ASHEVILLE, N.C. (ABP) — Historically, Baptists are reluctant to organize beyond local congregations out of fear that such structures will impinge freedom, said longtime Baptist leader Cecil Sherman during an April 21 event honoring his service.
“To get a job done, you've got to organize, but if you organize, you might do something to limit freedom,” Sherman said about the dichotomy of Baptist life. He spoke after receiving the Judson-Rice Award, which honored his work in Baptist life.
Sherman, who served as pastor of First Baptist Church of Asheville, N.C., for 21 years, used his acceptance speech to chronicle the movement of Baptists toward and from freedom. He said 18th -century Baptists “started thinking outside the Calvinist box” and organized mission societies to spread the gospel. Further structures were formed for education and publishing.
“Baptists are torn,” Sherman said. “There's necessary commitment to structure, but we should lean away from structure when freedom is threatened.”
Sherman, who served as the first coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship from 1992-1996 and now teaches at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, said the moderate Baptist movement “has enough structure to hold up what needs to be done.” The moderate movement grew over the past two decades in response to a more conservative slant that grew in the Southern Baptist Convention.
Speaking specifically about moderate Baptist efforts in theological education, Sherman said the development of roughly 14 theology schools affiliated with moderate Baptists requires some strategic planning.
The “excellence” churches desire in the training of their ministers cannot be accomplished if each school attempts to do everything well, Sherman said. To that end, he urged leaders of moderate Baptist seminaries to focus on different, specialized areas of expertise — such as music and pastoral care — in training ministers.
Admitting he did not have all the answers, Sherman told the crowd of about 275 Baptist leaders gathered to hear him speak: “People who need to do the pondering are here; you can make things different.”
Prior to Sherman's address, Jim Slatton shared how his longtime friend had made a difference in Baptist life through such trying times as the Civil Rights movement and the battle for control of the SBC. Slatton, pastor emeritus of River Road Church, Baptist, in Richmond, Va., chronicled Sherman's leadership marked by “fierce, intellectual honesty.”
“Cecil saw what was coming in Baptist life,” Slatton said, and he called on moderate Baptists “to stand up, speak up and act.”
The Judson-Rice Award honoring leadership with integrity was presented to Sherman by Baptists Today board chairman Jimmy Allen. Allen received the first award in 2001. Other past recipients include Tony Campolo, Russell Dilday, Alma Hunt and Walter Shurden.
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— Jackie Riley contributed to this story. Photo available.