Thursday, May 18, 2017

Understanding Traditions in the Black Baptist Church

In one corner, you have the old-timers who have been in the church since they were yea high to a grasshopper and maintain all of the old ways to the letter.

In the other corner are the new generation radicals who aren’t here for the foolishness.

I stand in the middle as a Generation X husband and father and in my church, the only deacon under 50 years old at age 38. In fact, I am often the link between the older folks (if not specifically those who grew up in the small family church on the corner) and the millennials who are still seeking God in a larger context than John 3:16 or whatever captivated their hearts to know that there is a hope that the daily struggle life is not one of vain.  This opinion post is only one man’s way of bridging the gap between the two factions – and in small family-driven churches, they can almost seem like one and the same.

Praise Service

Depending on the church, two or three deacons or appointed member(s) lead praise service usually comprising of two songs, a scripture, and a prayer. Since I’m not the greatest singer, I typically defer to the brother standing next to me or the musician to begin the worship experience. In this case, we are likened to the hype men you have seen at concerts; unfortunately, we invariably end up looking like clean pieces of furniture if our beginning falls flat. You have to know the congregation and they also need to understand that praise and worship is for EVERYBODY to celebrate God and what He has brought us through from the last time we met in corporate worship. If you don’t know the song, don’t worry; at least clap along or mouth your way through the parts you don’t know – in some churches, the words are hanging from a projector for all to see and read. Don’t let that be an excuse. The order varies with congregations – at my childhood home, we opened with a scripture then song followed by a prayer and another backwoods lyric “Watts” (thanks, Deacon Jerome Polk!) before heading back to our seats. At the Mount, it isn’t as organic:  brief hype man testimony, song, scripture, prayer, another song, and sit that tail down.

I like praise dance teams but not to the effect to where their intrinsic value is discounted due to overuse. It also does not mean bring the twerk team out during “Take Me to the King”!

Visitors

Let’s be real:  Everyone is a first time visitor somewhere. Most churches today are getting away from making new visitors and potential members uncomfortable by standing them up as the head usher or appointed member reads the welcome paragraph yet a few holdouts do remain. In those cases, stand up, identify yourself, home church (or the place you currently worship) with the pastor’s name, and a brief remark of how happy you are to be here and hope to return. The point of this is for the larger congregation to make you feel comfortable in joint worship. I remember the awkward stares from being a first-time visitor in nearly every building – and in one instance, the entire church consisted of visitors! I’ve found the welcoming experience critical if I wanted to return – and ironically enough, my current church did a particularly lousy job of making us feel welcome eight years ago. Imagine my reaction when my wife told me she was attending Bible study there after our pastor left his church!

To the old-school church folks:  People do read the Google reviews and inquire of the services and programs within social media. A current website would be helpful in this regard; for the tech-savvy among us, having a smartphone app is a bonus. As we read the Google reviews, keep in mind most of us are being honest in our experiences and not just stuffing the stat sheet to generate more traffic each Sunday.

Three things I look for as a visitor:  1) meaningful Christ-centered worship, 2) a personal connection, and 3) Wi-Fi. . You can get one without the others, but if the first thing isn’t happening, please believe there won’t be a second visit regardless of how kind the ushers are or how quickly the Wi-Fi syncs to our Androids. Some folks fall in love with the singing or the preacher doing cartwheels down the aisle or how the mothers swoon or the message is sweeter than red Kool-Aid on Independence Day or the freebies in the back but if Christ isn’t the center of morning worship, then it is a time waster. I don’t expect a grand tour of the place, but at least make my family feel welcome to worship freely. As for Wi-Fi, I am pretty tech-savvy and would expect the church to keep up with the times beyond a paper bulletin meaning connectivity indeed matters.

Offering


Shout out to the churches that are doing it right with their tithes and offerings because not everyone will follow Jesus’s teachings in giving. Hopefully there is only one offering instead of the brothers passing the plate around once and again five minutes later without a specific purpose. Of course, if you see an ATM outside of the sanctuary, it may be a cue that true worship doesn’t necessarily happen here.

Who’s doing it right and how will I know that transparency is here?

You could ask to see the books, but that is a privilege only extended to the active members. Read Thom Rainier’s I Am a Church Member to further understand the context of this statement.

Consider the community where the church exists. Is the parking lot open to all or gated only for the staff to park uphill as others double park a block away with no security outside? How are finances handled by the leadership? Without announcing the actual amount collected each Sunday to the entire congregation, a prospective member can follow the money fairly easily by observing how the ministries offered are being run. At least I would hope a doorknob has been replaced once in thirty years if a building fund exists; we are 98% finished with our building renovation from stem to sternum and brought the building into the 21st Century. Malachi 3:8 teaches us to give the first tenth of our fruits as an exercise in faith whereas some pastors push for that ten percent to come from gross income (before taxes) instead of net income (after taxes) in a similar vein if not more.

Some of the older members may gripe about how much money goes out to salaries, but even as a nonprofit, the church has some costs that are vital:  utilities, the van, insurance, outreach ministries, and following that are the salaries. Musicians and pastors don’t exactly come cheap yet both are critical to the worship experience; both require a little bit more than a thank-you and a bucket of fried chicken meaning give properly as God directs you.

Appearance



Tradition also plays into dress codes, as evidenced in the above tweet. While the religious among us expects a certain style of dress for each Sunday, Communion Sunday – often observed on the first Sunday of each month – takes it to another level of customary fashion. Everyone knows that the pastor and deacons wear black suits with white shirts to signify the solemn approach toward Christ’s life and death as 1 Corinthians 11:21-32 is read to the congregation before communion is given and later in outreach ministry to the sick and shut-in members of the community. Yet, the deaconesses and pastor’s wife wear all-white not as a symbol of purity rather to embody the cleansing of souls thanks to Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and resurrection three days later proving that not even death can stop our Savior from being about our Father’s business of soul-saving.

Thankfully, the church has evolved into a position where a “come as you are” dress code is one of acceptance and comfort to bring in the lost versus the parsonage having an implicit fashion show.  To get a further understanding, check out “Come As You Are Sundays Aren’t What We Think. They’re More” from A Dollar and a Dream.

Covenant

Believe it or not, the church covenant that we recite so often each Communion Sunday is cribbed from the Southern Baptist Church denomination – the same one that separated from the American Baptist Association solely on the issue of slavery some 150+ years ago. In a way, using it as a substitute for responsive reading is a strange acknowledgment of how white supremacy still has a stranglehold on our places of worship: 

Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God, to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of our Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, we do now in the presence of God, angels, and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully enter into covenant with one another as one body in Christ.
We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; to strive for the advancement of this church, in knowledge, holiness, and comfort, to promote its prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline and doctrines, to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations.
We also engage to maintain family and secret devotion; to religiously educate our children, to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances, to walk circumspectly in the world, to be just in our dealings, faithful in our engagements and exemplary in our deportment, to avoid all tattling, backbiting and excessive anger, to abstain from the sale and use of intoxicating drinks as a beverage, and to be zealous in our efforts to advance the Kingdom of our Savior.
We further engage to watch over one another with brotherly love, to remember each other in prayer, to aid each other in sickness and distress, to cultivate Christian sympathy in feeling and courtesy in speech, to be slow to take offense, but always ready for reconciliation, and mindful of the rules of our Savior to secure it without delay.
We moreover engage that when we remove from this place, we will as soon as possible unite with some other church, where we can carry out the spirit of this covenant and the principles of God’s word.
Since it is not found in the Scriptures, the covenant is not necessarily indispensable for a church although it summarizes the New Testament expectations of church members and is a generally accepted standard that some churches today will tailor to their congregations. The idea of having a covenant became prominent among the Puritans who settled America namely a trio of John Cotton, Richard Mather, and Ralph Partridge forming a “model for the government of the church” in 1648 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Note that the concept of separation of church and state did not enter discussion for another century nor did believers of the era think baptism alone was sufficient enough for salvation instead they felt they needed a visible union with a physical group to show allegiance. Signing (rather, call-and-respond in agreement) a covenant indeed makes a church member more serious, committed, and responsible concerning duties which although established in the New Testament can easily be neglected or designated to others.

Staff

Let me make myself crystal-clear with this sentence:  The only two offices designated in the church are pastor and deacon (Acts 6:1-7): Both positions are specifically defined as the pastor teaches while the deacons serve. Any other roles including auxiliary presidents, trustees, coordinators, and clerks are merely ancillary functions that potentially can inflate the officeholder’s egos more than advance Kingdom building in a world that needs to see true Christianity in action. Otherwise, I want no parts of a country club culture where a few diligent souls find themselves so overworked and frustrated they eventually leave sometimes to never return to a church as a result of this experience.

Sermon and Invitation to Discipleship

After all of the singing and extensive praying comes the moment all of us should be preparing for:  the sermon. In today’s Baptist churches (at least the ones I grew up and/or worshiped in at one point or another of my 38 years), the sermon is a set of Biblical texts that relate to our daily living and are intended to serve as a clarion call to continue to serve God or at the very least, provide a source of encouragement after discouraging news or surviving a rough week as a road map. A time limit is not specified although most messages generally last from twenty to forty-five minutes depending on the speaker’s content, the call-and-response shouts from the congregation such “Take your time!” and the obligatory “Amen!” when we hear a point we agree upon. Keep in mind it was not that long ago when you could sit in a church and hear a sermon being preached for several hours at a time; in an increasingly secularization of our society, congregants tend to value time a bit more. Then there is the fact that some popular buffets have limited Sunday hours to take advantage of the churchgoing crowds that otherwise would end up at Big Mama’s house eating racks of smoked ribs or gorging on a pork roast left in the crockpot.

The invitation to discipleship is the moment which everyone throughout the building is extended an invitation to join the Christian faith via baptism; unite with a particular church or worship center of choice to formally make it a new home. For most of us, this period also allows for wayward members to make a public rededication of their lives to Christ as well as presents a moment for special prayer requests that were missed during altar call. Two chairs (or more, depending on how the Spirit moves) are set toward the front of the sanctuary by two deacons who both extend the hands to come to Jesus as you are. If someone is compelled to become a follower of Jesus, he or she walks, runs, skips, does cartwheels, or rolls to the center aisle to make that proclamation and announces that they indeed are believers who accept the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ in addition to a Holy Spirit that lives within all of us. Upon that agreement, the new convert is welcomed and receives all of the rights, benefits, and privileges of membership as any other member INCLUDING voting!

New Members’ Orientation

This is a crash course of the guidelines and expectations within a congregation. Because I teach our classes at the Mount, you’ll have to show up for the estimated 45 minute session to know the extent of what is required of the new member – and merely having your name on the church rolls is not enough. For one, the instructor has to know the procedures and policies fairly well since the majority of members already know the rote rituals of religion and if he or she is unprepared, he could potentially open a can of worms or have your credentials questioned. Orientation courses do vary from one congregation to the next primarily based on the membership’s needs and the ministries available to them. It also helps new members to know what is available to them and a weekly schedule of when events transpire in order for their presence to be made known AND welcomed. For example, someone who is tech-savvy may be interested in running the audio/visual booth and maintaining an active internet presence via website and social media pages or app development; ditto for the cook who has a heart for assisting with a food pantry; and so forth.
The idea of a new member’s orientation course is to not only inundate the neophyte with rules of the road but also presents opportunities for growth and soul-saving that otherwise were ignored or underutilized by the larger group. With the completion of this course and during the session, questions will be answered promptly and succulently; those that do not elicit an immediate response or need an extended answer will be replied to in a short period of time. In addition, any member has the right to ask questions if a concern arises in an appropriate forum.

Conclusion

This is nowhere near an exhaustive detail of the traditions of the black Baptist church by any means, but at 2,800 words, it merely is a summary of my own experiences, frustrations, and standards that most congregations have generally accepted regardless of church size and political affiliation. I’ve been a part of fairly large groups (Mt. Calvary in Hartford), small-to-medium sizes (Greater Friendship, Mt. Zion), and simply small (Mt. Olive, Labannah, St. Paul) all of which have a differing methods of getting to the ultimate prize. Having attended such varying churches has also given an insight of what works for each group:  while security cameras alone may work for one congregation, another may feel the necessity for a security team or rely solely on the ushers as protection.




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