Produced by The Center for Baptist Studies, Mercer University
Visit The Center for Baptist Studies' Web Site at www.centerforbaptiststudies.org

Walter B. Shurden, Executive Editor, The Baptist Studies Bulletin

Bruce T. Gourley, Editor, The Baptist Studies Bulletin

Wil Platt, Associate Editor, The Baptist Studies Bulletin

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I Believe . . . : Walter B. Shurden

         "Three Books That Matter"

The Baptist Soapbox: Bill Underwood

         "The North American Baptist Covenant: Creating a Fresh and Exciting New
            Voice for Baptists in North America"
Creative Ministries in the Local Baptist Church: Timothy D. Bonney

         "Stephen Ministry: The Body of Christ Caring for One Another"
         First Baptist Church, Des Moines, Iowa

Baptists and Peacemaking: Glen Stassen

         "A Report from the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America"

Baptists, the Bible, and the Poor: Charles E. Poole

         "Six Steps Into Gospel Immersion"
In Response To . . . : Bruce T. Gourley

         "In Response to . . . Chuck Poole on Biblical Christianity"
Dates to Note

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I Believe

"Three Books That Matter"
By Walter B. Shurden

I believe . . .

             that the readers of The Baptist Studies Bulletin would profit from three important 2006 books dealing with the issue of faith and public policy. They are Jon Meacham, American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation (Random House), Rabbi James Rudin, The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us (Thunder’s Mouth Press), and Michelle Goldberg, Kingdom Coming, The Rise of Christian Nationalism (W.W. Norton & Company). Meacham is an Episcopalian churchman, Rudin is a religious Jew, and Goldberg is a secular Jew, but they say amazingly similar things. Here are very brief reflections on each.
             American Gospel is an inspired and inspiring book that just may be the key to countering the religious right wing on issues of church and state. Gorgeously written and filled with magnificent quotations, this book by the managing editor of Newsweek gives you an airplane view of the role of religion in American society from the Planting Fathers to Ronald Reagan. Meacham’s thesis is that “the great good news about Americathe American gospel, if you willis that religion shapes the life of the nation without strangling it (5).” Echoing throughout the book is his argument for a via media between the theocratization of the right wing and the secularization of the left wing.
             This is the kind of book you must buy for your personal library because you cannot keep from writing in the margins, talking back to Meacham. I talked back often, sometime praising and sometime poking. One of my praises is, as I said above, that Meacham may have the key with his via media to counter the religious right wing. One of my pokes is that he does not seem to understand that the division is not simply between the theocratic right wing and the secular left wing. Millions of us who try to resist secularism and who are faithful religionists also absolutely deplore the antics of the religious right wing. Anybody who writes a book of this genre that catapults him onto “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” must have done something right to attract the attention of the American public.
             The Baptizing of America is written by a devoted rabbi who has been at the forefront of church/state issues for years. Baptists of my kind will know Rudin is trustworthy on church/state because he cites James Dunn as one of his “cherished personal friends for over thirty years.” Few Christian writers that I know could write about the nuances of differences within Judaism the way that this Rabbi writes about the shades of difference among Christians. Rudin completely understands the religious right wing in America. They are characterized, says Rudin, by grief over a past that never was, by rage over a present that they cannot control, and by certitude about the Divine that cannot be questioned. The “Christocrats,” as Rudin dubs the right wing, are “more than any other force in the world today . . . the immediate and profound threat to our republic (1).”
             This book is of great value to Christians, but one cannot help but think that Rudin is very much concerned here with how his Jewish sisters and brothers perceive the religious right wing in America. He is especially concerned by American Jewry’s temptation “to welcome evangelical support for the Jewish state while never questioning the Christian conservatives’ campaign to radically and permanently change American society (121).” “That,” he says, “would be a major mistake.” Rudin wants all Americans to know of the threat by the Christocrats to the bedroom, the schoolroom, the hospital room, the courtroom, the newsroom, the library room, the public room, and the workroom. In other words, no space in America is out of the range of the hoped for conquest of the religious right wing.
             Though I vigorously applaud American Gospel and The Baptizing of America, Kingdom Coming by Michelle Goldberg is my favorite of the three books. Since she is a secular Jew of New York and I a progressive Baptist of Georgia, why am I most engrossed with Goldberg’s analysis? Three reasons! One, Goldberg, a senior journalist for Salon, writes crisply and engagingly. And she researched this book the way journalists always research books: she went to the people she was writing about, observed their meetings, and heard their speeches. She has also read their books. Two, and this is the golden virtue of the book: Goldberg understands the vast overlapping network of the contemporary religious right, and she connects the dots for the reader. Three, some of her suggestions for taking on the religious right appear to me to be unusually fair and savvy, in keeping with her civil libertarianism.
             If, like most, you don’t have time to read all three books, please read Goldberg’s introduction, “Taking the Land,” and her conclusion, “Exiles in JesusLand.” My guess is that after that, you will want to read all of her book and maybe the other two as well. “Take and read.”

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Baptist Soapbox

The Baptist Soapbox: Invited guests speak up and out on things Baptist (therefore, the views expressed in this space are not necessarily those of The Baptist Studies Bulletin, though sometimes they are). Climbing upon the Soapbox this month is Bill Underwood, newly-elected President of Mercer University. 

"The North American Baptist Covenant: Creating a Fresh and Exciting New
            Voice for Baptists in North America"
By Bill Underwood

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Creative Ministries in the Local Baptist Church:  This series highlights local churches who are intentionally creative in their approach to ministry.  This month's featured local church ministry emphasis focuses on the Stephen Ministry, a lay ministry program, of First Baptist Church, Des Moines, Iowa.  Senior Pastor Timothy D. Bonney has served on the ABC General Board and the General Board Executive Committee.  He is currently serving on the board of the Roger Williams Fellowship and is a moderator on the BaptistLife.com forum.

"Stephen Ministry: The Body of Christ Caring for One Another"
By Timothy D. Bonney

    
         Stephen Ministry has been a key lay ministry at First Baptist Church of Des Moines since 1997.  More than 25 men and women in our church have received Stephen Ministry training.
         Stephen Ministry was founded in 1975 by Dr. Kenneth Haugk, an Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Pastor and Clinical Psychologist in St. Louis, MO.  Christians from over 100 denominations, totaling more than 50,000 lay persons and clergy, have been trained in Stephen Ministry.
         Stephen Ministry trains lay people to assist pastors by providing a trained group of men and women who are able to bring Christ-centered relationships to those members of the church who are going through crises in their lives.  The Stephen Ministry program in no way replaces pastoral visitation and counseling.  Yet it does provide important, ongoing care for persons in need, enabling the pastor to share in crisis ministry with the larger body of Christ.
         Persons who train Stephen Ministers are called “Stephen Leaders.”  Stephen Leaders are trained and certified at intense week-long Stephen Ministry seminars.  It is also recommended that pastors and church staff who wish to refer members to the Stephen Ministry program attend Stephen Leader training so that they have a full understanding of the scope of the program.
         After I became the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Des Moines in 2004, I attended a Stephen Ministry training seminar in Orlando, Florida.  I was extremely impressed with the professionalism, detail, and organization of the program.  I was also impressed with the spiritual depth and Christ-centeredness of the program.
         Congregational members who volunteer for Stephen Ministry are interviewed by a Stephen Leader to ascertain their appropriateness for the program.  Stephen Ministers receive 50 hours of training before they can participate in the program.
         Stephen Ministry is completely confidential.  Only the Pastor and Stephen Leader know who is receiving care.  Confidentiality is stressed throughout the training program.  The program stresses that Stephen Ministers are not professional counselors and are taught how to refer serious issues back to the Pastor and other trained leaders for appropriate care.  Stephen Ministers do not provide therapy.  Stephen Ministers support the “Care Receiver” and provide listening and care while Care Receivers works through their problems.
         For Stephen Ministry to be successful, the pastor must be in full support.  Some pastors feel that sharing the ministry of care-giving is a threat to their pastoral role.  However, in congregations with many needy individuals, churches experiencing growth, and larger congregations, the responsibilities of pastoral care can easily become more than any one person can handle.  Often pastors find themselves moving from crisis to crisis.  The pastor is not always able to meet the needs, in a timely fashion, of individuals who need continuing care and support.  Stephen Ministry helps fill this gap and creates another avenue of ministry for the body of Christ.
         The Stephen Ministry program at First Baptist Des Moines has made a real difference in the life and health of our congregation as persons in need find help from their sisters and brothers in Christ.  In addition, Stephen Ministers are growing in the love and grace of Jesus Christ by being trained to use their gifts of ministry with others.  I am excited to see the continued growth of this ministry at First Baptist.

(Visit Stephen Ministries online at www.stephenministries.org)

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Baptists and Peacemaking: A noted theologian and ethicist, Glen Stassen is the Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.  Prior to his current position, he taught at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for 20 years.  He has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, Duke University and Columbia University.

"A Report from the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America"
By Glen Stassen

           
            I am writing from the annual Summer Conference of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, meeting this time at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. It's a beautiful university; I had never seen it before. My friend, the famous Pastor of Allen Temple Baptist church, J. Alfred Smith, preached last night and will again tonight—from the prophets. He is a marvelous and highly influential pastor, and he teaches a course each summer at Fuller Theological Seminary, where I teach. Last night the theme was "Angry Jonah; Peaceful God."
            My friend, Peter Paris from Princeton Theological Seminary is giving a series of highly thoughtful lectures on different dimensions of violence in our land. Professor Paris has been president of the Society of Christian Ethics as well as president of the American Academy of Religion, which means he has been recognized as a top academic leader by the faculty in Christian ethics and in religion from all over Canada and the United States. Pastor C. T. Vivien, who was a friend and coworker of Martin Luther King's, is also here and has spoken. U.S. Representative Barbara Lee has addressed us. And much more. It is a truly impressive offering of prophetic voices.
            The plenary workshop this afternoon informed us about what churches are doing to try to help churches in Louisiana recover from last year's record-setting disastrous hurricane season. We have had workshops on healing and torture, on the church and sexuality, healing the values-split in our nation, Martin Luther King's theology of nonviolence, living peacefully/lightly on the planet, understanding whiteness, developing a network of spiritual progressives, Baptist responses to the Iraq War, creating a peace-centered youth group, the whole gospel through reconciliation and community renewal, and building community through the Sacred Harp tradition (which is how my Celtic-Appalachian wife Dot Lively from West Virginia and Virginia learned to sing in church).
            Because of our meeting location this summer in Atlanta, we have worshiped on two of the evenings in Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King, Jr., was pastor. We are especially learning from African American leaders. (It is remarkable how gracious they have been in giving their time to our conference, for our learning and encouragement.)
            We have dedicated this year's Baptist Peace Fellowship Conference to learning interracially and coming to a happier understanding of ourselves. The workshop led by Carol Hunter on understanding whiteness gave us whites a much more sophisticated understanding of our diverse ethnic heritage—who come from England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Bulgaria, Russia, Greece, India (yes, in official racist categorization Asians from India were declared white), and so on. The Irish have a rich cultural heritage, as do the Italians and the Norwegians, etc., and this is all whitewashed by simply calling us "white." Our own heritages get bleached out. Then we get embarrassed about being simply "white," which has little meaning except "White Citizens Councils" and unjust privileges. So we shy away from talking about ethnic heritages and deprive ourselves of our own rich possibilities for self-understanding.
            In my case, my grandparents all came from Germany, and spoke German, but nevertheless we "passed" as Norwegians! They wanted to bleach out their Germanness and be something else. Recovering our heritage opens us up more for interesting conversations with Cubans, Mexicans, Koreans, African Americans, Indians, and Native Americans. We move toward a more sharing self-understanding of who we really are—faults and sufferings and accomplishments and quirks and all. The outcome is greater self-acceptance, celebration that we have been making our way through historic struggles into a clearing in the woods where we can celebrate being allies with each other in seeking a beloved community together. I encourage my students to recover stories of their ethnic heritages, and then have more open conversations with others. We come together through sharing more openly.
            To learn about next summer's conference, which will be at Berea College in Kentucky, see www.bpfna.org.

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Baptists

Bible and Poor

Baptists, the Bible, and the Poor: Charles E. Poole is a Baptist minister with Lifeshare Community Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi where he delights in ministering alongside the poor. "Chuck" Poole, a provocative preacher and servant pastor, served Baptist churches for twenty-five years. Among the churches he has served are First Baptist Church, Macon, GA, First Baptist Church, Washington, DC, and Northminster Baptist Church, Jackson, MS.

"Six Steps Into Gospel Immersion"
By Charles E. Poole

          On most subjects, I can always see the shades of gray, the murky uncertainties, the waffling ambiguities. But there is one thing that is clear as crystal to me: You cannot immerse yourself in the four gospels and not become “a do-gooder.” You cannot abandon yourself to the words of Jesus that are recorded in the four gospels and escape becoming “a bleeding-heart liberal” when it comes to the needs of the poor.
          It always interests me to hear “conservative Christians” speak dismissively of “do-gooders.” If you’re a Christian who is serious about the Bible, what else can you be but a “do-gooder” when it comes to people in poverty? Let’s work through this step by step: Step One: We Baptists like to say we are conservative about the Bible. Step Two: We Baptists also are big on Jesus as the incarnation of God. Step Three: That means that, for we Baptists, the parts of the Bible that tell us about Jesus are the most important ones of all. Step Four: That means that, for we Baptists, the gospels are central, because that is the part of the Bible where we read the words and works of Jesus. Step Five: So we Baptists must immerse ourselves in the four gospels. Step Six: And that’s when we become so liberal about the poor, because you can’t be conservative about the words of Jesus in the Bible (Give to anyone who begs from you…Go, sell your possessions and give the proceeds to the poor, then come follow me…The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…When you give a luncheon, invite the poor, the lame and the blind…I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.) without becoming liberal about the voiceless, the powerless and the poor.
          Watch that last step. It’s a doozy!

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In Response To ...

"In Response to . . . Chuck Poole on Biblical Christianity"
By Bruce T. Gourley

            The Christian Right wants us to believe that they believe in a literal Bible.  They sometimes throw out phrases such as “biblical Christianity” or “biblical worldview,” the latter a new construction employed by the theocratic Christian Reconstructionist movement, now a mainstream part of the Religious Right and including names like DeLay, Dobson, and Richard Land.  (See Michelle’s Goldberg’s excellent volume, Kingdom Coming, for further analysis.)
            But is the Christian Right really biblical?  In a well-documented exposé of the Christian Right’s own published materials, Margaret M. Mitchell, professor of New Testament and Early Christian Literature at the University of Chicago, reveals that the Christian Right does not believe in the entire Bible, nor do they believe in a literal Bible.  Biblical references within the online literature of the Christian Right are sparse; the few references are typically vague.  Instead, the Christian Right most frequently employs such non-biblical language as “family values,” “traditional values,” “Judeo-Christian heritage” and “Christian worldview.”  Mitchell concludes that the Christian Right is biblical only in the sense of “seeking biblical support for an agenda” and in using select passages as “weapons to define themselves against their enemies.”
            Mitchell’s conclusions come as no surprise to many traditional Christians who have long watched fundamentalists slice and dice the Bible to fit their own agendas, while placing their faith in personal interpretations of a neutered biblical text rather than in the Bible itself.  The key for fundamentalists is “belief.”  As their literature emphasizes, one must “believe” in a certain way, in a certain “worldview,” in order to be a true Christian.  Unfortunately for the Christian Right, the Bible which they largely ignore does not support the concept that belief in overtly political, non-biblical and quasi-biblical positions equates with righteousness.
            Biblically speaking, belief in and of itself is meaningless.  Obedience to God is about doing the will of God as revealed in scripture, rather than mentally affirming any given doctrine or theology.  And there are few people I know that understand and embody the biblical mandate of active obedience more than Chuck Poole.
            While the Christian Right rants and rages over the sins of others, such as abortion (a topic not addressed in the Bible) and homosexuality (one of the most rarely referenced subjects in the entire Bible), Chuck Poole consistently challenges the people of God to simple obedience to the commands of Christ:  helping the poor, the oppressed, the downtrodden, the less fortunate—in short, the helpless.  By some calculations, more than 2000 Bible verses speak of God’s love for, and our responsibility to, the poor, the marginalized and the needy.  Yet as Chuck reminds me each month, believing the Bible is not enough: doing the Bible is what counts.  By obeying the overwhelming biblical mandate to help the helpless, we bear witness to the love of God.  And in Chuck’s own life, his actions on behalf of the poor and the helpless speak even louder than his biblical preaching.
             There is nothing more biblical than being the presence of God to the poor, oppressed and marginalized, for the Bible itself is the record of God reconciling helpless humanity to Himself across the ages.  Whether or not those to whom we extend the helping hand of God ever stand on their own or embrace our faith is beside the point.  After all, God loves us regardless of how we respond.  Biblical Christianity is about doing what God asks of us.  In the midst of a “Christian” world filled with the cacophony of angry voices demanding allegiance to a watered-down bible and a god fashioned piecemeal from self-righteous human agendas, Chuck Poole’s quiet yet insistent voice and ministry clearly demonstrates genuine biblical Christianity.  His words often make me wince in the knowledge of the sin of my own inaction, but they convey the Jesus of the Gospels, and they compel me to live out that which I profess to believe.

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Recommended Online Reading for Informed Baptists
Compiled by Bruce Gourley

The Rise of Dominionism: Remaking America as a Christian Nation
by Federick Clarkson
Public Eye Magazine published this excellent article several months ago, but it has flown largely under the radar in Baptist life.  It is perhaps the best brief introductions to Christian Reconstructionism / Dominionism to date.

How Biblical is the Christian Right? - by Margaret M. Mitchell
This lengthy, well-documented research essay, published by the Martin Marty Center, clearly reveals that the Religious Right's foundation is something other than a literal Bible.

Is God Lucky to Have Us? - by John D. Pierce
In the face of the rise of Baptist bloggers who are shaking the kingdom of Southern Baptists, Baptists Today editor Pierce reminds all Baptists of our proper place in God's kingdom.

Excommunicating Fox News - by Mark D. Tooley
Read about one conservative's reaction to Bob Edgar's address at the June Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Atlanta.  Tooley scoff's at moderate's "updated Jesus" who advocates "Peace, Poverty, Planet Earth, People’s Rights, and Commitment to Pluralism."  Perhaps Reverend Tooley should actually read the Gospels.

Dates to
Note

Dates to Note

September 7, 2006, Conference on “Church and State in the 2006 Elections," Mercer University, Macon, Georgia.  A morning with J. Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty.  Click here for more information.

September 24-26, 2006, The Mercer Preaching Consultation, St. Simon's Island, GA. Sponsored by the McAfee School of Theology and The Center for Baptist Studies.  Headline speaker: John Killinger.  Click here for more information.

October 2-3, 2006, A Theological Discussion, "A Theology of Ministerial Leadership," featuring William E. Hull and David W. Hull.  Knoxville, Tennessee.  Click here for more information.

October 8-10, 2006, Candler School of Theology Fall Conference, "Faith, Politics, and Policy." Click here for more information.

October 12-13, 2006, Conference on Ethics in Ministry, "How to Be a Good Minister," featuring Tony Campolo.  McAfee School of Theology, Atlanta, Georgia.  Click here for more information.

October 26, 2006, Negotiating Conflict in the Congregation, Religious Life Center, Mercer University, Macon, GA.  Sponsored by McAfee Institute for Healthy Congregations, McAfee School of Theology, The Center For Baptist Studies and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Georgia.  To register, mail to Dr. Larry McSwain, McAfee School of Theology, 3001 Mercer University Drive, Atlanta, GA 30341-4115 a check payable to McAfee School of Theology in the amount of $39 by October 20, 2006.  Registration at the door: $49.

November 5-6, 2006, CBF/GA Fall Convocation, "A Gift Too Good to Keep!"  First Baptist Church of Christ of Macon.  Speakers: Rob Nash, CBF National Global Mission Coordinator, and Bill Underwood, Mercer University President.  For more information, visit www.cbfga.org.

December 29, 2006 - January 2, 2007, Antiphony, "Call and Response." Hyatt Regency, Atlanta, Georgia.  For more information, visit www.antiphonyonline.org.

February 7-10, 2007, Current Retreat, "Let Justice Roll." First Baptist Church, Austin, Texas.  Registration cost is $100 for ministers and lay leaders, $55 for seminary students.  Click here for more information.

February 19-20, 2007, Self Preaching Lectures, McAfee School of Theology, Atlanta, Georgia.  Speaker: Tom Long.  For more information, email Diane Frazier.

For a full calendar of Baptist events, visit the Online Baptist Community Calendar.

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