In my 43 years as a lifelong Baptist, I’m just now wanting to be some form of leader instead of a pew-warmer. Being as brief and as guarded as I can be, there are two issues I feel pounding on my heart.
Originally there was just one until the May 29 Courier came in my mail – and I’ll go ahead and address Kay Adkins’ article on our Royal Ambassadors’ 100th year now. What a wonderful job Ms. Adkins did.
I grew up as an RA, and it meant so much to me. The late ’70s and early ’80s saw Cliff Satterwhite leading our state RAs in track meets, RA Congresses, basketball tournaments, and, of course, McCall Camp in Sunset.
In Ms. Adkins’ piece, to read what Ambassadors from Georgia to California are doing for young boys and men is encouraging to me and those churches whose RA programs may have seen some decline lately. Thank you for such a fantastic article
Now my original purpose for writing is a little more critical. My family is visiting the different Baptist churches in our area, and we have seen tons of positives in preachers, welcoming congregations, music, classes, and so much more. But because I must be a perfectionist (as I’ve been told), several common habits among most churches just bother me, and I thank you in advance for letting me air them out now.
It is common for choirs and ushers to use prayer time to move around and get their places. I think we have a few minutes to all be still as we talk to God, and then go where we need to go. It has a feel that our time is more important than his. Also, (and I am guilty on this one as ever!) when folks join the church, or especially receive Jesus as Savior, we members head for the exits like nothing grand has just happened. We should mob these new ones with excitement. Are we that anxious to beat the Methodists to lunch?
One more and I am done. I used to work as a waiter, and it is true that the worst crowd is the Sunday crowd. As my fellow table-waiters would moan and complain about how lowly they were treated (personally and in tips), I didn’t have the courage to mention I was a Christian as well. It was embarrassing. To this day, I hate to eat out or shop on Sunday; and when I do because of vacations or friends, I try to make sure I am as friendly to those serving me as possible. Those working Sundays were not the kind of folks going to church anyway, but they actually told me, “It’s not okay for those church people to work on Sunday, but they come in here and expect us to.” Let’s be more free with our time to let God move among us – especially at his pace and place. Thank you again for letting me vent.