Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

Am I Emergent-Baptist?

OpinionJohn Carter  |  January 21, 2013

I minister on the periphery of Baptist life, trying to start a progressive Baptist church in the heart of the old empire.  I’m old enough to remember well the Baptist wars of decades ago, and yet new enough to ministry to be constantly frustrated by progressive Baptists’ preoccupation with differentiating ourselves from what we left behind.  When I go to Baptist conferences, I hear lots of conversations that can be grouped into two categories: the first is handwringing over the future of progressive Baptists, and the second is of the “aren’t we more enlightened than other unnamed Baptists” variety.  And I’m not really interested in either (though like everyone else, I sometime engage in both).

The first set of conversations annoy me because I believe we are called to be the church—for me, emphatically in the Baptist tradition—and if we are the church, live out the Gospel, and properly manage our institutions (and budgets), the future will take care of itself, one way or the other.  As deep of a Baptist as I am (mine is the seventh generation of my family to include a Baptist preacher), Baptists are not a “remnant,” and God’s kingdom will continue to break into earth whether “Baptists” are around to do it or not.

The second set of conversations just puzzles me.  They’re like listening to a person argue with their father, when the father has long since died and been put in the ground.  We need to let go of the argument, of the need to be right, and get on with living.  Also, the insecurity underlying this need to differentiate is no longer justified.  At this point it’s clear, mostly, who’s going to be left in the tent with us.  (It’s also clear who’s going to be progressive only on the “down low.”)  We can rightly be proud of the last 20 years, of the struggles and grieving, but it’s time to let all that go.  We have healed, and that healing has come at a cost.  It’s time, finally, to put that healing to good use and make our presence felt in the world.

I say all this as background to giving my reflection on the Phyllis Tickle/Emergence Christianity gathering that took place in Memphis last weekend (Jan 10—12).

Over the past several years, I have been disappointed by the scarcity of Baptist faces (and voices) at conferences I’ve attended on community development and on the Emergent church.  Much of the rhetoric about the new age of post-denominationalism heralds the arrival of decentralized authority and networks of support in lieu of chains of command.  But we still assume that this mostly involves just Baptists, and it doesn’t—or at least it shouldn’t.  Organizations such as OxFam, the Christian Community Development Association, and the American Friends Service Committee are excellent examples of potential partners in the Gospel work we are called to do.  Likewise, Baptists have a proud history of being at the vanguard of protecting religious liberty, our own and everyone else’s, and we should find a way of accepting the support of likeminded non-Baptists in this endeavor.  And we should find a way to do both these things without sacrificing our baptist-ness (and definitely without sacrificing the word “Baptist”).

One solution may be to enter the age of the hyphenated Baptists.  For in precisely the same way that Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and many, many others have found in these unwieldy hyphenated terms a way to maintain their cultural distinctives while claiming a common American identity, so too we Baptists need to find identifiers that help us hold on to our baptistness while solidifying bonds with those outside the Baptist tent. (By this logic, I suppose I’m an Emergent-Baptist, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet.)

It was so great to be at the Emergence Christianity gathering where people were truly excited and filled with the spirit talking about how lucky we are to get to imagine how church can be done differently.  The creativity, the hope, were both so energizing.  There were non-denominationals, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Vineyard folks, as well as enough progressive Baptists to make me proud.  And the fact that there was this intermingling across denominations only added to the excitement.

I look forward with great joy to the annual CBF meeting to be held in Greensboro this summer, but more Baptist leaders simply have to go to more conferences that involve mostly non-Baptists and become a part of the conversations that are going on, currently, without us. We have so much to offer, and so, so much to learn. For the past 100 years, Baptists, like Texas, have been big enough to pretend we’re all that matters. We don’t have that luxury any more. That’s what this “emergence” stuff is about—not just talking about post-denominationalism, but actually living it.


OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:religionTheologyBaptistMissiologyChurch StartsprogressivePhyllis TickleEmergence Christianity
More by
John Carter
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      News

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      Opinion

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      Opinion

    • How The Jetsons and Westworld help us think about robots, personhood and faith

      Analysis


    Curated

    • Ben & Jerry’s fears its new Israeli owner could sell ‘Judea and Samaria’ ice cream in latest court hearing

      Ben & Jerry’s fears its new Israeli owner could sell ‘Judea and Samaria’ ice cream in latest court hearing

      August 10, 2022
    • Why Alexander Hamilton gave his heart to Jesus at a Texas church this weekend

      Why Alexander Hamilton gave his heart to Jesus at a Texas church this weekend

      August 10, 2022
    • Baby Blues: How to Face the Church’s Growing Fertility Crisis

      Baby Blues: How to Face the Church’s Growing Fertility Crisis

      August 10, 2022
    • Orthodox Alaska Part 2: The Beatles, Bees And Orthodoxy Animated In One Man’s Life

      Orthodox Alaska Part 2: The Beatles, Bees And Orthodoxy Animated In One Man’s Life

      August 9, 2022
    Read Next:

    40 Congressmen urge IRS to reconsider classification of Family Research Council as a ‘church’

    NewsMark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      OpinionMarvin McMickle

    • How The Jetsons and Westworld help us think about robots, personhood and faith

      AnalysisRick Pidcock

    • Some evangelical leaders see FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as evidence of the religious persecution coming to them

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Advice from a sunflower

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Where are the women on the SBC’s first and second sexual abuse task forces?

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • New study finds scammers luring migrants with false information via Facebook and WhatsApp

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church

      OpinionDavid Ramsey

    • Progressive Baptist congregation on Wake Forest campus votes to close

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Why can’t we accept sexual and gender diversity in humans as well as in all creation?

      OpinionDan McGee

    • I’ve been unaware of my privilege, and if you are a man, you probably have, too

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • South African women’s soccer team success shines a light on gender wage discrimination

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Are left-wing radicals pushing Cracker Barrel to the edge of the slippery slope?

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • It isn’t a church and doesn’t have members, but it is a way to keep United Methodists in the fold as their congregations disaffiliate

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Al Mohler derides a dead man, and the dead man’s friends aren’t happy

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • Rural church offers community development grants through Gratitude Project

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • To be more welcoming, let’s remove our flags

      OpinionJustin Pierson

    • The church needs to do better on monkeypox than it did on HIV, faith leaders say

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • News flash: Not all Baptists are Southern

      OpinionBrian Kaylor

    • Russell Moore named editor in chief of Christianity Today

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Why aren’t we defending Brittney Griner?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • 40 Congressmen urge IRS to reconsider classification of Family Research Council as a ‘church’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Some evangelical leaders see FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as evidence of the religious persecution coming to them

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • New study finds scammers luring migrants with false information via Facebook and WhatsApp

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Progressive Baptist congregation on Wake Forest campus votes to close

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • South African women’s soccer team success shines a light on gender wage discrimination

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • It isn’t a church and doesn’t have members, but it is a way to keep United Methodists in the fold as their congregations disaffiliate

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Rural church offers community development grants through Gratitude Project

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The church needs to do better on monkeypox than it did on HIV, faith leaders say

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Russell Moore named editor in chief of Christianity Today

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • 40 Congressmen urge IRS to reconsider classification of Family Research Council as a ‘church’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Online religion content isn’t luring Millennials away from in-person church

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Study finds congregational leaders report LGBTQ conversations are worth the pain

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • There’s something odd about this Mary, did you know?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Cuban government clamps down more on religion

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • September symposium will celebrate life and legacy of John Claypool

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Faith leaders urge Congress to fund help for families torn apart by Trump’s ‘cruel’ family separation policy

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • It’s possible some senior adults in your church need help with medical costs or food but won’t say anything

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • It’s still ‘Christians only’ at this Tennessee Methodist adoption agency

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • War in Ukraine transforms churches into centers of care

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Distinguished preaching professor says he was fired from Southwestern Seminary; administrators say he quit

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • As frustration and misinformation mount, United Methodist Church’s reputation takes a beating

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Want to lower grocery prices? Urge Senate to pass Farm Workforce Modernization Act, panelists say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      OpinionMarvin McMickle

    • Advice from a sunflower

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church

      OpinionDavid Ramsey

    • Why can’t we accept sexual and gender diversity in humans as well as in all creation?

      OpinionDan McGee

    • I’ve been unaware of my privilege, and if you are a man, you probably have, too

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • Are left-wing radicals pushing Cracker Barrel to the edge of the slippery slope?

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • To be more welcoming, let’s remove our flags

      OpinionJustin Pierson

    • News flash: Not all Baptists are Southern

      OpinionBrian Kaylor

    • Why aren’t we defending Brittney Griner?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • A school administrator reflects on rebuilding relationships between schools and homes

      OpinionStanton Eugene Lawrence

    • Judging the stripper and the carouser in ourselves at the Communion table

      OpinionBrad Bull

    • After the Guidepost report, we need to know more about FBC Woodstock’s City of Refuge and NAMB’s support for it: Was ‘moral failures’ code for sexual abuse?

      OpinionJoanna Sullivan

    • Forsaking Baal for the God who is in recovery

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Thomas Merton, Martin Luther King and Critical Race Theory

      OpinionKen Zagacki

    • What evangelicals won’t tell you about the actual sin of Sodom

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Giving birth in prison: The grief of separation, the grace of presence

      OpinionKathy Manis Findley

    • Dear Denny Burk, your view of gender is not biblical, it is dangerous

      OpinionEllie Dote

    • Roger Williams, the father of American deconstruction

      OpinionAlan Bean

    • Why I’m an LGBTQ ally who won’t boycott Chick-fil-A

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Do the arts in church still matter?

      OpinionDoug Haney

    • When Christianity becomes toxic ‘Christianism’

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • When a friend went to prison for murder, the words of Jesus took on new meaning

      OpinionAllan Smith

    • What should we think of celebrities for Jesus?

      OpinionKatelyn Beaty

    • Dealing with the truth: An interview with Sarah Churchwell on Gone with the Wind, the Lost Cause and Donald Trump

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Ben & Jerry’s fears its new Israeli owner could sell ‘Judea and Samaria’ ice cream in latest court hearing

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why Alexander Hamilton gave his heart to Jesus at a Texas church this weekend

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Baby Blues: How to Face the Church’s Growing Fertility Crisis

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Orthodox Alaska Part 2: The Beatles, Bees And Orthodoxy Animated In One Man’s Life

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Hundreds of thousands gather for mass prayer in Baghdad

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ukrainian seminary professor faces difficult decisions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members. Where Are They Coming From?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Religious Right’s Agenda Is Center Stage Again — And It’s As Unpopular As Ever

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • After Trump, Christian nationalist ideas are going mainstream – despite a history of violence

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • At flashpoint Jerusalem holy site, whispered prayers defy unwritten accord

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Assemblies of God Ordains Record Number of Women

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck debate God’s position on abortion on ‘The View’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope Francis’ Pilgrimage of Penance: A Step on the Nonviolent Journey

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Christian flag in speech battle flies, briefly, over Boston

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn is reviving the golden age of cantorial music

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • At Lambeth, Anglican Communion abandons vote on same-sex marriage

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Oglala Sioux ban missionary, require ministries to register

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • White Southern Evangelicals Are Leaving the Church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Kansas voters resoundingly protect their access to abortion

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Sikh Americans honor 10th anniversary of Oak Creek shooting

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Congress is considering making same-sex marriage federal law – a political scientist explains how this issue became less polarized over time

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • When does conflict become spiritual abuse? Churches large and small face that question.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope to Kazakhstan Sept. 13-15, may meet Russia patriarch

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • When ‘Pro-Life’ Isn’t Enough: Abortion ‘Abolitionists’ Speak Up

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Conflict at diverse Austin church leads to claims of spiritual abuse

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2022 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS