“Among Friends”
Adventures in Missing the Point
It was a friendly meeting. Six of us gathered inmy office on a Wednesday afternoon early inJanuary: Robert White, Executive Director of theGeorgia Baptist Convention; Danny Watters from the GBCChurch-Minister Relations office; Gerald Harris, Editor of the
Georgia Baptist Index
; and three of us from FBC Decatur: BobWoodson, John Hamrick and myself. This was the first conversation between FBC and the GBC since the Convention voted in November not to receive money from our church.After we visited for a few minutes Robert asked if he mightarticulate his understanding of where we are and made the followingfour points:1. As an autonomous church FBC Decatur is free to choose itsleadership.2. As an autonomous convention the GBC is free to determinethe parameters of its membership and is free to disagree withFBC’s choice of leadership.3. The vote by the GBC not to receive our money (and therebynot to allow FBC a voice at convention meetings) stoppedshort of the more drastic action of “withdrawing fellowship”from our church.4. The vote in November did not satisfy some individuals and a proposal to withdraw fellowship from FBC Decatur is likelyto come later this year at the annual meeting.That’s when I posed a question that’s been puzzling me since November. “What’s the difference,” I asked, “between the GBC’sdecision not to receive our money and a formal ‘withdrawal of fellowship’ from our church?” The response was a watershed momentfor me. They replied: “As it stands now, even though we won’taccept your money, FBC Decatur is eligible to receive help from theGBC. We can still provide materials and services for your churchsuch as the training of Sunday School or Vacation Bible Schoolleaders, or help with evangelism and things like that. If we withdrawfellowship then you wouldn’t be eligible to receive those services.” Not sure I’d heard correctly, I pressed a little. “Do you mean that if I called you up one day and said—‘The Spirit is doing somethingamazing at First Baptist Decatur! Waves of men, women andteenagers are responding to God and are being baptized and we coulduse some additionalhelp in giving them agood foundation. Couldyou send a team over tomeet with our folks?’— are you telling me that the GBC
wouldn’t
want to help us with that?”To his credit, Robert rushed to assure me that he would be willing tocome over and help us “personally—just not as a representative of theGBC.”Friends, in that hour-long conversation it became crystal clear tome why people are abandoning denominational structures in drovesand why denominationalism as it exists today is doomed: It is largelymissing the point. The denominational leaders in my office that daylove people and care deeply about the gospel—I’m certain about that.But the sad reality is, most denominational organizations are stuck in bureaucratic systems that have forgotten why they exist in the first place.The Verdery Counseling Center Team has been diligently working to continue thisministry in our church. The expectation isthat within a month or so the center will be up and running in a partnershiparrangement with The Care AndCounseling Center of Georgia. CCCG isone of the premier Pastoral Care andChaplaincy training programs in the U.S.and is based in Decatur. The partnershipwill provide us with one or two primarychaplains that will staff our counselingcenter and it will also give us the advantage of being able to choosefrom 20 different counselors, with varying areas of expertise, and 22interns. There will be options available to meet the specific needs for almost any counseling circumstance or preference.Our hope is that our center will be renovated and running withinthe next 30 to 60 days and that prior to that we will be able to have adedication/rededication of the Verdery Counseling Center andministry. The Team members are: co-chairs Fred Cavalli and LarryConnelly, Judy Neal, Judy Powell, Roger Ozaki, Mac Bowers,Eleanor Verdery, Katherine Dean, Jenny McCurdy, Julie Pennington-Russell, and Bob Williamson. Ron Stephenson has been involved andsupportive of the work of this group and has provided invaluableinsight. Please pray for this team and the future for our VerderyCounseling Ministry.
"Most denominational organizations arestuck in bureaucratic systems that have forgotten why they exist in the first place."
This column is not about naming the splinter in someone else’seye. The truth is, First Baptist Decatur will miss the point, too, if weever forget why
we
exist. May God save us from the deadly notionthat this church exists to provide goods and servicesfor eligible “members.” If anything, the witness of Scripture shows us that thechurch exists for the sake of the world. We exist to worship God andto invest ourselves in bringing Christ’s kingdom on earth. We exist todiscern and to do God’s will in an ever-changing world. We exist tofollow Jesus into gospel adventures of all kinds in collaboration withall God’s people, whatever their denominational preferences or doctrinal stances. (The missional networks with whom we currently partner—Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Willow Creek Association,Baptist World Alliance, Atlanta Metro Baptist Association, etc.—arecommitted to this kingdom-focused way of operating in the world.)One of the many reasons why I love being your pastor is that
you get it
in so many beautiful ways! We’re not a perfect church. We’vegot plenty of room to grow as disciples of Jesus. But more and morearound here I see FBC folks with a gospel gleam in their eye. God isgood, friends. And the Spirit is at work in our midst. I can’t wait tosee what kingdom adventures await us in 2009.Blessings,
"May God save us from the deadlynotion that this church exists to provide goods and services for eligible'members.'”
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