Earlier this month Rachel Held Evans made news again by
“departing” Evangelicalism for the Episcopal Church.
This is hardly news, save for the influence
that Evans has in the Evangelical blogosphere and twitterverse. However, her
departure is apparently indicative of a broader trend among her (and my)
generation of church-goers. Millennials are tending to leave the Evangelical
churches of their youth and find a home in the Mainline traditions or no home
at all.
I have served in Baptist congregations for a decade now, and
in that time I’ve moved more and more toward liturgical practices in worship
style and have found a passion for the Church Year. I’ve been called a
“bathlic” by some congregants who disliked my following of the Lectionary or my
introduction of the seasons of Lent and Advent into the life of my little
Baptist churches. Even now, I am affiliated with what has been called a
“bapti-palian” church that embraces a very high church style and is about as
far from the Evangelical camp as can be and still be called Baptist.
During my Oral Defense last summer, my dear friend and
mentor Todd Still asked a question of me that lingers with me still. My Project
had addressed the possibility of using a type of catechesis in a Baptist
congregation. In the research I had borrowed extensively from Catholic,
Presbyterian, and Lutheran understandings of catechesis in hopes of finding a
foundational platform from which to do adult catechetical discipleship. After
discussing my findings, Dr. Still asked, “why not just go on all the way to
Rome?”
His question addressed the natural conclusion of my work and
predicted Evans’ departure to the Episcopal Church. My answer was that I was
committed to the Baptist principals of the Priesthood of the Believer, the
Autonomy of the Local Church, and Soul Competency. These things were so
important to me that I had never even fathomed leaving my Baptist tradition for
the Episcopal Church – I was trying to refine the discipleship practices of my
own tradition rather than find an excuse to depart for something else.
I believe in the Baptist project. Theologically I have no
need to adopt a practice of seven sacraments like Evans has; the ordinances of
adult baptism and communion sustain me and serve, I believe, as the foundation
for the community’s practice in the church.
I
may add practices and traditions to these ordinances, but I do not need to
abandon the carefully crafted Baptist ecclesiology to find a church home.
I do understand the temptation to find a church home that is
a part of something that is deep and wide and rich, though. Evans, and those
who have journeyed to Rome or Canterbury like her, is searching for a
connection to something that is more global and more powerful than the shallow
work, words, and worship that they commonly experience. I feel that pull, too.
But my congregation and I are crafting a practical ecclesiology that embraces
the deep and wide tradition of spirituality that is so appealing to my
generation without leaving behind all the minds, hearts, and hands that have
brought us to this place. Being Baptist is being flexible. It is not being
beholden to a worship style any more than it is being beholden to a Bishop or
Pope’s decree.
Why am I not “going on to Rome?” because I have a home that
has formed me and now calls on me to form it in return. It is the house that
has paneling and wallpaper over ancient walls that were crafted with precision
and artistry. Our congregation is developing a practice that takes down the
veneer and runs its hands over those ancient stones, polishing and painting
what needs repair, and learning to live in the deep, wide, rich place that God
has led us to.
We’re staying home.
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