An Open Letter to My Southern Baptist Friends

Last night and this morning, I have been hurting for my Southern Baptist friends who were on the right – and losing – side at yesterday’s Convention.  I felt I should say something, and, after reflection, I’ve decided a tweet or even a tweet thread won’t do.

First, I am indeed hurting and praying for you.  And I am sad for the church as a whole.  For most of my life, the Southern Baptist Convention has been a bulwark of orthodoxy.  For that bulwark to be so weakened and compromised diminishes the whole church.

Second, I advise that you do mourn.  I also advise that you wait awhile before making a decision about your future relationship with the SBC.  Early on after a bad event, both upset and denial can cloud your judgement.  So wait on the Lord, pray, and at least recover a bit first before deciding.

I cannot make that decision for you.  I can see a case for staying and fighting, and I can see a case for moving on.  Know that if you remain faithful, you have my respect along with my prayers.

Also know something that I am hesitant to say for fear of appearing to poach.  Know that IF you decide to leave, there is a place for you in the Anglican Church of North America (ACNA) and especially in my jurisdiction, the Reformed Episcopal Church (REC – which has a large degree of independence but is within ACNA – it’s complicated).

You will have to get used to babies being baptized.  You will have to get used to real live bishops with those funny mitres even. You will have to get used to a wide range of orthodoxy under one roof.  We have people who are more catholic than the Pope and people who are more Protestant than Luther.  Our breadth is both glorious and annoying – like the whole faithful church.

But ACNA and the REC are committed to the authority of scripture and to the basics of the Faith as reflected in the Creeds.  AND both the Archbishop of ACNA and the Presiding Bishop of the REC have just made strong statements opposing Critical Race Theory.

We are not perfect.  There are a few dioceses in ACNA I cannot recommend.  And wokeness has infiltrated us as it has the SBC.  (Where has it not infiltrated?)  But unlike the SBC, our two highest bishops along with many other bishops are opposing it.  And it has not and will not gain a stronghold in the REC.

If you do wish to check out an Anglican church or two, feel free to message me for guidance.  You can contact me in the comments (And I will not post your comment unless it’s clear that you want it public.  I moderate comments.) Or you can message me on twitter.

I would prefer Baptist faithful stay in the SBC and take back their denomination from the woke cabal.  I want a faithful thriving SBC.  But if you become convinced that is not your path, you are welcome to help us remain faithful in ACNA.  Let me know if I can help you.

This Octave of All Saints

Ever since I’ve become a wannabe Anglican, I’ve always looked forward to and enjoyed the celebration of All Saints. 

Why? For some reason, it has always seemed a particularly Anglican observance – one of the things I find “fun” about Anglicanism.  Yes, I know Anglicans did not invent the Feast of All Saints.  And I have trouble explaining just what is all that Anglican about All Saints.  It may be just a purely subjective inner connection of mine.  If so, so be it.

I do know I look forward to All Saints as a harbinger of the coming season of Advent, probably my favorite church season of the year.  The two autumns I was studying in Oxford when I was yearning for a completion of my studies and a time to just relax and enjoy being an American Anglican in England for a time before returning home, that harbinger was all the more welcome.

But I am celebrating this All Saints with more joy and vigor than ever.  For yesterday, the Sunday in the Octave of All Saints, a dear friend, for whom I have been praying for some years, joined the company of the saints through Holy Baptism.  And that as I stood beside him as his sponsor.

Thanks be to God, who is so graciously increasing the company of the saints to his glory - and to our joy.

“baptism lite”

I am usually skeptical about liturgical revision.  And I’ve long derided mainline churches’ propensity to confess the sins of others rather than their own.  So it will not surprise that I look with a jaundiced eye upon proposed changes in the Church of England’s baptism rite. 

David Koyzis succinctly points out the chief problem with the proposed language – it does indeed enable those who’d rather confess other people’s evil.

I can reject the evil found in oppressive systems out there or in the pettiness of my neighbour next door. But I needn’t look into my own heart. I can, if I like, but the altered rite itself seems not to require it. By contrast, if I am asked, “Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God and neighbour?”, I am compelled to look within, to weigh my own heart in the balance and actively to renounce certain destructive tendencies within myself.

But the one who has opened my eyes to the sheer awfulness of the proposed rite is one with which I have had my disagreements, one who is certainly not a mossback uberorthodox reactionary such as yours truly.  Yet Bishop Pete Broadbent has cut the proposed rite down to size, calling it “baptism lite”. A few highlights:

3. Where is the truth that we are rebels against God expressed? 

4. Where is repentance from sin? 

5. Where is renunciation of the devil and evil? ("reject" is a much weaker word - I can reject your ideas, but I need to reject and renounce the devil and evil)

6. Where is the sense that Christ is Saviour - and that we need saving? 

His whole post is quite short; he cuts apart the proposed rite very well with only a few thrusts of his virtual sword.  So go read for yourself.

FWIW, it would not surprise me to see the proposed language go down in flames.  That is certainly where it belongs.

500 Babies Baptized. Protests Break Out.

No less than 500 babies were baptized into the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church at Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia, I assume on the Feast of Epiphany.

However, as photos make clear, many of the baptized do not approve of this liturgical practice. And in their honor, we name this mass baptism the abomination of the week.

(Please note that said declaration is made in good humor only. I do not have an opinion on mass baptisms, but I love the photos. Readers are welcome to share their opinions on this practice.)

In Praise of Not Getting Baptized

No, I have not suddenly joined the Salvation Army. But I did indeed do something unusual yesterday. I praised a 15-year-old friend for not getting baptized.

It had come to my attention that a number of youth at his large church are getting baptized, but he decided not to because, although he very much likes his church, he is unsure of the exclusive truth claims of Christianity. (Those aren’t his words, of course, but a summary of where he is at the moment.)

So I took the opportunity over lunch to praise him for his decision. That did surprise him a bit and got his attention. I pointed out that baptism is a sign of faith in Christ and in his death and resurrection and that if he does not have that faith yet, he should not get baptized. I said I very much hoped he would come to that faith someday. But that if he wasn’t there yet, then he wasn’t there yet, and should not get baptized. And I commended the honesty and wisdom of his decision to wait.

And I think that is a good approach to doubting youth. Too often, churches, whether they intend to or not, pressure youth to make “decisions for Christ” they really are not yet prepared by the Holy Spirit to make.

And such “decisions” can lead to deadly self-deception. We all know people who show no fruit of Christ in their lives, yet have “assurance” because they “came forward” or the like at a high pressure meeting. Or, among us Anglicans, those who disbelieve the basics of the faith yet, if confronted on that, assert with indignation, “I’ve been baptized.”

Better that we help youth to be sure about their faith (and have some degree of confidence in their faith ourselves) before encouraging them to receive baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The sacraments should be occasions of faith, not of self-deception. Obviously, priests and other church workers cannot read minds. There will always be those who receive sacraments in a faithless and unworthy manner no matter how careful ministers are in that regard. But we can certainly seek to avoid pushing people to do so.

So with youth and other seekers who are not yet sure about their faith, we should be there to love them with Christ’s love, ready to use every good opportunity to teach and to witness (as I cleverly did with the young friend’s decision not to get baptized) and to answer questions. But we should not pressure any to make “decisions” or to receive sacraments when the accompanying faith is not yet there.

And, yes, this issue is an issue when it comes to infant baptism. Unlike my pre-Anglican days, I am all for infant baptism when the parents are committed to raising their child in the faith. But a possible side effect, if you will, of infant baptism is the self-deception of “I’ve been baptized.”

And that is a side effect for which I have no antidote. With God all things are possible. But the witness of scripture and of experience is that those who have received the sacraments without faith are in a bad way indeed. Let us do our best not to push any into that way – even to the point of encouraging some not to get baptized.

Traditional, Yet Inviting

Longtime readers of this blog know I am a scourge of Ungodly Innovation prefer traditional worship. At the same time, however, I think it important that worship be inviting so that people, particularly children and youth, feel comfortable participating -- without dumbing it down, of course.

During our Epiphany Sunday service, my parish celebrated Holy Baptism in a manner that was both very traditional yet inviting. We had the paschal candle by the font and a very traditional (and not truncated) rite as the Lord intends. At the same time, people were free to gather around for the blessed event. Children were specifically invited to gather around the font to be reminded of the pledges they made or were made on their behalf at their baptism. And they were indeed right by the action.



Note in the following photo how the Rector’s thirteen-year-old son (# 45) is sitting by the celebration of baptism in a relaxed, casual manner as teenagers are wont to do.



And that is as it should be. If a parish’s worship is traditional yet is conducted so that children and youth feel that comfortable participating in it, that parish is doing something right. It certainly makes more tangible that worship is what the family of God does together.

Children and Communion

Should young baptized but unconfirmed children be admitted to the Lord’s table?

An interesting discussion on this question can be found here.

Yes, I’m one of those throwing in my two cents worth. My experience of young children being admitted at my parish has nudged me firmly into the “Yes” side.

The Episcomuslim Priest and Baptism

The story about the Seattle Episcopal priest who insists she is both Christian and Muslim is the gift that keeps on giving. In spite of the wishes of certain TEC leaders that this story would go away, it hasn’t yet. Here’s a list of some of the blog activity on this.

Now, it may shock you for me to say this. But this is not an occasion to bash liberals, not all of them at least. For many of them are appalled by this “priest.” In two interesting threads here and here at the Ship of Fools (Be warned on the language. Also, the links will eventually become defunct.), for instance, I’m pleasantly surprised to see a number of normally flaming liberals state that they think she has violated her vows and ought to at least suspend acting as a priest.

Also, this is not an occasion for you Cartholicks to chortle. For she will begin teaching this Fall at Seattle University. Isn’t that a Jesuit institution? Hmmmmm?

I don’t want to repeat all that’s been already said about this story. But something stands out to me that has gotten relatively little notice:

Redding knows there are many Christians and Muslims who will not accept her as both.

"I don't care," she says. "They can't take away my baptism." And as she understands it, once she's made her profession of faith to become a Muslim, no one can say she isn't that, either.

This bothers me. It’s not the first time I’ve heard unfaithful apostates express faith in their baptism like it was some golden ticket. Some seem to feel it’s o.k. for purported Christians to ditch the Trinity, the Resurrection, the divinity of Christ -- even to become a Muslim or Hindu. But if you question whether those who act so unfaithfully remain in the faith, they get very indignant and say, “I’ve been baptized!”

That’s one reason baptism was the most difficult issue I had to wrestle with when I became Anglican. I now see that the church fathers emphasized baptism much more than I did in my Bible Church background. I now see it’s linked more to salvation than I once thought.

But then I see how traditional and catholic doctrines of baptism get so easily twisted into a baptidolatry that puts getting one’s head wet as a baby over the faith and faithfulness. It almost makes me want to throw out the baby and baptismal waters all over again as I once did – and then add disclaimers to the baptismal liturgy to boot.

Of course, all good doctrines and practices get twisted. Satan loves to do that. But baptism seems especially prone to perversion and idolatry -- and deadly self-deception.