I have received many emails recently from pastors and lay leaders asking the how to move forward in implementing the “ancient-future” type of 21st century Baptist identity I have presented in this column. While the idea of finding our future…
OPINION: Becoming an organic local church
I recently had the privilege of traveling with a group of divinity students from Wake Forest University to western North Carolina where we visited several sustainable, organic farms. We met and worked with people who are experimenting with innovative and…
OPINION: Living the resurrection
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you ….” We can picture the scene in Luke’s Gospel quite well. After walking with Jesus, hearing his message…
OPINION: Diversity, unity and reconciliation
“God bless you if you do, God help you if you don’t.” These words came as a challenge from Neville Callam, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance during his Friday sermon at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina’s…
OPINION: As Baptists, it’s time we had the talk
As Baptists, the time has come for us to have the talk. The talk. The talk about which everyone has an opinion, but no one seems to have the courage to address. Yes, that’s the talk I’m referring to. The…
OPINION: In Lent, congregations find new life in death
Each year the season of Lent invites us to reflect on the reality that even the most well-lived lives eventually come to an end. For the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, Christians around the world participate through…
OPINION: Finding our future in our past
Although it is often messier than our present and at times even more uncertain than our future, the past must never be forgotten. Where would we be today without such champions of Baptist life as Roger Williams, Walter Rauschenbusch and…
OPINION: Cultivating 21st century Baptist identity
It was a desk. I found it one day while digging through a forgotten back closet at the small church I was serving in Midtown Atlanta. It was covered in a layer of dust, paint splatter and rat droppings. Lying…
OPINION: Cultivating 21st century Baptist identity
It was a desk. I found it one day while digging through a forgotten back closet at the small church I was serving in Midtown Atlanta. It was covered in a layer of dust, paint splatter and rat droppings. Lying…