wfn.org | American Baptists hear General Secretary Daniel Weiss' Report

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AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE
Office of Communication
American Baptist Churches USA
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director
  E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

GENERAL BOARD/BIENNIAL MEETING UPDATE: June 25, 1999

NEWS FROM THE GENERAL BOARD/PROGRAM BOARDS
Des Moines, Ia. / June 18-21, 1999

GENERAL SECRETARY'S REPORT

  In his address to delegates and visitors attending
the American Baptist Churches USA Biennial Meeting June 23,
General Secretary Daniel E. Weiss said that "We as a
denomination are faced with two mutually exclusive
alternatives...to turn to Jesus [or] to turn on each other.
And we can't have a little of each. "
  Noting the Biennial Meeting theme, he maintained, "If
we truly turn to Jesus, it will so preoccupy us that we will
have little inclination or opportunity to turn on each
other."
  Weiss, who has served as general secretary for the
past 11 years, considered his denomination's future: "As we
stand poised on the brink of a new century and a new
millennium...the future for us can be bright, beyond our
imaginations, if we are prepared to meet some conditions as
a people called American Baptists. "
   Weiss cited six conditions, which are excerpted below.

"The future is bright if we reaffirm the distinctives and
polity we believe God teaches us.
  "Our polity recognizes the local congregation as the
fundamental unit of mission.  The denomination exists for
local churches; local churches do not exist for the
denomination.  The denomination facilitates local
congregations to come together in voluntary association to
do together in mission what no one of them could accomplish
alone....
  "We are the American Baptist Churches, not the
American Baptist Church or the American Baptist Regions or
Associations.  The local congregation is the fundamental
entity in our polity....  But churches need to be in
relationship.  'Independent Baptist church' is an oxymoron.
It is time to restudy and rearticulate our understanding of
the uniqueness of the local church and its appropriate
relationship with other autonomous congregations.

"The future is bright if we are authentically open to the
renewal God offers us.
  "The denomination has adopted a new emphasis called
'ABC 2000: Renewed for Mission' [that] calls us all to
renewal and revitalization in our worship, evangelism and
service....  The key to authentic church renewal is that the
church recapture a biblical understanding of its own nature
and purpose.  We must know who we are before it is possible
for us to plan what we can and should be.  Renewal,
therefore, cannot be programmed.  It cannot come from Valley
Forge or regional offices.  It is, moreover, a gift of the
Holy Spirit, but we must be authentically open to receive
the gift.
  "There are three dimensions of the emphasis on renewal
that warrant special attention.  The first is worship.
Sadly neglected and often perfunctorily entered into, but
its revitalization is at the heart of authentic renewal.  It
may be the most important activity carried out by the
church.  The second is a concern to recapture an
evangelistic spirit and outreach....  It is sad to say but we
have many more churches who are eager to identify themselves
as being evangelical than we do churches who truly reflect a
commitment to being inviting communities reaching out to win
persons to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  At a time when
there seems to be a particular interest by some churches to
involve themselves in ministry in other local congregations,
one would think that what ought to get us most upset are
those churches which do little if anything to reach those
outside of Christ with the message of His reconciling love.
That, after all, is at the heart of our mission and calling.
Thanks be to God the denomination has adopted a program
called 'New Life 2010.'  We are mobilizing to reach
1,000,010 persons to Christ and plant 1,010 churches by the
year 2010, and at the same time dramatically expand our
mission for Christ internationally.
  "A third dimension of the call to renewal is its
rootage in Holy Scripture.   We are and always have been a
people of the Book.  We have repeatedly reaffirmed our
fidelity to the authority of Scripture and have gone on
record more than once declaring the Bible to be 'a
trustworthy, authoritative and all-sufficient rule of our
faith and practice....'  We have always vested authority in
the Bible, not in its commentaries or interpreters....

"The future is bright if we are willing to accept the
diversity God gives us.
  "The ABC is the most diverse denomination in the
United States.  Our diversity manifests itself in many ways
but particularly in our racial ethnic composition.  Today
almost one-half our membership are people of color.  Our
projections indicate that soon there will be no racial
ethnic group with a majority in the denomination....
  "An even greater challenge confronting us now is
related to testing the limits of our theological diversity.
We have always been a theologically diverse people....  I
believe that there is a hierarchy of theological values,
shaped like a pyramid.  The higher you get to the top, the
narrower is the tolerable range of theological diversity.
At the top of the pyramid is the nature of God and the
person and work of Jesus Christ and the fact that we are
justified by our faith in Him.  Some issues, however, have
been elevated to levels not reflected in the Bible.  I like
to think that my hierarchy is determined by the priorities
and values assigned by Scripture.  I'm sure you do too.  My
guess is that if we sat down together, we would find
considerable agreement as to that hierarchy of values.  At
some points we might disagree.  But if we confess with our
mouth that Jesus Is Lord and believe in our heart that God
has raised Him from the dead, can we agree to disagree, can we
give each other the right to be
wrong?
  "When serious differences appear, the General Board
has commended a 'common ground' process to help us deal with
them.  I hope that process will soon be implemented in
places where there are tensions and the threat of division
within our fellowship.

"The future is bright if we actualize the community God
offers us.
  "Within a highly diverse body of people it is easy to
focus, almost exclusively, on our differences.  While it is
true that we need to recognize and celebrate many of our
differences, it is now time to pay increased attention to
what we hold in common.  Since membership of individuals and
churches in the ABC is voluntary, we should assume that we
are all part of this movement because we hold a great deal
in common.  We come with a common commitment to Jesus
Christ.  He makes us one family, our unity is in Him....  We
choose to unite together as a body of believers called the
American Baptist Churches, USA....  To be divided and divisive
people is a scandal to the world, an affront to God, a
weakening presence in the Church, a barrier to renewal, an
impediment to evangelism and an obstacle to our carrying out
the mission God has given us.

"The future is bright if we are willing to hear God's call
to carry out a new mission in a new way for a new day....
  "We live in a rapidly changing world....  It is a new
day requiring some new thinking. The General Board has
created a blue ribbon 'Review Commission on Denominational
Structure and Process.'  The creation of this Commission and
the recommendations they will make should not be interpreted
as a critique of what has or is being done.  Rather, they
are considering ways we can be even more effective and
efficient
in carrying out our mission in the twenty-first century.
They will make their first report in November.  They are
doing creative and courageous work.  Let's be prepared to
implement our cherished commitments of the past in the world
of tomorrow.

"The future is bright if we exercise the kind of stewardship
God expects of us.
  "Is it possible to be a renewed, diverse, unified
community of faith, sensitive to God's new paradigm of
mission and still fail as stewards over the spiritual, human
and material resources entrusted to us?  I do not believe it
is....
  "Last year, in spite of the attempts by some to
promote the unbiblical practice of withholding or directing
funds as a political strategy, what I call punitive
stewardship, United Mission giving was up almost $500,000
over the prior year and total giving to American Baptist
Mission Support was up by two and one-half million.  Yet the
per capita giving of American Baptists still leaves much to
be desired.  Our future in mission as local churches and as
a denomination is dependent upon a revitalization of the
consciousness of stewardship within our membership.  It is a
thoroughly biblical concept....
  "Personal commitment, generous giving and prudent
management are an absolute necessity for us as a
denomination if we are to face creatively and aggressively
the world into which God is calling us.

  "If we can experience personal and corporate renewal
through the Holy Spirit, can become a diverse community
united in Jesus Christ, can be open to the new vision of
mission God has for us, and can be cheerful stewards of the
resources entrusted to us, the decades ahead will be replete
with opportunities for powerful and effective service for
Christ by American Baptists."