.

I am a Baptist - a Baptist who believes in soul freedom, Bible freedom, church freedom, and religious freedom. I'm hopeful that one day I will be able to say "I am a Baptist" and not only will I not wince, but no one else will either.

my kind of Baptists

I have been in meetings in Murfreesboro during the past two days associated with the Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship - the staff meeting on Friday and the Coordinating Council meeting on Saturday. I began working part-time for TCBF last September as a Leadership Development Specialist, and I have been blessed beyond measure to be able to connect with folks who share my commitment to historic Baptist beliefs. Tomorrow I will expound about my journey as a Baptist, but for now, I'm simply going to include the preamble from TCBF's constitution to help explain who I am as a Baptist:

As free and faithful Baptist who are followers of Jesus Christ, we accept His command to take God's message of love and forgiveness to people everywhere.

We affirm the priesthood of each believer, recognizing that each has direct access to God through Jesus Christ, and is able to know and do the will of God. We recognize that each believer, without the aid of any creed, has the privilege and responsibility of understanding and applying the teachings of scripture as led by the Spirit.

We believe in the local church, recognizing it as a voluntary association of baptized believers, and we respect the autonomy of the local congregation. We stand for religious liberty and hold firm the principle of separation of church and state. As freedom loving people, we believe in equality among believers, all of whom are free to exercise the gifts of the Spirit. Our belief in free speech, free press, and freedom of the soul is unwavering. These freedoms and distinctives are essential to our identity as a people of God.

We are cooperative by nature, recognizing the blessings of shared mission and ministry. It is our desire that this fellowship be inclusive, for our Baptist heritage has taught us that there is strength in diversity. Realizing that we are only a small part of God's family, it is our desire to cooperative with each other and other Christians as we seek to minister in God's name.

As a fellowship, we are not in competition with any church or convention. Our only desire is to be faithful to the One who has called us, and whose love empowers us. Understanding and doing God's will is our constant objective.

Amen!