Rodney Kennedy offers communion on a public sidewalk in 2012. Kennedy said he feels called to promote a sacramental form of Christianity. (Facebook photo)
Self-described “Catholic Baptist” Rod Kennedy preached his last sermon Sunday as pastor of First Baptist Church in Dayton, Ohio, ending a 12-year tenure that landed him frequently in the media spotlight — and often at odds with some in the larger Baptist community.
In Dayton and throughout Ohio he was “that Baptist” involved heavily in the interfaith and ecumenical movements. He OK’d the use of wine a few times during communion, baptized one infant and married one of the three gay couples (so far) to be married in the church.
Most rewarding about these and other milestones, he says, is that the landmark downtown church became synonymous with an approach to faith that valued both the heart and the mind.
“Being sacramental and being progressive gave us an opportunity to have an alternative to Baptist fundamentalism in our city,” Kennedy says about the American Baptist Churches USA congregation. “It was just so invigorating to me to know we were offering an alternative and the [resulting] criticism energized us.”
Kennedy, 66, says his congregation stood behind him solidly as he dove into local and national social issues, such as voting rights and same-sex marriage. Most of all he was always quick to counter the truth claims made in the media and other venues by conservative evangelicals.
More than once, he says, he encountered current and former Christians who were surprised to learn you don’t have to believe the Earth is 6,000 years old to be a disciple of Christ.
“If you do not speak an alternative truth claim, then the only truth claim anyone has to go with is what they are hearing from these fundamentalists. But they do not have the whole truth — they are just claiming to have it.”
Kennedy spoke with Baptist News Global about his time at First Baptist and his plans now that he has left the church.
The most thrilling aspect was the freedom that this congregation gave me to engage our community intellectually…. The church was a center of intellectual power over these dozen years. I had the freedom to do social justice work from get-out-the-vote to gay marriage…. Anything that had to do with improving the quality of life in this city, the church allowed me to be in those organizations.
Were you able to officiate a same-sex wedding at First Baptist?
We had three gay marriages at First Baptist Church since the Supreme Court ruling. I officiated one and our associate pastor officiated the other two.
You baptized an infant at the church last spring. How did that go over with the congregation then — and since?
The congregation responded with a variety of emotions, from puzzlement to not being happy about it. But only one person actually left the church as a result of that and it turned into a wonderful teaching moment. I was disappointed there wasn’t more conversation within the church and beyond the church…. Churches are so sucked into the politicization of the church and dealing with secular issues and suddenly baptism and community and the inspiration of scripture seem no longer to energize people.
What motivated you to do an infant baptism — and have you done others?
We’ve had two baby dedications since then and both times the parents requested dedications. We have not had a request for another infant baptism.… Due to our ecumenical involvement in Dayton, I reached a theological conclusion that infant baptism is valid and I will do so as long as I am requested.
What inspired you to co-edit Gathering Together: Baptists at Work in Worship?
Across the nation there is a group of Baptist scholars … who have been writing in the area of Baptist catholicity and sacramentalism…. I thought the time had come for a local church pastor to begin to implement some of these thoughts. I have always been deeply attracted to liturgy, so it was an easy step for me.
How did that play out at First Baptist?
In our regular worship, we had communion on the first Sunday of the month. But every Sunday, in the chapel, up to 15 of us gathered for a full sacramental communion service…. We also had a service of the laying on of hands and anointing with oil.
Your church hosted a displaced Episcopal congregation in 2013. Was wine used in those services?
For five Sundays we held joint worship. We used the Book of Common Prayer. We had communion every Sunday. There were four stations and there was a chalice of wine and a chalice of grape juice at each station, and a loaf of bread at each station. We just noticed, without exception, that many of the Baptists took the wine instead of the grape juice.
Was there any pushback on that?
One person said that it was insensitive to people who are recovering alcoholics. I just said I understand that and I appreciate you telling me about that. Other than that, no one made any comments at all.
You have said liturgical worship attracts young people — do you see that trend continuing?
Yes, I do. I am pleased to find that among Baptist churches there is an increased interest in celebrating portions of the Christian year. … I think young adults are looking for a deep worship experience that is more than singing praise hymns and listening to a 30-minute sermon. And when they show up at our place, they find that and frequently they become involved in our community.
How did a Southern Baptist from Louisiana get into all this liturgical and infant baptism stuff, anyway?
I was influenced by people like Carlyle Marney, who was often accused of heresy…. I always worked with people who were on the outside of that growing conservative evangelical movement…. The more they insisted on being right, the further away I drifted and that’s how I became a catholic Baptist and got into scholarship and building a church that didn’t need to be certain about everything.
Where are you headed next?
I am going to continue writing. I just finished a book of essays with my fiend Kyle Childress [pastor of Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Texas]. The two of us have a long history influenced by [the late Baptist author and activist] Will Campbell, so we imitated Will Campbell’s style. I just finished a book of sermons … to aid preachers in developing sermons…. Rabbi David Sofian — who retired from Temple Israel in Dayton — and I are writing a book about holiness…. He and I have been best friends for a dozen years…. And I have two other books in the making. And I am going to start a school of preaching. Preaching is my life and my passion.
Will you be staying in Dayton?
No, we are back in Baton Rouge.
Will you be able to find a church down there that meets your liturgical and sacramental needs?
I’ll go to the Episcopal Church. In Dayton, we were joint members of Christ Episcopal and First Baptist. We went to Wednesday night services at Christ Episcopal.