Shift Happens (Or It Should)

by Rev. Dr. Larry Hovis

Most of us in North Carolina realize that a significant shift has been taking place in recent years, a shift in the relationship between the church and the culture. Earlier in my life and ministry, the church sat at the center of the culture. A majority of people went to church, or at least understood the nature and purpose of the church. The culture supported, rather than competed with the church.  The church enjoyed a privileged place in most of our communities.

That is no longer the case. The place of the church has shifted from the center of the culture to the margins of the culture. Not only do most persons not attend church, but they don't even feel guilty about it! Some have no direct knowledge of the beliefs and practices of the church and don't see how it is relevant for their lives.

This is a relatively new phenomenon for most of our churches in North Carolina, but it has been going on in Canada for a long time. On a trip to Canada during last summer’s sabbatical, I met with Baptists who share our core beliefs and practices and learned how they have been dealing with shift for several decades. As I visited with Marc and Kim Wyatt (CBF Global Missions field personnel from North Carolina), congregational leaders, regional denominational leaders, a seminary professor and the leaders of Canadian Baptist Ministries (a global missions agency), I learned of shifts they are making that are enabling Canadian Baptists to deal faithfully and effectively with the larger cultural shifts that have now reached the Tarheel State.

From Church-As-Community Institution to Church-As-Mission Outpost

In our heyday, churches were viewed as significant community institutions. People understood what churches offered and came to churches to receive religious goods and services (programs and ministries) in much the same way they went to other community institutions to receive the goods and services they provided. Church leaders worked to provide the best programs and ministries possible in order to attract people to the church, who, for the most part, understood what the church was trying to do.

Churches in Canada no longer pretend that the culture "gets" the church. Instead of thinking like marketers or managers or even chaplains, they are learning to think like missionaries. When missionaries move to a new place of service, they don't assume that those they are trying to reach understand what they are doing. They don't begin by creating programs to attract persons to the church. They first learn the language and customs of the community. They build relationships with people to discern their felt and real needs. Then they begin to translate the Gospel of Jesus Christ into tangible need-meeting ministries that connect with people where they live and where they hurt. Bible studies and worship services grow organically out of tangible expressions of the Kingdom of God, not vice-versa. In the future, in order to deal with the changes in our culture, we church leaders in North Carolina will need to think more like missionaries and less like program managers or chaplains.

From Fearing the Stranger to Welcoming the Stranger

Because of an open-door immigration policy, Canada has become a haven for people all around the world who have immigrated there to flee persecution or to seek a better way of life.  The city of Toronto is the most multi-cultural city in the world, and much of the rest of Canada has become very culturally diverse.

I imagine it was difficult, in the early days of a high level of immigration, for traditional Canadian Baptist churches to embrace the newcomers to their communities. The changes in their communities caused most of them to decline significantly in terms of traditional measurements (attendance and money). But in time, some of them began to discover ways to welcome the newcomers to their communities who came to Canada from other countries. And the congregations that have learned to make this shift are growing again.

For example, I was given the opportunity to preach at Bromley Rd. Baptist Church in Ottawa. It's a church that in many ways is very much like North Carolina CBF churches - architecturally, programmatically, and liturgically. But this traditionally Anglo church has reached out to newcomers in the community, particularly immigrants from Haiti and Karen people. They have reversed the decline in membership and attendance, they have more children in their Sunday School, and most importantly, they more faithfully reflect the Kingdom of God.

In North Carolina, our churches haven't always been welcoming to newcomers. Sometimes, often out of fear, we have shut the doors of our churches and our lives to them. A key task facing us is to make the shift from fearing these "strangers" to welcoming them as brothers and sisters in Christ.

From Mission Trips to Global Discipleship

How can we make these two shifts? Canadian Baptists have developed a powerful tool to equip Christians and churches to move in this direction. Like us, the Canadians have been sending church members on mission trips for three decades. But they discovered, as many of us know intuitively, that these trips often have as great an impact on those making the trips than on those we are seeking to serve. So, they have developed very intentional processes to utilize short-term mission experiences as vehicles for missional formation and discipleship development.

By leading mission trip participants through a pre-trip preparation phase that lasts several months, guiding them in focused reflection during the trip, and helping them apply what God taught them on the trip after they return home, church members who take mission trips not only grow more deeply in their faith, but they are better equipped to serve as missionaries in their communities when they return home.

In the coming years and months, CBFNC will be working to develop processes that will help congregations who participate in our mission efforts to make this shift. Not only will it enable us to be better stewards of the significant resources we pour into mission trips, but it may be a vital avenue of spiritual renewal for our churches and Kingdom-transformation for our state.

The church in North Carolina, like the church throughout North America, is undergoing drastic shifts. We may not like it, but we can’t stop it. Thankfully, like-minded and like-hearted Baptists in Canada have more experience in dealing with these shifts than we do. By learning from them and following their lead, we can make our own shifts that will enable us to be faithful to God’s mission in our time and place.

Larry Hovis is the Executive Director of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina. 

Living Between God’s House and God’s Acre

Dr. Bob Setzer

Knollwood Baptist in Winston-Salem is beginning a capital renovation, starting with the sanctuary. This newsletter article by Pastor Bob Setzer, Jr., sought to set that initiative in its proper context.

It is two miles from my new home to Bethabara Park, the site of the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. Inside the park is a lovely trail that meanders for about a mile through a canopy of trees. A couple of times a week, I run to the park, complete that loop, and run home. It makes for good exercise for the body and the soul.

During one recent run through the park, I wandered off the running trail to follow a narrow foot path. Eventually, the path opened into a small, quaint cemetery nestled in the woods. Above the entrance was posted the signature Moravian title for a graveyard: “God’s Acre.”

I was familiar with this epitaph from the beautiful Moravian cemetery in Old Salem. I even knew the theological meaning of the phrase, namely, that these buried saints are “seeds” of the resurrection yet to come (a la 1 Corinthians 15:37). But after running through a mile or so of stunning wooded beauty, I found the phrase annoyed me. After all, wasn’t that glorious expanse of good earth I just ran through “God’s Acre” also?

The same criticism could be leveled at the expression, “God’s House.” What sort of God lives in a “house”? Surely not one worthy of our worship! A God who can be contained in such a flimsy construct, be it a storefront church or a soaring cathedral, is far too staid and stodgy to challenge and transform our lives. There is a strong prophetic tradition in the Bible that says as much (Acts 7:47-49). Yet Jesus delighted in worshiping and learning in his “Father’s house” (Luke 2:49) and longed and labored for the day Jerusalem’s temple would be a “house of prayer for all people” (Mark 11:17).

Perhaps the way beyond this seeming contradiction is to recognize that the phrase “God’s House” is not telling us something about God, but about us. This is that space made sacred by presence and prayer and practice where we go to be awakened to God’s presence in all the world. Similarly, “God’s Acre” is the place we go to confront the reality of death, both that of those we have lost and our own. Hence, in some measure, the Christian journey is lived out in the space between “God’s House” and “God’s Acre.” And at Knollwood, we are blessed to have both sacred spaces on our lovely, natural, tree-lined campus: not only a sanctuary, but also a quiet, serene Memorial Garden where we can go to reflect and remember.

This summer, God’s House on the wooded knoll where we gather, will be refurbished to enhace our church’s worship, service, and witness. So long as that remains our passion and focus, I believe God will be pleased and glorified by what we are about to do.

Bob Setzer is the pastor of Knollwood Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, Expressions of Knollwod.

Glad Prisoners of Hope

By Dr. Lee Canipe

During the long struggle to end apartheid in South Africa, journalist Ted Koppel interviewed Anglican bishop Desmond Tutu on Nightline. Koppel asked Tutu, himself a black South African, if the situation in that country was hopeless. “Of course, it’s hopeless from a human point of view,” replied the bishop. “But we believe in the resurrection, and so we are prisoners of hope.” An odd way to put it, perhaps, but also wonderfully accurate: Once we put our faith in something as preposterous as resurrection, it’s impossible to look at the world again in quite the same way.

If we can believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the grave, then it becomes hard to believe that any situation is ever beyond redemption, that any relationship is ever beyond reconciliation, that any person is ever beyond the reach of God’s powerful love. To believe in resurrection is to be captured by a hope that simply doesn’t conform to reason and, in fairness, can sound awfully foolish—especially given the fact that there’s nothing at all common-sensical about resurrection. If we can believe in resurrection, then even in our most cynical moments, the hope that holds us will find a way to whisper in our hearts: “Yeah, but with God, nothing is impossible.” The nineteenth century English poet Francis Thompson likened resurrection hope to being chased by the “hounds of heaven.” It’s hard to get away from—and aren’t we glad of that?!

And so, what does that mean for us? Well, for starters, it means that the Holy Spirit has given us the power to do the work of Jesus—and, in fact, says Jesus, to do “greater works than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). People who believe in resurrection look for where God is moving and then join God there, trusting that what the Lord has blessed will indeed bear good fruit. Sometimes this requires a leap of faith, stepping out into the unknown and trusting that God will be there—which, really, is the very essence of resurrection hope. May it be so with us. Alleluia!

The exchange between Koppel and Tutu is from From Our Christian Heritage, ed. Douglas Weaver (Macon, Ga.: Smyth & Helwys, 1997), 365.

Lee Canipe is the pastor of Murfreesboro Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, NC. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, The Messenger.

St. John’s Baptist Forms Partnership to House Transitioning Homeless Families

Left to right: Dennis Foust,  Darren Ash, and Larry Hewitt in
the new offices for Charlotte Family Housing.

by Rev. Laura Barclay

In October 2010, St. John’s Baptist Church formed a Space Utilization Committee to assess how to use the second floor of their building, leading to an amazing partnership with Charlotte Family Housing that shelters families above their worship space.

Larry Hewitt, chair of the space committee, related that the church has previously housed a hospitality house for families of patients in the neighboring hospital. The hospital proceeded to build stand-alone facilities, and St. John’s wanted to figure out how to utilize the space in an ongoing partnership with the community and ensure that the building would be serving God beyond Sundays and Wednesdays.

Bert Green, Executive Director of Charlotte’s Habitat for Humanity, put the committee in touch with Darren Ash of Charlotte Family Housing, and they began talks to form only the second shelter in town that houses families. Moving in above the Fellowship Hall with the name “Hawthorne Place,” dorms will house six families at a time, with common areas for a computer lab, laundry room, kitchens and closets.

Ash relates that this move has been a blessing at a time when Charlotte seemed to be pushing homeless populations to the north side of town, making them feel unwelcome downtown. Many of Ash’s clients work at the neighboring hospital and will no longer face a long commute.

Ash shared that the goal is to transition these families out of the dorms and into the comfort of their own apartments, and then offer counseling services to help them cope with past traumas. Charlotte Family Housing has rental vouchers for about 120 apartment units for transitioning families, and the organization shelters and houses around 200 families a year.

Left to right: Ash, Hewitt and Foust in the living area of the
new apartments for homeless families.

In addition to living space, families receive asset-based social work to overcome obstacles to housing, as well as vocational counseling, housing advocacy and subsidies, financial incentives like microloans, ongoing clinical social work, and volunteer engagement with clients.

New pastor Dennis Foust is excited about the investment the church has made in their partnership, and is looking forward to building relationships between his congregants and the new residents through Wednesday night suppers, worship, and volunteer opportunities. Ash noted that the level of faith these families had was astounding and uplifting to the employees, who note their reliance on God during difficult times.

St. John’s partnership is prophetic for our times. Charlotte is ranked #2 in the nation for family homelessness. Charlotte Family Housing formed this year as a merger between three organizations to more efficiently and effectively care for homeless populations.

This partnership exhibits a church actively aware and engaged in their community and committed to what Jesus identified as the greatest commandment—loving God and neighbor.

Almost Christian - A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

I recently read Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers Is Telling the American Church by Kenda Creasy Dean, minister and Associate Professor of Youth, Church and Culture at Princeton Theological Seminary. This book is both a dissection and reflection on the findings of the recent National Study of Youth and Religion Survey. Dean outlines several points: most American teens view religion in a positive light but do not think about it often; teens reflect the faith of their parents; most teens do not possess the religious vocabulary to talk about their faith; a small group of teens claim religion is important and they are doing better in a number of areas than most teens; and most teens follow a weak form of faith dubbed “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” (21). Based on these findings, Dean explains and responds to the data while relating vignettes of certain teens’ stories.

Dean posits that the faith of many American parents, and what is presented in many churches, lacks the depth of a true, lived faith. Instead, churches and parents settle for a weak faith (Moralistic Therapeutic Deism) that leads them to be nice in order to advance in society and achieve the American dream. Dean examines Mormon children, one of the exceptions to the rule. They are highly invested in their faith, possess the language to talk about their religious views, and have a high level of investment in their faith community and service on its behalf. While Dean is clear that Mormon views and practices are not ideal for many of us (women are excluded from leadership positions and young adults are encouraged to marry early, among a few views objectionable to moderates and progressives), she tries to determine what we might learn from Mormons that could help mainline traditions.

Dean determines that our churches and parents must have “missional imaginations” that are willing to engage in the mission of God in our communities, not for the churches’ gain, but to further the kingdom of God (89). This involves a justice-filled faith that is active outside the walls of the church. Dean also encourages churches to pair adults with youth going through baptism or confirmation (118). These adults, or catechists, would serve as mentors who walk alongside the youth, share their stories, and show their interest in the youth. This encourages adults to talk about their faith and mature in their walk, as well. Ultimately, we should seek transformation through our teaching in the church (172). Dean illustrates this by showing how one set of lessons paired with a missions project out of middle class suburbia and into a poor Mexican town transformed one teenage girl. The teen was able to give up what was most important to her and obtain a deeper, more authentic faith that allowed her to view the poor through the eyes of Jesus. In this way, certain youth on this trip were able to take the focus off of themselves and onto God and their neighbors, maturing their faith and helping them become better disciples.

Dean’s conclusions are ones in which I can agree: The church is both the problem and the solution (189). When we present a weakened form of our faith that exalts “niceness” over engagement in justice issues, exclude people from our churches who are not like us in the name of Christ, or present the American Dream as Christ’s ideal for us, we fail our youth. Instead, we need to embrace the mission of God and reorient our churches, inspiring our youth to follow Christ out into the world to serve the poor and oppressed. Until we commit to this, we cannot blame our youth for thinking that “being nice” and following the status quo is the same as following Jesus.

Find out more about the book here.

Setting Records

by Rev. Dr. Larry Hovis

This column is the first in a series of periodic reflections from CBFNC executive coordinator Larry Hovis, distributed through various CBFNC electronic and social media, on CBFNC’s current ministry focus: “Collaborating with North Carolina Fellowship Baptists to strengthen and develop Christ-centered missional community in these rapidly changing times.”

At 2 pm on July 9, 2011, Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees, made history. In a game at Yankee Stadium against the Tampa Bay Rays, in the third inning, Jeter hit a home run against David Price of the Rays. It was Jeter’s 233rd home run of his career. But more importantly, it was Jeter’s 3000th career hit. Because baseball is driven by statistics, here are a few related to Jeter’s achievement:

· Jeter is only the 28th player to reach 3000 career hits
· He is the first Yankee to reach that milestone
· He is the sixth youngest player to join the 3K club
· Jeter is the eleventh player to have made 3000 hits with one team
· He is the second person (the other one being Wade Boggs) to have reached 3000 with a home run

As great a feat as this was, another part of the story is even more amazing. What is every baseball fan’s dream? To catch a ball off a major league hitter’s bat, especially a home run, especially a record-setting home run. The lucky Yankee fan, a 23-year-old cell phone salesman who caught Jeter’s record-setting ball, was in the right place at the right time and benefited from the fact that his father couldn’t hold on to it. Experts estimated that the ball would fetch more than a hundred thousand dollars on the auction block. So what did this fan do? This fan with two hundred thousand dollars in college debt? He gave it back to Jeter. He said,

"Mr. Jeter deserved it. I'm not gonna take it away from him. Money's cool and all, but I'm 23 years old, I've got a lot of time to make that. It was never about the money, it was about the milestone."

The young man’s name, appropriately, is Christian Lopez.

What would our world be like of all people­ - no, narrow it down a little bit - if all Christians acted like Christian Lopez. If we truly thought of others’ needs before our own. What would our world be like if churches were communities that corporately modeled this kind of selfless behavior, and formed community members who put personal profit aside for the good of their neighbors? How would if affect our programming, our budgeting, our ministries?

I know nothing of Christian Lopez’ faith commitments, but whether he was conscious of it or not, in returning the baseball to Derek Jeter rather than keeping it for himself and possibly eliminating his debilitating college debt, Christian was following after the example of his namesake, a way of life described by the Apostle Paul in this way:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others (Philippians 2:1-14).

What would our world be like if Christians and churches really, truly, every day acted like Christian Lopez, who gave generously and selflessly like Jesus? That would set a record to end all records.

Preaching for the Missional Journey – A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Preaching for the Missional Journey is a resource published by the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and compiled by Charles B. Bugg who has served as a pastor, homiletics professor, and dean of Gardner-Webb University School of Divinity. This book of sermons by various preachers from around the country can be used in bible study, Wednesday night studies, planning teams, and retreats. The hope is that these resources might help your faith community to live into a missional existence. As Bugg says in the introduction, “The church is on mission not because a few persons in the church have a ‘thing’ for missions but because the Spirit is the creative and energizing force for the whole community of faith” (4). In this way, the church may follow God out into the world instead of clinging to long-running programs that may not be working anymore.

The first sermon is written by Rev. Darryl Aaron of First Baptist Church on Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem. He discusses the idea of facing a time, like Esther, when we “have to live out our private purpose for the public good” (11). He sites Rosa Parks and others who are tired of injustice and must take a stand for what is right, encouraging you and me to be ready to be called by God to “risk something big for something good” (13). Rev. Robert Baker, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Kentucky, encourages us to stop “playing church” like children going through the motions and “be the body of Christ” (19). Rev. Amy Butler of Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, DC, shares that letting the Spirit move in our congregations may be chaotic and change the way we operate, “blowing everything out of order, turning things on their heads, creating a situation that breaks every conventional idea of what God and church and faith are supposed to be” (33). We must be open to this as those on the Day of Pentecost, and look for new possibilities. Rev. Emily Hull McGee, Minister of Young Adults at Highland Baptist Church encourages us in a dual sermon with her father, Rev. David Hull, to see ourselves as the innkeeper in the story of the Good Samaritan and view ourselves as “entrusted with the job of tending wounds, creating hospitable space, bringing about healing, and supporting the recovery process” (65). Rev. Carlos Dario Peralta of Encuentro Ministries asks us to focus on impact over church attendance, and view God as “alive and active, transforming people and communities around the world” (81). In doing so, we can learn to “build bridges that bring us closer rather than walls that separate us” (81). These preachers and many others help to point toward a vision of the church as a living entity where members branch out into the community, with every member being a minister to people of all backgrounds. We do this not to gain church membership numbers. Instead, we do this because we are called by God to serve one another for the sake of the Kingdom, not the institution.

This resource is hope-filled and energizing, and could be used in a variety of settings. There are questions for reflection at the end of every chapter, as well appendices in the back with examples and further resources. To learn more or purchase this resource, check out this link to the CBF store: http://shop.1asecure.com/prod.cfm?ProdID=374301&StID=10604.

When the Last Laugh Is Not Yours

by Dr. Greg Rogers

Editor’s Note: Oakmont Baptist Church voted to purchase a neighboring apartment complex in order to be on mission in the community. Since then, they have been engaged in and continually discerning how best to use this property for the good of the community and Kingdom of God.

Since we purchased Oakmont Square Apartments in August 2007, I have heard countless people make the same statement and then ask the same question, almost in the same breath: “I know we didn’t buy those apartments to be in the ‘apartment business,' but I really do think God wanted us to have them for some purpose. So what’s the purpose for our owning them?"

If you had been a fly on the wall during our first Oakmont Square Apartment (OSA) Vision Team meeting on February 6, you might have reached the same conclusion that this team is reaching: perhaps God’s ultimate purpose for our owning them is already being seen in how we are using them now.

This Vision Team idea was birthed during our last coaching session on January 9 with CBFNC Church and Clergy Coach Eddie Hammett as a way of continuing the conversation on future next steps for our church to build more “go to” structures into our community. It is composed of 11 lay persons and three ministers, who either volunteered or were suggested by other people to serve on this team following our January 23 church-wide prayer meeting.

Our coaching sessions with Eddie led us to identify three target groups – at risk families, college students, and senior adults – for whom we might seek to address their educational, vocational, medical, and spiritual needs. The Vision Team dreamed about what is already happening and what could happen when we viewed the apartments as a “hub” of missions and ministry into our local community. Here are just a few of the possibilities the Vision Team considered:

• medical clinics staffed by Oakmonters skilled in the healing of the body.
• creating an Intentional College Community where a college intern (divinity school student) would work with college students, and develop them into leaders focused on spiritual growth and missional service to the community and world.
• after-school tutoring for children, a ministry that is already occurring at the apartments under the capable leadership of a gifted team of Oakmont members.
• providing affordable housing for at-risk families and/or senior adults.
• a host of programs to grow a person spiritually as a follower of Jesus.

An interesting thought occurred to us all as we envisioned the possibilities: being in the “apartment business” may accomplish some or all of the above possibilities, placing us exactly where God wants us after all. If that’s the case just slightly, then God has a funny sense of humor and may have the last laugh on us before it’s all over.

Greg Rogers is the pastor of Oakmont Baptist Church in Greenville, NC. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, “Connections.”

Into the Wilderness - A Lenten Reflection

by Rev. Laura Barclay
Matthew 4:1-11 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'" Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.
We are beginning the 40-day period of Lent, when Christians begin a period of reflection and strive for spiritual growth leading up to Easter. For a brief history of Lent, check out my post last year, where I also suggested a resource for prayer and meditation.
In the text above, Jesus has not yet begun his ministry, yet is confronted
with temptation. Material wealth and coercive power are offered if Jesus will just change his path. Instead, Jesus is steadfast in his ways. He recognizes this as petty bribery and knows that he is destined to help God’s people. Often Jesus is pictured as above, a powerful image of a good man versus an ugly demon. I actually prefer the image to the right, with a fatherly looking figure talking to a young man, as if offering him something harmless. It seems to reflect reality and something we might face, making the biblical narrative more approachable. The painting illustrates that our seemingly innocuous decisions can have a large impact, for good or bad.
I wonder what this looks like in our own lives. Have you ever faced a time when you knew you were coming to a crossroads--that you could either go down a path of self-destruction and selfishness or follow the path of love shown to us by Jesus? Perhaps these are dramatic events like career changes or altering one’s worldview, or perhaps they are small, everyday occurrences like stopping to talk to someone who’s lonely, depressed or in trouble. Maybe it’s re-prioritizing our lives to attempt to make the needs of others more important than ourselves. Whatever that might look like, silence, prayer, and reflection could only help to sort out our confusion and make sure we are living for God and neighbor rather than living only to build wealth and fame for ourselves.
Spirituality and active love are interconnected. Only when we are striving for good practices of silence, meditation, or prayer, can we stop to hear the cries of others, as Jesus did. Most of us are used to a busy pace, so perhaps we would be more comfortable with a walking prayer. During such an active prayer, we can intentionally walk around our cities, towns, and neighborhoods, observing both needs and assets. As we go, let us give prayers of thanksgiving for community assets and ask God how we can help organize those assets to do the greatest good. This kind of walking prayer can be done with family, friends, or church members, and sharing what you discover with them and others might spark something –a new ministry, partnership or sharing of information that could better the community.
May your time of reflection lead you out into the world to join God’s good work.

What Is the Church to Do in Rapidly Changing Times?

by Dr. Roger Gilbert

I think we all are keenly aware of the fact that our world is rapidly changing and that the changes impact all of life, including the church. Many of us grew up with the church being the center of the community and our family life. There was no question about what we did on Sunday morning. Likewise, the community around us was careful not to plan events that would conflict with church schedules. All of that has radically changed. So has church attendance and involvement.

What is the church to do? It is not likely that the culture is going to revert back to the way it was in the 1950’s, or even the 1990’s. There are a lot of different ideas about what should be done. One approach is to use the marketing techniques of the business world and remold the church so as to be attractive. There is validity in seeking to better understand our world and better relate to the people so we can share the gospel with them. There are also dangers in that approach. One danger is that the church may lose its distinctive as the church and simply become a reflection of the culture. That is already a reality to some degree. A second danger is that in an attempt to attract people we may use gimmicks with nothing more than shallow, short term results.

One of the difficulties within the church is that we are products of our culture and tend to measure “success” by numbers: membership, attendance, budgets, etc. While those factors are important, the calling of the church is to be the Body of Christ. We are to follow the example and teaching of Christ in loving and serving. We are to be faithful in using our gifts of time, talents, and resources in ministering to people and bearing witness to the gospel. Our attention is not to be directed toward tangible measurements of success but toward faithfulness to Christ.

Nearly a year ago nine of us pastors from across the state were on a retreat. While talking about similar issues, one of my good friends made reference to a saying that was popularized by Henry Blackby. He said, “discover what God is doing and join Him.” Since that time I have been intentionally asking questions and listening to what people are saying about both the needs in our community and the potential in our church. There are some exciting possibilities. I believe God is at work in a variety of ways in our community and may be inviting us to join Him in some of them.

I have shared some of this with our Church Council and asked for their input in how to involve the larger congregation in this conversation. In the months ahead we expect there will be some small group as well as large group participation as we seek to perceive where God is working in our community and how First Baptist Church can join Him. We are asking our members to think about the both needs and resources that God has given to our congregation. If one new ministry is the result of this process, it will be well worth the effort!


Roger Gilbert is the pastor of First Baptist Church, Mount Airy, NC. This article originally appeared in their church newsletter, "The Announcer."

Missional Renaissance, A Review

by Dr. Larry Hovis

Missional Renaissance: Changing the Scorecard for the Church, Reggie McNeal, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 224 pages

Much of my professional reading in recent years has been on the Missional Church. I truly believe it is not only the most authentic way to understand the Church of Jesus Christ, but this vision of the church provides the greatest hope for free and faithful Baptist congregations who are trying to find their way in these changing times. Unfortunately, most of the books on the Missional Church I have read are either too academic, or too "non-Baptist" to be accessible to most of the folks with whom I work. This book is, thankfully, a huge exception to that rule.

In this work, McNeal uses language and concepts that are familiar to Baptists (after all, he worked many years for the South Carolina Baptist Convention), but accurately and compellingly shares a new vision for the church based on missional theology. Eminently practical and thoroughly readable, I think every pastor, staff minister and lay leader should purchase and devour this book.

In general, McNeal argues that effective ministry in our time requires that churches and church leaders make three major shirts: from internal to external, from program development to people development, and from church-based to kingdom-based. For each shift, he suggests practical ways to change the scorecard so that churches can measure what matters when it comes to our efforts to pursue the mission of God in the world.

These three shifts call for a new scorecard for the missional church. The typical church scorecard (how many, how often, how much) doesn't mesh with a missional view of what the church should be monitoring in light of its mission in the world. The current scorecard rewards church activity and can be filled in without any reference to the church's impact beyond itself (p. xvii).

We must change our ideas of what it means to develop a disciple, shifting the emphasis from studying Jesus and all things spiritual in an environment protected from the world to following Jesus into the world to him in his redemptive mission (p. 10).

Larry Hovis is the Executive Coordinator of CBF of North Carolina.

Church in the Inventive Age - A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Church in the Inventive Age, by Doug Pagitt, is a book that aims to help American readers understand the changes happening in their church and world, and give them tools, examples, and options to not only adapt, but also to thrive. Pagitt posits that we have been through three ages already in America: the Agrarian, Industrial, and the Information. We are now delving into the Inventive Age, when everyone can be producers information through social networking sites. This age is also marked by people who care deeply about relationships, but who also recognize and encourage major shifts in authority. Pagitt explains each of the four ages clearly and concisely, covers current rifts in the church and provides hope for a way forward, and then advises churches on three different ways to serve proactively in the Inventive Age. Miraculously, he does it all in only 111 pages, and it only took me 2 hours to read it (including note-taking and underlining)!

Pagitt’s explanation of the four ages helps the reader to understand their history, as well as parts of our culture that are stuck in the past. He makes clear that elements of past ages still exist and are still the reality for many people in various parts of the United States, but his generalization of ages helps us to understand shifts in culture. The Agarian Age is everything before the mid-1800s. Communities were more homogeneous and rural, and the church was a small parish church that valued having a shepherd as a leader. The Industrial Age followed, from the late 1800s to the mid 1900s. Many moved to the cities to find jobs and found themselves working side by side with more diverse people. There were many churches in one neighborhood to choose from, many catering to particular ethnicities or groups. The lines between denominations became more clear, and many churches modeled the magnificent buildings being built around them. The Information Age began in the mid-1900s, with many WWII veterans moving out of the city to own farms and create suburban communities. More people could read than before, and more schools were opening. Education wings were more widespread in churches, and it became an important cultural value to see churches as “learning centers” through Bible studies, programs, and classes (23). The pastor was, and still is in many churches, valued as a CEO type of minister, where people join and stay because of pastoral teachings and passive learning (mega churches are a good example of this model). Pagitt posits that we are now in an Inventive Age, with people increasingly comfortable creating their own content on the internet and deconstructing hierarchical structures. Authority is found in relationships. This is already leading to more conversational, emergent sermons with the pastor being the facilitator.

Pagitt helpfully points out that currently, neither the mainline or evangelical sides of Christianity have a good model. The evangelical group is willing to embrace new technology and ideas about where they meet for worship, but tend to be rigid on doctrines and values. The mainline group is more accepting in values, but is rigid in liturgy. Both could learn from one another, and embrace the cultural marks of the Inventive Age to move past their weaknesses.

Pagitt gives three models of churches with examples for how they can relate to the Inventive Age: churches for the Inventive Age, churches with the Inventive Age, and churches as the Inventive Age. These churches are essentially on a scale from welcoming those who think differently to fundamentally changing how to do church. One new church start hecites meets entirely online in a program called Second Life, with real people making avatars of themselves to meet and talk in a virtual church. Moreover, there are good examples of how this church has been redemptive to people who had been previously scarred by bricks and mortar churches.

Pagitt's ideas are valuable in this age of rapid change. He affirms the place of churches that fall into each of these categories, giving each type of church ideas on how to preserve their traditions while not becoming obsolete. Pagitt also gives churches hope for the future by encouraging them to be ahead of the cultural curve instead of lagging behind, as we so often tend to do. I would encourage pastors and church leaders to read this in a peer learning group or book study and have a discussion. See what kind of church you will be in the Inventive Age!

Doug Pagitt is a missional community leader, professional speaker, author, and radio host. Find out more about his book, Church in the Inventive Age, here.

Separate but Equal

by. Rev. Darryl Aaron

Traveling abroad really does take one out of his or her comfort zone. Early on during my recent travel abroad it was clear that I was stepping into unfamiliar territory. The mission of the trip was titled, “Going into Hard Places: Trips That Make a Difference.” Actually, I welcome the opportunity to enter hard places. However, all too often some who enter hard places enthusiastically come away from these tough territories highlighting the differences between “them and us” and thereby increasing, rather than decreasing, the chasm between God’s people. Traveling to Moldova and Bucharest took me more than a few miles away from home, but the distance covered could not erase the eternal imprint which I made upon each different person that I met. Throughout our journey I encountered experience after experience that validates this truth.

When my traveling partners and I arrived at our destination, our host and his young son met us. Later on that evening at their house both miles and mores were linked by the simple act of a father shoving his kid in the right direction. Specifically, the dad asked the son to play the piano for us but the boy wasn’t interested; he didn’t like to play the piano even though he had excellent skills. After a little coaxing (and eye-balling) from his dad, the boy eventually did what all young kids do when parents have made positive investments into their lives. The reluctant adolescent slowly meandered over to the piano and artfully displayed his gifts through song after song. His music alleviated the fatigue which resulted from our long excursion and reminded us that God’s gifts in each of us sometimes need a little push. The dad of this young boy has done what parents all over the world have always been doing: sacrificing so that the rooms for their kids will always have high ceilings. The father’s persistent insistence reminds us of the wedding at Cana where Jesus’ mother had to ignore her son’s reluctance to exercise his gifts so that the guests could discover that joy was available and burdens could be lifted. Sometimes many years and many miles separate us, yet we still find ourselves on the same plane—separate but equal.

Various experiences in Bucharest and Moldova underscored the truth that we are separate but equal. These experiences ranged from discerning that pastors everywhere want to be successful at what they do, to realizing that ministry everywhere is ebb and flow, to understanding that marriages are both rewarding and regretful, to seeing that universally people really are trying to be good witnesses, even while stumbling and falling. However, there is one incident that provided the strongest impetus for my putting these thoughts on paper.

One morning we visited a college in Moldova where we met and worshiped with a group of students. During lunch the professors were discussing the students’ curriculum and the discussion proved to be lively and stimulating. Noting that there are more than 12 nationalities represented in the college, the professors shared how specific missionary methods were given to exclusive students for “hard places. “ The professors said that because many of the diverse cultural mores and folkways of their pupils do not overlap, students are separated into groups where individual needs can best be addressed. Hearing this, I immediately thought, “Separate but equal!” In fact, as soon as I heard this concept of separating students in an academic setting voiced, history erupted from a soft spot within me and spilled out of my mouth in these words, “To me this sounds like separate but equal.” Right away, all of the Americans at the table knew the connotations of my remark. Sadly, although I had lost my luggage and my claim check somewhere along the trip, I was still carrying some “baggage.”

The College is sending young Christian missionaries back into Islamic regions with a thorough knowledge of both Christianity and Islam, and yet I was afraid that their backpacks might also be filled with the old burdens of racism and prejudice. If there is ever going to be authentic reconciliation among people, then all walls must be torn down. Dilemmas and controversies are best resolved when we all sit at the table and reason together. Differences are more readily recognized and celebrated when partitions are eliminated. Miles and mores can easily separate us but we can never be equal unless we believe that each of us must learn from one another. I can never really love my neighbor unless I sit at his table and eat his food. The professors learned of the baggage inherent in “separate but equal” because we were at the table together. There we exchanged disappointments and dreams—we touched each other’s marks of Christ.

I am grateful for the chance to have gone to another hard place and to have had God reveal himself one more time in the hard and soft spots. It is my hope that all missional efforts provide opportunities for God’s people to come to the table to simultaneously acknowledge our separation and affirm our equality in the kingdom of God. Amen!

Rev. Darryl Aaron is the pastor of First Baptist Church East Winston on Highland Avenue in Winston-Salem, NC. He wrote this reflection after a trip to visit CBF field personnel in Bucharest and Moldova, led by Rob Nash of CBF National and Pat Anderson of CBF Florida. Rev. Aaron was also a featured preacher during Dr. Charles Bugg's "Preaching the Missional Journey" workshops at the 2010 CBF General Assembly in Charlotte.

“The Missional Church & Denominations” – A Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

I recently read The Missional Church & Denominations: Helping Congregations Develop a Missional Identity, edited by Craig Van Gelder. This book pulls together essays of denominational and religious leaders who speak to the importance of transforming our communities of faith from being reliant on attractional, programmatic thinking, into missionally-minded congregations that are following God’s call beyond their walls and into their communities and world. Reading their comments, I cannot help but be excited about what this century holds for Christianity. In this age of pluralism and diversity, Christians have the opportunity to build relationships that reflect the dynamic calling of Christ who wanted followers to go out into the world.

Authors comment on various aspects of the need for transformation in our religious structures and the challenges that stand in the way of such change. David Forney encourages us to abandon our “institutional idolatry” that value bureaucracies over the relational work motivated by the Spirit of God (66). He uses the book of Hebrews as a model, both for it’s portrayal of Christian hope and it’s call in chapter 13 to journey outside the safety of the city gate as Jesus did. Alan Roxburgh claims that denominations and churches must accept change as the Jews in Babylon changed under Jeremiah’s mandate to reform themselves in this new place. We live in a secular society where denominational identities, traditional church models, and church attendance records are in flux, and Christians must learn to move past unhelpful and outdated programmatic responses. Denominations can engage in and embrace pathways to new, non-hierarchical, missionally-engaged leadership. Their examples and learning processes can become a resource for churches, when paired with coaching, toward a more community-engaged church with open space for believers to journey together in this new age (101-103).

Writers also use examples from their own denominations for why change needed to occur and how it happened. Daniel Anderson states that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has the idea of the Missional Church in its DNA, based on the fiery example of Reformation leaders. They followed the mission of God to reform the church, but eventually became bogged down in orthodoxy and Pietism. When the ELCA formed twenty years ago, they realized the need to hold it’s tradition of orthodoxy and practice in check with confessional piety. It wasn’t that they needed to do away with tradition, but they did need to renegotiate the boundaries of each strand of DNA. They also try to use their church structure for collaboration rather than hierarchical order, though they sometimes slip into programmatic solutions to missional questions (186-193).

I was struck by the fact that many of the writers of different essays from various backgrounds in this book were saying two very similar things. First, God is a sending God who is on a mission in the world. Churches, as a whole, must join God on that mission, rather than merely thinking programmatically and compartmentally that anything outside the church walls belongs in the outreach or missions programs. Second, the idea of being missional is centered on the idea of a Triune God who is dynamic and relational in the world. In the same way, we must abandon our hierarchical structures for networks--ones that are more communicative and conducive to sharing ideas and gifts. One essay writer, Dwight Zcheile, points out that corporations have already begun to embrace more fluid leadership models, and notes that the church’s tendency to “lag a generation or two behind” accounts for the reason the church as a whole hasn’t yet adopted such transformed structures (140).

Perhaps the greatest summary of what missional is and why communities of faith might consider transformation is articulated by Wesley Granberg-Michaelson of the Reformed Church in America at the close of the book, which he refers to this idea in the context of “God’s calling for our future.” He states:

“A missional church places its commitment to participate in God’s mission in the world at the center of its life and identity. “Mission” places the focus on what God is doing in the world, recognizing that God’s mission is always ahead of us, already active through the Spirit in the world…For the missional church, mission is not an activity or a program; rather, it lies at the center of the church’s identity” (267).

"Introducing the Missional Church" Book Review

by Rev. Laura Barclay

Introducing the Missional Church:What It Is, Why It Matters, How to Become One by Alan J. Roxburgh and M. Scott Boren is a resource for persons interested in thinking differently about the way in which church operates. The authors talk about how church has been traditionally attractional, meaning that the goal of the ministers and laity was getting persons from the community into their church through different programs and ministries. Roxburgh and Boren present another idea: The Missional Church. A missional church would be engaged in the community outside the church walls for the sake of relationship and community building, not merely for proselytizing. This hospitality embodies the example of Jesus and reorients the church to think about how they can help further the mission of what God is doing in the community. They refuse to give a model for how to transform from attractional to missional, because they say that the institutionalization of a model will actually keep a church from being able to adapt to its situation and community. Instead, they offer markers and a process for holding grassroots discussions in congregations that will help the members think outside the church walls and build relationships in the community.

Roxburgh and Boren stress the importance of the transition to a missional church not being a hierarchical decision; rather, they want to begin with house meetings with suggestions, questions, and concerns from the congregants. Findings from the congregations will be made public in a report, and discussion will ensue around the congregations’ observations within the church community. Some congregants will become interested through this process to venture outside the comfort of the church walls into the neighborhood. Roxburgh and Boren share a story about one congregation that notice a large influx of youth in the community, loitering on the streets because there were no community centers or youth activities. Members of the church built relationships with the youth and realized they wanted a facility to keep them occupied. The church then organized to build them a community center simply to be a good neighbor and better the city.

While the book can be frustrating at times because the authors stress that there is no road map to being missional, the ideas and resources provided allow churches to begin toward a path of looking outward into the world to find and work alongside with God’s mission. To access their Mission-Shaped Field Guide or Mission Shaped 360 assessment tool, visit www.roxburghmissionalnet.com. Also, you can find this book on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Introducing-Missional-Church-Matters-Allelon/dp/0801072123.