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Just Who Are We Anyway?
Sermon –
Dr. Jean Lubke
A cautionary word: Listening to sermons may be hazardous. Last week as I listened to Doug’s “Fire in your Bones” sermon, I realized I had something that‘s been brewing inside and needed an outlet – and here I am.
Throughout my life I’ve been asked in different contexts “Who Are You?” Many of these were in values clarification exercises when you list those characteristics that help define who you are. As a kid, my lists usually included left-handed, adopted; as I got older I added teacher, mother. But my lists always included “American Baptist” (not “Christian” – hmmm – but “American Baptist”). The lists were of items that made me who I was and sometimes set me apart from others – the differences that made a difference.
The Baptist part was easy for me. My family’s Baptist heritage is long. My mother’s family is descended from Roger
Williams; my great grandfather was a Baptist preacher. My dad, however, landed in the Baptist church
having been dropped there for Sunday School by his
sometimes Lutheran parents. (Thankfully
he landed in Thor Kommedahl’s Sunday School class!) My
parents were charter members of
Growing up in
But once we’d clarified the denominational differences, I’d have to explain what KIND of Baptist I was. “No, not THAT kind. We can play cards and dance.” Then I could explain we’re the same kind of Baptists as Rev. Martin Luther King. In high school I was thrilled to discover Doug Roy and Bill Englund’s family. Then I could answer that “We’re the same kind of Baptist!” My answers to the challenges of my classmates were always ready.
As an adult the questions changed to those asked of many of you when you say you attend a Baptist church. “Liberal AND Baptist – how does THAT work?” And our answers are “We’re Baptist, but…” or “We’re not THAT kind of Baptist! We hired a lesbian pastor!” And again our answers were ready.
Our definition of American Baptist is being challenged again. We’re being challenged to answer the question
“What kind of Baptists are you anyway?” but this time the challenge is coming
from others who call themselves Baptists – and some of the challenges have been
vehement. Painfully for me, some of
those challenges are coming from my childhood church in
So it’s time to re-think. UBC has been Baptist for over 150 years. What kind of Baptists are we anyway? Especially for those in our congregation who came reluctantly into a Baptist church. What does being Baptist really mean?
When we are challenged to explain who we are, we often look at associations. With whom do we associate? Who are we like?
Are we like John the Baptizer – a voice crying in the wilderness?
Are we like Rev. King – peacefully demonstrating against the injustices of the world?
Are we like Jimmy Carter – quietly teaching Sunday School and providing homes for the homeless?
Yes. We are – and then some.
UBC is a member congregation associated with the Baptist
Peace Fellowship and the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists. We have alliances with congregations and
individuals all over the
Who are we? We are Baptists who believe in our autonomy as a local church congregation, in Biblical freedom, and in individual soul freedom.
However, our freedoms to interpret the Scripture, to ordain whomever we believe God is calling, to associate with churches in our geographic area, and even to call ourselves American Baptist is being seriously challenged.
There are two meetings occurring in the next six weeks that
may impact our path as American Baptists.
Doug, Diane, and I will attend the Regional Policy Board meeting this
Friday and Saturday at Dayton Oaks camp in
On the first weekend in October, we will travel back to
At one of these meetings, I expect either a policy statement declaring all regional churches adhere to the 1992 General Board resolution condemning homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teachings” or a call for our dis-fellowshipping – or both.
As a congregation, we need to be as prepared with our answers now as we were before. We need to be clear about who we are – and why.
Although we have felt for years that we’ve been on the cutting (sometimes bleeding) edge of the denomination – according to the parameters in the American Baptist Identity Statement adopted by the General Board in June 1998 – we are clearly American Baptists.
In an attempt to clarify our position to those who challenge us, I authored an affirmation that has been approved by the church councils of both UBC and Judson. (The full text will be included in our September newsletter.) The affirmation was based on the nine points of the American Baptist Identity Statement and follows a similar format to this:
We are a Biblical
people. We value Biblical scholarship, conducting regular Bible and book
studies. And we take seriously the
scriptural mandates to “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark
Because of our Baptist freedom to interpret the scriptures as guided by the Spirit, “we accept no humanly devised confession or creed as binding.”2 But being a non-creedal people does not mean we are without beliefs or foundational principles.
We are a redeemed people. We honor the priesthood of all believers before God. We recognize gifts for ministry are varied and God-given. God’s Word comes to all who listen. God’s call to ministry, ordained and lay, can come to anyone and we honor whomever God chooses to call. We embrace the Baptist foundation of soul freedom where individuals can be brothers and sisters in Christ without having to have identical theology.
We are a worshipping people. We gather regularly and joyfully with our family of other believers to praise God, to share our lives, and to receive the spirit for service. We worship with words, music, drama, and dance. We worship with voice, organ, bells, and brass – with round notes and shaped ones. We worship in the round, in a square, and on the lawn!
We are a mission
people. Our ministry is to seek justice for all persons and peace for our
world. We support prayerfully and
financially the greater mission efforts of the denomination. We partner with our sister church in
We are a caring people. We are called to minister to those oppressed or in need. We follow Jesus’ words: “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in; I needed clothes and you clothed me; I was sick and you looked after me; I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:35-36). And we are family.
We are an interdependent
people. We embrace our associations with other ABC churches and other
congregations. We share our worshipping
space with an Episcopalian congregation and an African-American Pentecostal
congregation. We rejoice in our
fellowship with First Congregational Church. The arms of UBC traveled east with
Jonathan and Carrie, with Allen, with Bonnie and Lisa. UBC will travel east again with Jan and Jim
and John and Chea.
We traveled west with Cathy and Erica.
We are traveling west now with Dick and Dave. We have traveled all the way to
We are an inclusive people. For a non-creedal people, there is one belief on which we are in complete accord. We recite it as our affirmation statement – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; for we are all one in Christ Jesus.” The ministry at University Baptist is one of inclusion – especially to those who have been rejected and outcast by others. We stand publicly as an Open and Affirming congregation because our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters have been abused and rejected by members of God’s family – some well-meaning, some ignorant and fearful.
In their time, women and African-Americans were also left out of total inclusion into Christ’s ministry until brave souls built the bridges and began the dialogue. More than a hundred years ago, UBC welcomed women into church leadership. Gays and lesbians are the African-Americans and the females of today – all children of God – and UBC will continue to speak on their behalf in the dialogue.
We welcome and affirm the diversity of all children of God. We embrace the plurality of ethnicities, genders, ages, orientations, theological, and yes, even political views. We acknowledge the individual and congregational differences of convictions and theologies and believe that “dialog is a healthy means of spiritual growth.”3
We have been intentional in our use of inclusive language in worship for more than twenty years even creating our own hymnal so that our worship text would not feel exclusionary. And in 1991, we deliberately and conscientiously hired the first out lesbian clergy to be our spiritual leader.
We are an autonomous people. We strongly embrace the Baptist tradition of the “congregational church system emphasizing local church autonomy”4 where no church or organization can dictate the actions or beliefs of another body of believers.
We are a contemporary people. We are “committed to religious liberty, to the separation of church and state,” and to the Spirit’s “insight and power to live in this present age.”1
As American Baptists who have faithfully supported the Baptist tenets of Biblical freedom, soul freedom, and congregational autonomy for over 150 years, the congregations of Judson Memorial Baptist Church and University Baptist Church state our intention to remain strong, faith-filled American Baptists willing to be part of the church body with those who disagree with us, but unwilling to leave the denomination that supports our foundational beliefs.
I have searched my soul and decided I intend to remain – as
a sign in