From the Pastor...Baptist Baptist
This past Saturday I saw a sign for a Baptist church in a community located a couple of counties over from Powhatan. The name of the church is “Baptist Union Baptist Church.” The sign caught my eye because it was the only time (to my knowledge) that I have ever seen a Church that worked the word “Baptist” into the name not just once, but twice. I don’t know anything about that church (other than their name and location), but I figure that they really wanted to get the point across that they are Baptist.
Last week I was having lunch with another Baptist pastor (and BGAV strategist) and as we were talking about church, he casually asked “so are you all going to keep the ‘Baptist’ in your name?” It was an interesting question, and I honestly would never consider changing our name to remove “Baptist.”
But I admit, at least half of the time I refer to us as simply “May Memorial Church.” Part of that is for convenience, and at times I am more intentional to use our full name, May Memorial Baptist Church. But being Baptist is important to me. I have always been Baptist, and the hallmarks of the Baptist tradition are important. I believe in “believer’s baptism” and “regenerate church membership.” I affirm the idea of “soul liberty” and the “priesthood of all believers.” I like the freedom that exists in Baptist life for individual churches to follow God’s Spirit and scripture to fulfill their individual calling. I believe and rejoice in those things, but I don’t know that I’m a “Baptist Baptist” either.
One of the things that I love about our church is our diverse denominational backgrounds. We have people join our church who were raised Methodist, Presbyterian, Disciples of Christ, Lutheran, Catholic, and Episcopalian. We even a few who were raised Baptist. And we all come together to worship God and serve our world in Christ’s name, and in so doing it reveals that God’s work is much bigger than any one denomination or Christian faith tradition.
Our May Memorial story starts with a gathering of Christians of different denominations meeting in the Courthouse, and after a few years of gathering a decision had to be made. The way I’ve heard the story is that it was a Methodist who made the motion that we be a Baptist Church, and so we were. But we have certainly kept that ecumenical flavor. It is in our DNA; it is a part of who we are. It is a unique quality, and it is another way that we can extend the welcoming hospitality that is a part of our church.