WASHINGTON — A two-year “season of Jubilee” will prepare the District of Columbia Baptist Convention for a possible strategic realignment of its ministries, delegates to the convention’s annual meeting agreed Dec. 4.
“I’m excited and we’re looking toward transformation,” said DCBC president Kendrick Curry as he convened the 136th annual convention Dec. 3-4 at Clifton Park Baptist Church in Silver Spring, Md.
“We are witness of a great transition that requires we transform as a convention to be relevant in the 21st century,” said Curry, pastor of Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church in Washington. “We are part of a pivotal meeting because it represents how we move forward and how we function. As we move forward, we hope to leave an even greater legacy in this great convention as we follow God’s plan for us.”
DCBC president Kendrick Curry (left) and executive director/minister Ricky Creech confer during a break at the annual meeting. (Religious Herald photo by Robert Dilday)
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As the meeting unfolded, delegates and attendees spent time reflecting on the enduring legacy, the rich present and the collective hope for the future of the DCBC.
Delegates adopted a proposal presented by Amy Butler, chair of the strategic realignment task force and senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, and George Bullard of the Columbia Partnership, a DCBC ministry partner.
Earlier this year, the convention engaged in a “Journey of 180” — 60 days of discernment, 60 days of dialogue and 60 days of dreaming — designed to develop a strategic vision.
In response, the strategic realignment task force considered three scenarios for the convention’s future:
- A “denominational” approach, focusing on the DCBC as a “collaborative missional community.”
- A “para-denominational” approach, focusing on the convention as a missional network and expanding its reach to include both Baptist and non-Baptist congregations.
- A “parachurch” approach, expanding the DCBC’s focus to “include covenant partnerships among congregations, denominations and community-based organizations for the fulfillment of the Great Commission.”
But as the strategic realignment task force met, it discerned it would not be able to present a new model for structure of the DCBC at the 2012 gathering, said Butler. Instead, the group determined that as the DCBC moves forward, trust and relationship must be better established to gain a clearer vision.
The task force proposed that the DCBC take a two-year period of “Jubilee” — a biblical concept of sabbatical — during which the primary focus is to establish and foster intentional relationships, first between senior pastors of churches in 2013 and then between churches in 2014. Each senior pastor will be invited to make a commitment to meet regularly with two other pastors in the year ahead. Over the course of the year the pastors will pray, serve and celebrate to build relationships together.
“This season of Jubilee, will allow the DCBC to listen clearly for the Spirit of God in a proactive way,” said Bullard. “It will allow God to speak clearly to us about the new programs or activities with which the DCBC needs to be involved.”
Amy Butler and George Butler present a report from the DCBC's strategic realignment task force. (Religious Herald photo by Robert Dilday)
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Butler said, “Members of the D.C. Baptist Convention are tasked now with giving prayerful thought to the future direction of our convention. To know where our Jubilee years will take us first requires us to know and trust each other.
“To that end, our first task and opportunity in the year ahead is to ask our pastors to invest in building intentional relationships with each other,” she added. “From that considerable foundation we can move forward together into God’s future for us as a convention.”
DCBC executive director/minister Ricky Creech told delegates the result of the “Journey of 180” may have been “to discover that the destination is not nearly as important as the journey. Perhaps as a community we need to learn to slow down.”
Two task forces recommended items which required a vote from the convention. The denominational affiliation task force, chaired by pastor Elizabeth Hagan of Washington Plaza Baptist Church in Reston, Va., presented a new statement of values for the DCBC with no deferential relationship to any denominational body.
The statement, which was unanimously approved, read, “We believe that God has called us together under the Lordship of Jesus Christ to be in Christian community. While we are autonomous as local churches, we are interdependent and believe in the power of working together as a witness to Christ. Jesus affirms the diversity of our gifts and calls us to be in unity. We are many members, but one body — one Lord, one faith, one baptism.”
The bylaws revision task force, chaired by Jill McCrory of Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church in Silver Spring, alerted the convention that at the 2013 annual meeting it will present a motion to fold the DCBC’s constitution into its bylaws, which will serve as the convention’s sole governing document. The constitution has become outdated and redundant, McCrory said, and the move will streamline the convention’s processes.
In other action, the convention amended a bylaw to allow its existing officers to serve an additional year to provide stability through the transition period. Curry will continue as president, as will Hallem Williams Jr., a member of Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, as first vice president.
Delegates also adopted a budget for 2013 of $1,144,306 — the same amount as in 2012.
The convention welcomed three new member churches: Lai Baptist Church in Frederick, Md., Joy of Worship Ministries in Bowie, Md., and the Pavilion of God in Washington. The DCBC includes about 150 congregations in the District and suburban Maryland and Virginia.
While reflecting on the DCBC’s long history of activism and the role of social justice in the convention’s founding, Leslie Copeland-Tune, director of communication and resource development at the DCBC, said, “Our witness has always been to break down barriers and build up the body of Christ. We continue to tell our story and give the glory to God.”
Leah Grundset Davis ([email protected]), associate pastor for congregational life at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, is a Religious Herald contributing writer.
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