Beyond 400: Reflections halfway through

After a short interlude from whether Baptists have a future, here are some further reflections on what is being offered.

We are halfway through the beyond400 conversation - hopefully there is enough energy and passion to persist to the end. I know some are finding it hard to keep pace with the voices coming possibly too quickly (this is partly the intention to finish in time for the Baptist Assembly).

1. There are some common themes and words to each of the voices and subsequent conversations, as is perhaps to be expected.

2. While there are a number who are regularly commenting, its good to see that new voices are being added.

3. I would suggest the beyond400 conversation is exploring two questions.

    What is it for us to be local baptist churches in the future?

    What is it for us to be local churches in relationships - in union - with one another in the future?

It seems to me it is important we hold both questions together; we need to be answering both. So to be a local baptist church in the future is to be in relationship with other baptist churches; to be a union of churches is to re-emphsise the participation of the local in whatever structures are created.

4. Courage. The word has appeared twice now (from Neil and Jane). John Colwell in The Rhythm of Doctrine (Paternoster, 2007) says following Jesus requires fortitude which is the persistence and constancy of courage. We need more than courage in this moment, we need to nurture courage as a virtue, that shapes the character of our communities (to borrow some Hauerwasian language) There are some who are doubting that the conversation will display courage. I am hopeful that this will be found wanting, although what it might mean to be courageous in this moment, whatever is offered, will no doubt to some not look like courage to them - such is the baptist lot!

Where does courage come from? I don't think its just about being radical. Courage, as a Christian virtue, is to face the possibility of our death, as churches, associations and as a union and not to seek to avoid it for our self-survival or in ways that lead us to be unfaithful to our being gospel people. Courage to persevere and not be thrown off course by faddism (see Ian Stackhouse's The Gospel-Driven Church, Paternoster, 2004 and John Colwell, Living the Christian Story, T & T Clark, 2001).

5. Another observation is that a number of those engaged in the beyond400 conversation have been shaped by the two Alans (Hirsch and Roxbourgh) and one Mike (Frost) and their growing number of books on a missional church. I confess my engagement with these guys is limited - a greater familiarity with their work would perhaps be helpful in order that we can hear what is being said by some within our Baptist family.

My simple understanding suggests some are wanting missiology to drive ecclesiology and are asking the rest of us where's mission? So there is a suspicion of structures and institution because this is believed to inhibit mission.

While others are wanting ecclesiology to come alongside or before missiology and are asking the former, where's church? So there is a suspicion of a potential 'whateverism' about church (and I think probably also theology) which does not see the church as anything more than local micro communities.

Both want to say that their position is being driven by christology. The two extremes are I think unhelpful and we need a greater conversation between missiology and ecclesiology, without wanting to lose the importance of either.

6. We need more concrete and particular ways forward. The majority of the posts and subsequent conversations have wanted to highlight the importance of listening, being prophetic, flying, risk-taking, dreaming, etc but we have not yet generally translated that into practice - what might the bird, ship, bride, etc look like?

7. I'm glad that for most of us being baptist has a future and something to offer the wider church and the world.

Comments

[Charles]

Good and helpful post Thank you!
I especially agree with your point 5
Instead of being irritated with each other we need to understand each other -
If you think about it that applies to a lot of areas of church life!

[Richard Hampton]

I think BUGB should have the courage to say sorry.

[John Roberts]

Thanks Andy; I admire anyone trying to find common threads in the vagaries of that blog! It has certainly defeated me.

You have helped me by identifying bookish themes (points 4. and 5.) which may explain some of my incomprehensibility of the points being made. I have been reading the blogs wondering where this stuff comes from - I have a very diverse congregation to serve and scarcely anything they ever say has appeared in an identifiable form (though I'm sure it's in there if it could be translated [e.g. missional = witnessing etc.]).

My reflection so far would be that I don't think this conversation is going to get us anywhere if even those of us who are local Pastors feel it is bookishly beyond us. Maybe if 35 of the 40 voices had been relatively randomly selected members of Baptist churches it would have read less like a creative writing exercise and more like the truth?

I also suspect it would have been shorter, more repetitious, have no chance of being published in book form before or after the assembly but would have shown that most believers in Baptist churches have more of a sense of direction than those of us who purport to speak for them, a direction informed more like the fishermen than the marine biologist.

[Paul Holmes]

I join John in appreciation of Andy's attempt to see strands in the 40 blog and appreciate John's perception that its overall feel is of a creative writing exercise. Many seem to commence with the kind of hook preachers use or pastors when writing their piece for the church mag.. I quickly found that I didn't want to read beyond the hook. It made me crave bullet points - a craving that doesn't normally take me. Maybe some short, sharp, sweet suggestions now need to come in. Maybe I ought to contribute some.