As a former member of an ABC church the following article
has personal
interest to me. There surely is more to say than the essay
expresses
but it makes one thing clear, when a local church is
inspired to achieve
success, it will succeed regardless of obstacles.
The ABC denomination, in other words, has value, it has a
mission in the world,
and to fail to see it for what it is, would be a major
mistake.
One thing Bill Gates had right -even if as practical
advice it no longer is as
effective as it once was while he was still the moving
force behind Microsoft-
is that any organization needs to reinvent itself to
survive. These days Gates is
focused on his charity work. As noble as that is, which is
considerable,
it also squanders his real talent, one-of-a-kind abilities
as a businessman
and tech innovator. And so, without him, Microsoft is
floundering.
Maybe you could say something similar about the ABC, less
than optimal leadership
at denominational HQ. That does seem to be the case, as
well-intentioned as these
people may be. In any eventuality that leadership seems to
have abdicated their
responsibilities to see American Baptist churches succeed;
in effect this is
no longer their mission, whatever the charter of the
organization officially says.
But Pastor Mark Caruana of Tabernacle Baptist Church of
Utica
does not see things that way. And so, as the article
observes, he has found
a way to make his local church succeed whatever HQ may do
or not do..
If there is a lesson here it is that failure of imagination
at the top can be worked
around, even when, as in this case, that failure is
disappointing for all concerned.
Why did ABC leadership lose interest? I don't have an
answer but can tell you
that local American Baptists, to judge from the many
Baptists I have known
over the years, are not about to let something like
leadership that no longer leads
get in the way of their own church and the people they
minister to.
Who can say? The national leadership may now be overboard
trying to
be more mainline than the mainline itself. You see
something similar in politics.
Candidates are elected on the promise that they will reform
DC -but when
they get to Congress all it takes is a few years and,
presto, their reform
sentiments are submerged beneath professional politics and
its many
imperatives. And the dysfunctional values of elites shapes
former reformers,
especially when they become no longer reform-minded. They
cease to see
the potential in their original reform ideas. They become
creatures
of the Establishment.
All I can say is that such a course of action is a blunder
of the first magnitude.
Pastor Caruana may not wish to say anything critical about
the ABC HQ,
but clearly there is a problem, especially when local
talent is left to strive
in inevitable frustration on its own, as if the religious
equivalent of "teamwork"
no longer means much of anything.
The good news is that there are talented people like Pastor
Caruana who
do see the value in the ABC mission and are not about to
let it die
regardless of non-leadership at the top. Can't say for
sure, but it
looks like Tabernacle may some day bloom into a megachurch.
If that happens ABC leadership will look really bad,
entirely needlessly.
Maybe there needs to be a new "reform" ABC denomination.
Thoughts for today.
Billy
======================================
Associated Baptist
Press News
Monday, August 19, 2013
See where it takes you
News of the death of mainline churches may be exaggerated,
as a number of established congregations are being
revitalized by focusing on one ministry at a time.
By Jerrod Hugenot
Over the years, I have heard the persistent worry of the
sinking of the American Baptist Churches USA and its other
mainline Protestant counterparts. Since the mid-1960s,
"decline" has been shaping the narrative we tell ourselves
and one another. The heady days of mid-1950s euphoria have
faded away. Worse, some Christians try our best to imitate
what worked then.
In these early years of the 21st century, scholar Diana
Butler Bass has championed the idea that mainliners aren't
down for the count or gone into the night. Bass' research
points to a number of smaller to medium-size congregations
who are embracing spiritual practices that go way back in
Christianity's history: hospitality, welcome, compassion,
prayer, service to others, discernment, listening intently
to the Word, you name it.
The ways Christians live out their faith may vary, yet, in
such intentional efforts to connect belief with action and
gospel with mission, churches in local neighborhoods are
finding new life and vitality.
Some of us call it "missional." Others may say, "We're
getting closer to the core teachings and values of Jesus."
We learn to reach out into our neighborhoods with more care
and less chance of misinformed paternalism. We learn to
journey alongside one another in Christian fellowship and
how to be neighbors to the Other.
Bass was once asked how to wade into such a way of living
and acting out the faith. She suggests that we "pick one —
one activity that tugs at your heart.”
“Start there,” she says in Christianity
After Religion. “Just one thing. Not all of
them. Do one thing well, with passion, with depth, with
openness and understanding. Engage it intentionally, pay
attention to the practice. See where it takes you."
With these building blocks in hand, congregations find new
life and deeper meaning in why we believe and "live and move
and have our being" in Christ (Acts 17:28).
I was reminded Sunday before last of my readings of Diana
Butler Bass and others when I spent the morning as the guest
preacher at the Tabernacle Baptist Church of Utica, N.Y.
Over the years, Tabernacle has been the second-longest
ABC/USA congregation to have ministry and partnerships with
the Karen, people originally from Burma/Myanmar who left the
country due to the political climate there and immigrated to
places all around the United States. Like many other
congregations, Tabernacle found Karen families arriving on
their church steps in search of support and friendship.
Thirteen years ago, the first family arrived at Tabernacle,
looking for help. They knew where to look because of the
long mission history ties between Burma and the American
Baptist Churches USA.
In fact, this year is the 200th anniversary of the arrival
of missionaries Adoniram and Ann Judson in Burma to begin
their mission. After much hardship (and I would wonder if we
could be as faithful), they began seeing the mission field
slowly develop as they became accepted. Deep faith practices
are much evident in the making of these hardy servants of
the Lord!
The Judson legacy gave these Burmese refugees their hope.
Arriving as "children" of the Judsons many generations
later, they knew that American Baptists would be a welcoming
body of believers.
Tabernacle itself is revitalized, with a present-day Sunday
morning schedule of an English service (with a high
percentage of Karen attending) followed by a service in
Karen.
The church provides a variety of services through their
facility, serving the many Karen living in the greater
Mohawk Valley area. Through such intentional practices of
compassion, hospitality and solidarity, the congregation's
identity has changed and blossomed.
A Sunday morning service at Tabernacle shows how these
basic ways of living the faith lead to the faith becoming
incarnate in the care, friendships and shared mission.
In 2008, Senior Pastor Mark Caruana was interviewed by
PBS' Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
“This is a congregation that's been willing to embrace a
new group of people — have been willing to go with changes
that set people's heads spinning,” he reflected. “There have
been times when I've wondered if the whole thing would just
kind of blow apart. It hasn't yet, and actually, I think
we're at the best place we've been as a congregation in
years."
Another great element of Tabernacle is multiplying its
mission through theological education partnerships. The
American Baptist Churches USA provides teachers and
educational offerings thanks to Duane and Marcia Binkley —
two dedicated missionaries affiliated with American Baptist
International Ministries, the Cooperative Baptist
Fellowship, Central Baptist Theological Seminary and support
from the American Baptist Churches of New York State and
other ABC/USA mission partners.
Tabernacle hosts sessions for Karen church leaders and
pastors to build skill sets and enhance the various
ministries. The day before my visit to Utica, 53 attended a
workshop at Tabernacle.
In Diana Butler Bass' words, see where it takes you!
-- 