Around the Virginia Baptist Resource Center in Richmond, these days are filled with preparations for the Baptist General Association’s annual meeting to be held Nov. 8-9 at Richmond’s convention center. As you have no doubt already discovered, this issue of the Religious Herald is devoted primarily to that event. Lists of proposed board and committee members, future emphases and a recommended budget are provided. We have done this for years as a service to Virginia Baptists.
Jim White
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But this year something new is added. Never before in our 183 years of publication have we provided instructions on the BGAV Celebration Dance. Granted, I have not read every past issue, but I believe myself to be on solid ground in making this assertion. Judging from the stern countenances on the portraits of past editors, especially the venerable sage Jeremiah Bell Jeter, I doubt that dancing was an activity they promoted in print.
In fact, what did appear was enough to make the most ardent Baptist boppers hide their dancing shoes. Darlene Slater Herod, research assistant with the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, reports, “It seems that dancing was a hot topic in the 1860s following the civil war.” She reports that in 1847 an article asked, “Is dancing compatible with Christianity?” I haven’t read the article, but I suspect they concluded, “No.” R.B.C. Howell, an early Baptist leader, wrote an article of explanation which appeared in September 1867. It seems that some young people of his church had gotten so excited at a church festival that they began to dance. Howell explained that this was in violation to church policy and that First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tenn., should not be judged by this action!
In 1852, Rev. E. W. Roach of Red House in Campbell County, Va., became incensed that young people in his county preferred to go to a dancing school rather than attend the evangelistic meeting he scheduled at the church. In an article printed by the Herald, Roach referred to Mr. McCormack, the dancing instructor, as “a prancing monkey to dance their souls to hell.” Apparently dancing is much more sinful than slander. Not surprising, McCormack took offense and offered a rebuttal, also printed in the Herald.
With all this as background, it is no wonder that many of you grew up, as I did, with the admonition, “A dancing foot and a praying knee don’t belong on the same leg!”
Considering our denominational baggage, then, what about this new twist (pardon the pun) in the annual meeting? “We are simply trying to provide some fresh way to express the joy we feel inside as Christians,” affirmed event organizer Paige Peak, assistant executive director and chief communications officer for the Virginia Baptist Mission Board.
“The idea came from [VBMB field strategist] Eddie Heath who recommended a YouTube video of a church in Budapest, Hungary, doing a dance in the public square as part of their resurrection celebration. It was so exciting to see,” Peak recalls, “that we began to think about the possibility of doing something like that at the annual meeting.”
I have to admit that when I first heard of the plans, I was not enthusiastic. It isn’t that I think there’s something wrong with moving rhythmically to music. I’ve been tapping my toes for a long time. Anything beyond that is simply a matter of degree, it seems to me. In fact, the Bible admonishes us to dance as in Psalm 149:3, “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.”
Even the preacher of Ecclesiastes intones, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Eccl. 3:1-4).
While I revere Jeremiah Bell Jeter and his compatriots, they could be wrong about things on occasion. Jeter left First Baptist Church of Richmond largely because of a movement to install an organ which he believed to be an abomination. To show the Almighty has a sense of humor, Jeter left Richmond to answer a pastoral call to the Second Baptist Church of St. Louis, Mo. Between the time he affirmed the call and actually got settled on the field, the church bought and installed a new organ!
Many of us have associated dancing with the golden calf and what Salome did just before asking Herod for the head of John the Baptist. Perhaps he was the first Baptist to object to dancing. In addition to idol worship and murderous intrigue, dancing has also been linked to lasciviousness. But it seems to me that the real problem in these instances was the motive of the heart not the movement of the feet. In fairness, just because speech has been linked to profanity doesn’t mean we should quit talking.
No, my problem with dancing is not biblical or theological. It is coordination. Peak envisions hundreds of us all moving together in a coordinated dance of joy and praise. While I can applaud that, the truth is I have trouble remembering the movements in “Deep and Wide.” Suspecting there are many Baptists like me, she has provided an instructional video at www.vbmb.org/dance. You can go online and find out what steps to take. Literally.
Three times during the annual meeting, dance will be called for. I predict long lines at the restrooms during these times. But despite my two left feet, I will be among the rejoicers offering a fresh expression of praise to the Lord. I will be there not because of an affinity to dance, but because I want to affirm the people who have planned the event and those who will find it a meaningful part of their worship. It may not be my cup of tea, but because it is meaningful to others, I’m willing to give it a try. In so doing, it may even become meaningful to me.
But I think we need a name for our BGAV dance. I have ruled out the Sacred Sock Hop, but I think the Jeterbug has a nice ring to it, don’t you?
Jim White ([email protected]) is editor of the Religious Herald.