Here’s one story from a wonderful young Baptist clergy– Abby Huff is Minister of Adults at Wilshire Baptist in Dallas, TX. She’s soaking in lots and teaching me lots too.

This week I attended the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship General Assembly in Charlotte, NC. Sticky and hot in the North Carolina evenings, it was great to visit with former Wilshire residents and new acquaintances. For the first time I had a chance to visit with one of our missionaries, and he recounted the political drama that has pressures his work. I even ran into an old friend from my home church in Philadelphia – what a joy to see someone who has known me over the years in the midst of my brand new Baptist family.

There were workshops and luncheons, lectures, and worship services. Both speakers brought up beautiful points about what makes us Baptist, what tribulations we have come through, what fires we face today. It matters that we profess tour faith and our Baptistness, even when it disrupts political systems as it did in Amsterdam four hundred years ago.

I was also struck by Lauren Winner’s observation of where the church is today. Fifty years ago, instead of disrupting political structures, it was dominating them. Mainline Protestantism was the norm, merged closely with the culture, and it enjoyed the respect and prestige of a powerful institution. Today, many mainline churches are in decline, studies show the loss of church membership, and a deep anxiety has crept into the hearts of many clergy and congregations. “What will become of us?” they cry.

But Lauren’s point was that we were not meant to be either of these. We were not meant to hold too much cultural power, because when we do, we forget the subversive nature of God’s vision for the world. But neither were we meant to be hand-wringing worriers, concerned more with church rolls and budgets than with the work of the Kingdom.

I know that some have their concerns about denominations in this day in age. I know that giving might be down, and we might not look like we did 50 years ago. Personally, I feel like we are doing just fine.

This past week felt like family: people greeting each other with hugs and laughter everywhere I turned. Deep discussions about the hardships and joys of church life shared in between workshops and over dinner. Speakers who truly delivered a prophetic word, not just a lecture or a sermon. It was a celebration of the diversity among us – from background and church setting to theology. There was an openness and a love that I felt creeping into the greetings between strangers and the sharing of stories between long-time friends. This diversity will always keep us in tension, as we learn to live with views different than our own, but it will also keep us in relationship as long as we are willing to do the work. I am glad that we are not a denomination that demands we all believe the same or all sit on the same side of every issue. I am truly grateful to be part of a people who aim for conversation over confrontation, space for questions over clear-cut answers, and relationship over uniformity. And even when we fall short – I still think that this is what it looks like when we are living out the Kingdom.