An invitation for South Carolina Baptists to offer their opinions in an open forum is an opportunity that few could refuse.
Don KirklandAnd Fred Stone hopes none will.
Stone, who is president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, is inviting all pastors and other church leaders under the age of 40 to join him for what he has termed a time of “fellowship and dialogue.”
It is a series of gatherings, actually, to take place at selected churches during March and April.
This edition of the Courier contains Stone’s invitation as a “First Person” (page 2). It is his prayer, he writes, that “we who are older leaders today will welcome the younger generation to the table of convention leadership as warmly as we were.”
Younger and older Baptists can learn much from each other, the pastor of First Baptist Church in Pickens believes. And with this hoped-for result: “We can work together to be more effective today and make a seamless transition into the kind of convention the next generation will lead for God’s glory in fulfilling the Great Commission.”
The convention president’s invitation comes at an opportune time. Not a minute too soon. Both challenge and change are our denomination’s lot these days. And how we respond to each will set the course for our future, and will determine whether we even have one.
Stone is to be commended for his initiative. He is demonstrating that open, cooperative and generous spirit for which he is known in Baptist circles.
It is his hope that the under-40s will turn out in large numbers for these get-togethers. He wants them to exhibit at these gatherings the candor for which they are known.
The under-40s can be expected to offer ideas about what a Baptist convention should be and how it should be constructed that run counter in some cases to what we older hands think.
They may, and probably do, have something different in mind from many of us as to what a convention should do and how it should do it — all to serve the best interests of the member churches.
No doubt, the machinery of the state Baptist convention will receive the attention it is due. They will question, and rightly so, whether the machinery is being permitted to distract South Carolina Baptists from the essential mission of the churches. That is always a good question to ask from time to time.
For sure, the dialogue will deal with, in some fashion or other, the word “relevant.” It is a concept pursued with zeal, especially by younger Baptists. And it should be.
Then again, what about legacy and heritage? Will it be given consideration as part of that discussion and in the wider forum of convention life in the future?
Following these gatherings, news of what was said will flow out into the stream of convention life. Will it lead to lines of division drawn in the sand? For the good of our convention, we must not allow battle lines to take shape. Younger and older must not be pitted against each other.
It will become clear from these gatherings — if it were not obvious beforehand — that the younger Baptists see things differently from the older generations. Some, as they view denominationalism generally, sense age, decay and obsolescence. Others, taking in the same sight, but with different eyes, see longevity, maturity and wisdom.
As a denomination, we have much to deal with. We have much to be concerned about. We need all hands on deck. And that includes younger and older hands. But especially young hands. They are our strength for the days to come.
We face a choice as South Carolina Baptists: We can open the door and warmly welcome the younger Baptists into the board rooms, pulpits and other positions of prominence — or we can close the book on a denomination which has served God and the churches well since its inception in 1821.
There’s a book I keep near and like to refer to which is entitled “A Journey of Faith and Hope.” Its author is Carlisle Driggers, former executive director of our state convention.
I want to walk that “journey of faith” in the company of the younger Baptists as well as the older set that I belong to. I will try as best I can to keep pace with the younger folks. If I fail at that, I will simply ask that they not get so far ahead of me that we lose sight of each other. If we stay close enough together on our journey, we can shed lots of light on the path ahead. All of us then can see better where we are going. Our convention is going somewhere. There is purpose in what we are doing as a denomination. Our journey of faith and hope is taking us to a God-ordained destination. God will expect us — younger and older — to arrive there together.