Kansas, New Jersey, or Oz
A recent letter (dated 10/28/05) from the Office of the General Secretary rhapsodizes over that very office. “This ministry stands at the center of all we do. What the hub is to the wheel, what the heart is to the body, what the sun is to the solar system, the Office of the General Secretary is to American Baptist ministry and mission.”
I hope that was written by the public relations firm and not someone who is giving leadership to the denomination. It sounds like the Wizard of Oz ruling over the Emerald City.
I believe that the Office of the General Secretary, because it gets its life from the local churches, is supposed to be leading the denomination in the way the local churches wish it to lead the denomination. The local churches should not be revolving around the Office of the General Secretary, rather the orbit of the OGS should be set by the spiritual gravitational pull of the local church (or as the October 28 letter refers to your church “the fundamental unit of mission”).
The large majority of our churches want the denomination to endorse the teaching of the Bible, and expect all ABC churches to follow that teaching. The large majority of our churches want the denomination to preach a clear call to transformational faith in Jesus as savior and Lord. The large majority of our churches want the denomination to be cooperative with other Christian bodies in doing significant social action, but stand out among them as unashamedly willing to make our biblical commitment public as the heart which pumps the life of our social sensitivities and efforts. The large majority of our churches want the denomination to have the spiritual backbone to challenge and censure those churches calling themselves ABC who will not join us in this traditional Baptist ministry style. And the large majority of our churches want the Office of the General Secretary to be outspoken in supporting these principles, and leading churches that do not endorse the Bible’s teaching to repentance, reformation, or as a last resort – relocation.
The Office of the General Secretary may still have significant influence in the churches that are troubling ABCUSA by their appreciation of behaviors the Bible calls sin. If the General Secretary were to take the courageous step of announcing that he will follow the teaching of scripture, work to make it truly authoritative in all ABCUSA deliberations, and call the churches that are affirming what the scriptures do not affirm to return to full obedience to God’s revelation in the Bible - the denomination might be restored. I pray that he will.
But, except for those ABC churches in Kansas, we’re not in Kansas any more, and it may be that it is time to follow the suggestion of one ABC Region that the Office of the General Secretary be discontinued. Perhaps, it is time for all regions to separate themselves from the current denominational structure and remain united in a very loose confederacy, or perhaps, ABCUSA should divide into two denominations one for those who adhere to the teaching of scripture and one for those who reject its teaching.
I hope that was written by the public relations firm and not someone who is giving leadership to the denomination. It sounds like the Wizard of Oz ruling over the Emerald City.
I believe that the Office of the General Secretary, because it gets its life from the local churches, is supposed to be leading the denomination in the way the local churches wish it to lead the denomination. The local churches should not be revolving around the Office of the General Secretary, rather the orbit of the OGS should be set by the spiritual gravitational pull of the local church (or as the October 28 letter refers to your church “the fundamental unit of mission”).
The large majority of our churches want the denomination to endorse the teaching of the Bible, and expect all ABC churches to follow that teaching. The large majority of our churches want the denomination to preach a clear call to transformational faith in Jesus as savior and Lord. The large majority of our churches want the denomination to be cooperative with other Christian bodies in doing significant social action, but stand out among them as unashamedly willing to make our biblical commitment public as the heart which pumps the life of our social sensitivities and efforts. The large majority of our churches want the denomination to have the spiritual backbone to challenge and censure those churches calling themselves ABC who will not join us in this traditional Baptist ministry style. And the large majority of our churches want the Office of the General Secretary to be outspoken in supporting these principles, and leading churches that do not endorse the Bible’s teaching to repentance, reformation, or as a last resort – relocation.
The Office of the General Secretary may still have significant influence in the churches that are troubling ABCUSA by their appreciation of behaviors the Bible calls sin. If the General Secretary were to take the courageous step of announcing that he will follow the teaching of scripture, work to make it truly authoritative in all ABCUSA deliberations, and call the churches that are affirming what the scriptures do not affirm to return to full obedience to God’s revelation in the Bible - the denomination might be restored. I pray that he will.
But, except for those ABC churches in Kansas, we’re not in Kansas any more, and it may be that it is time to follow the suggestion of one ABC Region that the Office of the General Secretary be discontinued. Perhaps, it is time for all regions to separate themselves from the current denominational structure and remain united in a very loose confederacy, or perhaps, ABCUSA should divide into two denominations one for those who adhere to the teaching of scripture and one for those who reject its teaching.
posted by St. Louis K at 2:07 PM
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