Baptist....But Don't Proclaim It????

[RockRambler]

Mega Church

Is it just me (not being a fan of big churches) but is it strange that a church is Southern Baptist, but they don't have it on their sign, or talk about it? I've had members of this church tell me they weren't Baptist but "non-denominational"...yet from the article its clear they are.

Also, they have "overseers" in the church. If you notice a church member do something wrong (drink a beer for instance) you report to the overseer and a committee confronts the member. Is this done in other Baptist churches?

 

[gb93433]

People have an opinion about the name Baptist but they cannot have much of an opinion about a particular church unless they know more. It much like the idea that most people know about McDonalds but not much about Jolly Kone. Jolly Kone makes better hamburgers but people would not know that until they went there or heard about it from someone else.

We are not here to proclaim Baptist but Christ. For 1500+ years the organization know as Baptist never existed. But Christianity did.

 

[Jeffrey H]

Also, they have "overseers" in the church. If you notice a church member do something wrong (drink a beer for instance) you report to the overseer and a committee confronts the member. Is this done in other Baptist churches?

Their procedures do not appear to follow the biblical pattern.

In my church, if you see your brother/sister doing something "wrong", you should first go to them and talk to them in private. If they won't listen, then obtain two or three witnesses. If they still won't listen, then it will be brought before the church (extremely rare to get to this point). All of this is based on Jesus' teaching in Matthew.

 

[RockRambler]

We are not here to proclaim Baptist but Christ.

That is very true and I'm well aware of that. My confusion though is why when someone invites me to a church, as one of their members did, I tell them I'm a member of a Baptist Church in the area, then they tell me, "Well, we're sorta like Baptist, but non-denominational". If a member is not aware of what their affliation is, it makes me cast a wary eye.

Jeff...I am accustomed to handling problems as you described.

 

[All about Grace]

If a member is not aware of what their affliation is, it makes me cast a wary eye.

Why?

Just wondering.

 

[exscentric]

It is the fad now to get rid of names that denote who you really are, so that people will feel more comfy coming in. Names like dayspring, north community church are fuzzier than first baptist or whatever.

Just about every baptist church in our town has changed to warm fuzzy names. It isn't just baptist it is all churches. We have a community church that is a way out reform, we have assembly of God that are named anything but assembly of God.

Its kind of like being a McDonald's and changing your name to Donnys hangout or something to get away from the typical fast food syndrome.

 

[Jeffrey H]

It is the fad now to get rid of names that denote who you really are, so that people will feel more comfy coming in. Names like dayspring, north community church are fuzzier than first baptist or whatever.

Having the name "Baptist" does not denote who you really are...

 

[Pastor Larry]

There are many "Baptist" churches that embarrass me, quite frankly. The name means nothing to them.

But if you aren't changing the doctrine and your teaching, why does having "Baptist" in the name matter? Our church has Baptist in the name, but if it didn't, I would preach the same, our doctrinal statement and practice would be the same. It would make no difference.

 

[shannonL]

The name doesnt matter so much. I agree with Larry though. It is embarrassing in some cases.
Unless it is a liberal baptist church when you see the name baptist out front you can assume a few things such as the "baptist distinctives" which are in my estimation pretty bibilical.

 

[shannonL]

If the Lord taries long enough we could see history repeat itself. Now everyone is trying to be so generic in order to attract people that in the end doctrinal lines will erode over time.
Then those who are really desiring to live holy, biblical lives will again have to seperate themselves much like at the end of the 19th. century into the early thirties.
I think Jesus is coming soon though. All this global coming together in the world and in churches is just paving the way for one man to have all the answers. The Antichrist.

 

[All about Grace]

In the unchurched culture where our church is located, Baptist means nothing. We left it out simply to avoid the extremism connotations of the Baptist movement that tend to make the news.

Baptist is simply not the first foot we want to put forward. The "assumptions" of unchurched people regarding the name Baptist is usually not something to be proud of. No need to create unnecessary obstacles.

 

[AVL1984]

I believe too much emphasis is being placed on a denominational name. We are first to be Christians, then whatever denomination the Lord has led us into.

 

[RockRambler]

Baptist is simply not the first foot we want to put forward. The "assumptions" of unchurched people regarding the name Baptist is usually not something to be proud of. No need to create unnecessary obstacles

That part I can understand. But, when asked what denomination you are, do you say "Baptist" or "non-denominational"?? That's what I can't understand, is denying the denomination of the church you attend when asked. (not really concern about what's on the sign out front)

Again, does anyone else attend a Baptist church with overseers?

 

[AVL1984]

I am an SBC church member, and I've never seen overseers...not even in the church of 2,500.

 

[OldRegular]

Originally posted by gb93433:
People have an opinion about the name Baptist but they cannot have much of an opinion about a particular church unless they know more. It much like the idea that most people know about McDonalds but not much about Jolly Kone. Jolly Kone makes better hamburgers but people would not know that until they went there or heard about it from someone else.

We are not here to proclaim Baptist but Christ. For 1500+ years the organization know as Baptist never existed. But Christianity did.

My Goodness Gracious! Here I thought all along that the Baptist Churches were established by Jesus Chris!

 

[exscentric]

I said "Just about every baptist church in our town has changed to warm fuzzy names. It isn't just baptist it is all churches. We have a community church that is a way out reform, we have assembly of God that are named anything but assembly of God."

I was not saying anything against baptists, I was simply pointing out many churches are changing their names and that knowing what they are is even harder.

I was not saying "Baptist" was important in the name - just that it used to be that a name gave some indication of who you were, today not so. Used to be Christian church meant a certain polity and to some extent doctrine.

Southern Baptist used to say something about what the church was.

Dayspring doesn't tell you much. Sunnyside church doesn't tell you much. People's church doesn't tell you much. (One is baptist and two are assemblies)

Everyone is changing names, colleges as well. One here was Western Baptist Bible college, they removed bible, then few years later baptist was almost eliminated and now they have become Corban College.

Businesses are changing their names, I may change my name .........

 

[All about Grace]

That part I can understand. But, when asked what denomination you are, do you say "Baptist" or "non-denominational"?? That's what I can't understand, is denying the denomination of the church you attend when asked. (not really concern about what's on the sign out front)

We are not ashamed to be affiliated with Baptist, but I am sure everyone in our church does not know we are "Baptist". Some would probably say we are "non". We don't hide it but neither do we promote it. To be honest with you it is not nearly as important in our cultural context as it is in the Bible belt in which I was raised.

 

[Pastor Larry]

Again, does anyone else attend a Baptist church with overseers?

Every Baptist does. "Overseer" is one of hte terms for the office of pastor. It may not be that they function in the way described above however. And it is entirely possible that the above description is inaccurate. I would be skeptical that such is true. It may have been miscommunicated or misunderstood.

 

[shannonL]

Rockrambler did somebody catch you drinking a beer? hee hee. It just struck me funny that you kinda threw that in there.

 

[AVL1984]

Larry, I think you know what is meant by "overseer". They don't mean the office of the pastorate. They mean tattlers...spies in the church for the pastor/administration, to take the place of the Holy Spirit.