The Southern Baptist Convention has a rich heritage, but unfortunately many local church members have little knowledge about that heritage.
That could all change with the release of the “Forged by Faith” video series produced by the SBC Executive Committee.
The first two installments in the series, entitled “A History of the Southern Baptist Convention: The Early Years” and “The Cooperative Program: One Sacred Effort,” show in a narrated documentary form how the SBC was founded and developed and how it established its cooperative funding mechanism.
Approximately 15 minutes each, churches can use each video in the series for Sunday school classes, new member classes or special programs.
“A History of the Southern Baptist Convention: The Early Years” traces Baptist history from its roots in pre-Reformation Europe up the present-day SBC. The video highlights the first Baptist churches and associations in America and documents the influence of Baptists on America’s founding fathers.
It relates, for example, how Thomas Jefferson said of Baptist polity, “I consider it the only form of true democracy now existing in the world and have concluded it would be the best form for the government of these American colonies.” James Madison sought Baptist support for his candidacy to the 1789 Constitutional Convention and received it in exchange for advocating religious freedom in the First Amendment, according to “The Early Years.”
“The Cooperative Program: One Sacred Effort” compares Southern Baptists’ cooperative funding mechanism to the Hoover Dam. Just like the Hoover Dam controls the flow of water from the Colorado River to prevent alternating seasons of flood and drought, the Cooperative Program ensures a steady flow of money to SBC entities rather than sporadic rushes of income raised periodically, the video explains.
“Ultimately, Southern Baptists do not see the Cooperative Program as merely another program, but as an essential means to spreading the gospel and making a difference in the lives of people,” the video says. “Through the Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists baptize people every minute and plant scores of new Bible-based churches every 24 hours, sharing Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.”