September 28, 2009
Diminishing Business Sessions at NSW Baptist Conventions
Here are some interesting thoughts from a very able Baptist Theologian. The issue presented speaks to concerns raised by folk on both sides of the divide.
Unauthorized consent: Self-perpetuating trustee boards violate historic Baptist principles by Dr. Malcolm B. Yarnell, III June 19, 2002 –
From their earliest days, Baptists have stood for responsible participation by every Christian in the communal decision-making processes. They have also been jealous to preserve this sanctified sense of ecclesiastical democracy. Those same churches grant the authority by which Baptist leaders publicly act on behalf of their churches to them.
Unfortunately, today, some of those leaders have violated this Baptist ideal of communal decision-making. Deceptively, many of the leaders who have usurped the authority of the churches claim they are doing so in order to preserve those same Baptist principles and distinctives. A historical review of Baptist principles may put this activity in its proper light.
A little Baptist history
John Smyth, the pastor of the First Baptist church in modern times, found the authority to re-institute believers’ baptism not on the basis of his own personal opinion but on the basis of a congregational decision. This pioneer among Baptists affirmed both the leadership of pastors and the congregation’s ultimate responsibility to Jesus Christ. He would not countenance any effort by the people to keep their minister from preaching the Word, but he was also careful to preserve the flow of authority from Christ to the church. "The care of the whole church jointly must be to keep her power given her by Christ, and not to suffer any known sin, or any tyranny or usurpation over them," Smyth wrote in 1607.
The church must make sure that she does not surrender the authority that has been grated to her by her Prophet, Priest and King– Jesus.
Thomas Helwys was a prominent member of that first congregation. Because he believed that Smyth was forsaking his Baptist principles by seeking communion with the Dutch Anabaptists, this layman separated from his pastor. Helwys bravely returned with a small congregation to the persecution he knew they would encounter in England. This was the first Baptist church on English soil and was the forerunner to those Baptist churches that exist to this day.
In his book, A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity, Helwys claimed the authority to organize churches did not come from the bishop of Rome nor from the English monarch and his bishops. He rejected the location of church authority in any one person or small group of people removed from the local church. This also drove him to reject the Presbyterian model being promoted by the Puritans, who allowed local churches some authority but located it primarily in regional or national synods that were dominated by pastors and prominent laymen.
Rather, Helwys believed that the true church was found only where local congregations of baptized believers were gathered. It was in the local churches that Christian authority was to be found. Anyone trying to usurp the churches’ authority was declared to be under the sway of Antichrist. Using apocalyptic language to make his point, Helwys identified the first beast of Revelation with
the papal form of church government and the second beast with Episcopal government; Puritans and non-Baptistic Congregationalists were false prophets. These powerful oligarchies did not care for such revolutionary political theology. Helwys was thrown in Newgate Prison in 1612 and is believed to have died there a few years later, a martyr for Baptist ecclesiology.
As the churches grew in number in England and America, they began to organize themselves in local, regional and/or national associations and conventions. Because the same Christ who was the King of the Baptist church at Horsleydown was also the King of the Baptist church at Finsbury Fields, the unity of Christ demanded the union of the churches. The association met this demand for Christian unity among Baptists. These associations were organized for two major purposes." On the one hand, they were formed to pool resources of the churches for the sake of benevolent, missionary/evangelistic and educational enterprises. On the other hand, they were formed to help foster unity in faith and practice. Yet, while the churches associated for the sake of unity and even demanded that their associations exclude errant churches, they also respected the local nature of church authority.
"The churches cannot invest messengers with any of the rights, powers, authority, or responsibilities of the churches themselves," former SBC President and Mercer University President J.B. Gambrell noted in 1900. Gambrell believed the churches should cooperate and pool their resources, but they should never let go of the power they have received from their Lord. Messengers represent their churches only for a short period of time, and are subsequently held accountable by the churches. Messengers or trustees or denominational servants cannot be fully vested with the churches’ authority. Indeed Baptist leaders are on a very short ecclesiastical leash! Their powers to act can and should be withdrawn when they cease to accomplish the churches’ will.
Gambrell believed the boards of the various denominational enterprises are "channels" by which the local churches come together to build the kingdom of God. The denominational enterprises are not ends to themselves but "means" to the end of building God’s kingdom. When the power of the local churches is "transferred" to a board, the board is participating in an "apostasy from the New Testament ideal" and has adopted the Roman or Presbyterian model instead.
Historically, Baptists were scandalized when elitists tried to grab control of Baptist institutions. When Rhode Island College was established in the early 1760s, the Baptists fashioned a rough draft of a constitution that gave Baptist trustees the governing power. The primarily Presbyterian or Congregationalist faculty, however, presented a revised charter to the state authorities and were almost successful in giving ultimate authority to the "fellows" of the new school. The Baptists responded by letting the state government know they had been "misled" and "imposed upon." They then called together Baptists from as far away as Philadelphia and brought forward a second revision that returned the primary authority to the Baptists. "Thus the Baptists narrowly escaped being jockeyed out of their college by a set of men in whom they reposed entire confidence," Baptist historian H. Leon McBeth writes in his book, A Sourcebook for Baptist Heritage.
Revering the line of authority
Even when well-meaning Baptists temporarily violate the line of authority that stretches from Christ to the churches, Baptists will become incensed.
For example, in 1817, Richard Furman, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Charleston, S.C., and first president of the Triennial Convention, proposed the establishment of the first Baptist theological seminary in the United States. Since the convention, to which both southern and northern Baptists belonged, met only every third year, this meant action could not be taken for three years. Anxious to begin the much-needed enterprise, the convention board met in 1818 and authorized a new seminary. The board acted without authority, and to make matters worse, the venerable Luther Rice bought land for the seminary in Washington, D.C., near the White House, again without authority.
Furman, rather than being elated by these developments, objected to the manner in which decisions affecting all Baptists were being made by an elite who were not thus empowered to act. (To add insult to injury, the proposed seminary that these early Baptists built for themselves has long since ceased to serve the churches.) Baptists have never appreciated their divinely given authority being usurped, even by fellow Baptists who have the best of intentions.
How does the line of authority from Christ to the churches govern the institutions that Baptists build? Perhaps the dying words of B.H. Carroll, the founder of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, can inform us. The commission he gave to his successor, L.R. Scarborough, traced the authority of the Cross of Christ through the churches to the convention and the board of trustees; from thence it flows to the faculty and ultimately, the individual professor. The authority to operate as a Baptist educational institution could — and should — be withdrawn if and when heresy became a problem.
"Lee, keep the seminary lashed to the Cross," Carroll said. "If heresy ever comes in the teaching, take it to the faculty. If they will not hear you and take prompt action, take it to the trustees of the seminary. If they will not hear you, take it to the Convention that appoints the board of trustees, and if they will not hear you, take it to the great common people of our churches. You will not fail to get a hearing then."
Carroll had a strong assumption that the Baptist churches would want to intervene if God were not being honored in one of their institutions. Denominational servants and institutions must respect the lines of authority. "The great common people of our churches" are the last hope for our institutions on this side of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The Missouri situation
Recently, I was asked by a local church in Parkville to speak to the defunding of five Missouri Baptist institutions by the Missouri Baptist Convention. Having only recently been introduced to this historic state’s Baptist life, I could not speak to the specific issues under consideration. However, as a committed Baptist and an historical theologian, I could — and did speak — to the principles that have informed Baptists through the last four centuries. Those principles, I believe, call for the churches to rise up and demand that their institutions submit to the will of the churches.
Not being a lawyer, I cannot speak to the legal issues that are involved. However, being a scholar, I can speak to the theological principles at issue. It is time that the people in the pews rise up with their pastors to call the boards of these Missouri Baptist institutions to submit to the common will. Those boards that will not submit are not acting in a Baptistic manner. Those board members must ask themselves whether they can verbally maintain the Baptist principle of local church authority while violating that same principle with their actions.
Of course, many will point out that Baptist educational institutions in other states have taken similar steps towards self-perpetuating boards. This is true, and the fruit of such non-Baptistic activity is now being borne. Wake Forest, Baylor, Furman, Stetson, Richmond, Mercer, Samford, Mississippi and Meredith have all declared their autonomy from their state conventions.
Most of these schools have aligned themselves with the liberal camp of Baptist life; some have seen Christian emphases removed from campus life. It is a basic truism in historical research that when a college loosens its moorings to the church, it will drift away from any significant Christian focus. The great Baptist schools established with such sacrifice by our forefathers are slowly being lost. When will these boards, whether in Missouri or elsewhere, have the integrity to return their governance to the churches? When will the people rise up and demand that Baptist institutions function for the purposes for which they were established and in the way in which they were meant to function? My prayer is that these formerly Baptist institutions will become Baptist once again, and sooner rather than later.
(Malcolm B. Yarnell, III, Ph.D., was dean of faculty and associate professor of historical theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is now Associate Professor of Systematic Theology, Director of the Oxford Study Program, Director of the Center for Theological Research, and Editor of the Southwestern Journal of Theology at South Western Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth Texas and at The Center for Theological Research [CTR], as Director. Dr. Malcolm Yarnell, which seeks to promote evangelical Baptist theology among Southern Baptists )
September 27, 2009
Partnership Opportunity
Several Baptist churches in New South Wales are considering the opportunity of a 4 day evangelistic crusade and Kids Bible Club during the July School holidays in 2010. Teams from the Southern Baptist Convention in the USA will come out from several churches there and conduct morning Kids Club VBS’s (Vacation Bible Schools) and Evening Meetings July 10th – July 14th consisting of a Saturday night fellowship, Sunday services and then Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings for the VBS and Evenings for evangelistic services.
The US team would then go sight seeing on Thursday, and then return to the USA on Friday July 16th.
Participating Pastors and churches would be responsible for all of their team’s travel and accommodation whilst in Australia.
If you would like to be involved please contact Rev. Steven Grose quickly.
September 16, 2009
WIN FW Boreham’s Sermon Illustrations “All The Blessings Of Life”
I am having trouble getting Telstra to connect my new Telstra prepaid mobile phone to Telstra’s network.
I bought the phone on Friday, visited 2 Telstra shops who said , sorry they can’t help me (they referred me to each other) went in and spent 2 …hours at the Telstra shop Charlestown Monday and about 7 hrs on the phone Telstra so far. I have been informed the phone number was quarantined. I guess it caught swine flu.
Thank you to Alycia Halse for being the first to get through. “All the Blessings Of Life” is in the post.
The time from start to finish… 7 full days, and 9 hours of discussions with Telstra technicians
September 4, 2009
Best Sermon Resources
Precept Austin has the best set of online commentaries for message preparation anywhere.
September 2, 2009
The Audience, Aim, and Appeal of the Invitation or Altar Call
From Lifeway
Written by Roger Willmore
This article is excerpted by permission from the "ministerial helps" section of the new Holman CSB Minister’s Bible.
The altar call, or the public invitation, is an essential part of the pastor’s preaching ministry. The Apostle Paul reminds us that the invitation for response comes from God and not from the preacher. Though the pastor extends the invitation, the call itself comes from God.
“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ’s behalf, ‘Be reconciled to God’” (2 Co 5:19-20 HCSB).
The pastor must keep the ultimate aim of his sermon in mind. He is not preaching simply to give information or even to inspire. The pastor preaches with a purpose. He must call for a verdict. The word he has preached demands a response. The following will determine what kind of altar call the pastor extends:
The Audience
A pastor’s pulpit ministry and his pastoral ministry go hand in hand. Jesus described the unique relationship of shepherd to sheep and pastor to people when He said: “I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me, as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father” (Jn 10:14). Since the pastor lives among his people and ministers to them on a daily basis, he will issue an invitation that reflects his knowledge of their needs as well as his compassion and personal concern for them.
The Aim
The ultimate aim of the invitation is to provide those who heard the sermon the opportunity to express obedience to the revealed truth of God’s Word. Before the altar call is made, be sure that the truth has been presented clearly. The focus of the appeal will be determined by the varying and changing needs within the lives of those in the congregation. Since a sermon should always call for a response, the subject of the sermon will also determine the nature of the decisions the pastor encourages the people to make. Examples of decisions include:
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To receive Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior
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To be baptized as a public demonstration of obedience to Jesus as Lord
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To join the church fellowship (explain the method by which members are received)
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To repent of a specific sin that is hindering fellowship with God
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To renew commitment to grow toward spiritual maturity
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To pray for a lost person
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To request prayer for a personal need
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To respond to a specific challenge issued in the sermon
The Appeal
The pastor will use different types of appeals to his people week by week. This does not mean that every person who hears the sermon needs to respond in a public way, but it is certain that some will need that opportunity. The appeal can call for a variety of public and private responses such as:
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Come forward and speak to the pastor and/or a counselor
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Raise your hand to indicate response
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Pray a prayer silently (as the pastor prays a portion at a time)
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Complete a response card (explain where the card is to be placed)
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Write the decision in your Bible
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Come to the altar to pray
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Move to another place in the worship center to meditate on your decision
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Go to an inquiry or counseling room
Finally, be prepared with counselors and resources to assist those who respond to the invitation. A guide for decision counselors is found on the following pages. Have a follow-up plan to assure that those who make public decisions have adequate support and encouragement.
The pastor must always preach and extend the invitation with the same spirit as Paul when he wrote: “When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power” (1 Co 2:1-5 HCSB).
Roger D. Willmore has served as a pastor for more than 30 years and serves as "Minister at Large" for Olford Ministries International in Memphis Tenn. Dr. Willmore has written numerous articles for Growing Churches, Proclaim, Church Administration magazines, and numerous online articles and sermons for LifeWay.com. He currently serves as the Senior Pastor at Deerfoot Baptist Church in Trussville, Ala.
September 2, 2009
Some Misinformation has been spread
and in defence of another church and pastor, I am publishing the proposed itinerary.
The program was :
Sat 22 3.35pm Dr Jerry Arrives at Airport
(stays with Pastor Graham)
Sun 23 9.30am Speaking at Coast Church & Lunch
6-7.30pm Speaking at TableTalk
Mon 24 Free
Tues 25 9.30 Homegroup & visitation
Wed 26 1-2pm RE Primary
Tues/Wed? Evening BBQ men’s meeting
Thurs 27 9.30am Homegroup
3.30ff Kids Club at Coast church
Frid 28 RE Primary
Youth Groups 6.30-10pm at Coast Church
Sat 29 7.30am Mens Breakfast Coast Church
5.30 pm ff Community Dinner Graham’s church
Sun 30 9.50 am Church Anniversary Service
6-7.30pm TableTalk
Mon 31 4.05pm Dr Jerry flies from Airport back to Sydney.
The pastor wrote “We will delete the children parts of it and try to find a few other adult opportunities. He doesn’t seem quite as flexible as I thought and hoped he might be.”
Please note
I counted 7 opportunities to speak to adults in church services (table talk is a church service conducted at coffee tables in the church over a meal with opportunity for folks to discuss the evangelistic message). or small groups… or special men’s functions (BBQ’s and breakfasts).
There were 2 preaching opportunities on Sunday the 23rd, and 4 preaching opportunities on the 29th and 30th.
There were a further 5 opportunities to speak to children and youth. these were cancelled when he protested against children and youth being included in evangelistic activities.
He stated in an email “I am just fine with speaking to the men’s group at [the church] on Wednesday. I am, however, NOT prepared to speak to school groups or Kids Club’s. This is not my area of ministry. My ministry has always been “preaching/teaching” expository messages to a congregation or group of adults. “
