The following post is from Isa Torres, one of CBF’s Collegiate Congregational Interns in Yellowstone, Montana, based on interviews with a team of students serving in Yellostone. This blog is included as part of a series of posts from CCI-ers who will share about their summer experiences. 

About a month ago, Zachariah Seanor, Melani Lippard, Isaac Justus, Elizabeth Bauman and I, arrived in West Yellowstone to work as part of CBF’s Collegiate Congregational Internship with First Baptist Church. We came with the knowledge that this church was grounded in a tradition that to date, had limited the role of women in leadership.

We had doubts and concerns before we got to West Yellowstone that these differences might be a barrier, but after our experiences with the church, we no longer had those doubts and concerns. We have learned to acknowledge that they, First Baptist Church of West Yellowstone, and we, CBF Collegiate Congregational interns, have more in common than our shields and swords might suggest.

One of those defining experiences happened a few Sundays ago, when we came together to serve Communion. Benny McCracken, the pastor at FBC West Yellowstone, asked the interns to prepare and administer Communion. As we did the preparation, we did our best to have the Lord’s Supper with the inclusion of everyone in the church. Benny prepared the bread while Sue Knapp and Brenda Geiger organized the sanctuary and the dishes that were going to be used on Sunday.

Zachariah, a student at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, helped us prepare most of the things that were going to be said, and the way we would share this meal with the church. Instead of using the verses in 1 Corinthians 11, we decided to use the account of Jesus’s last meal with his disciples in Mark 14. It is in that chapter of Mark that we have a version of the night that Jesus shares his last meal with his disciples and tells them that he is going to be betrayed by one of them.

Jesus tells his disciples that the betrayer is going to dip bread with him, and soon after Judas’ hand is dipping bread into the bowl with Jesus’ hand. We were shooting for that image of Jesus’ love for all us, sinners, and to each one of us, betrayers. It seemed to be a good experience for those of us who were serving Communion for the first time.

Zachariah read the passage in Mark and I asked for all us to mediate and pray soon after. Isaac, a graduate of East Tennessee State University, said some words before we ate the bread. Elizabeth, also a student at Truett Seminary, led us as we drank the wine – it was juice, I promise. Melani, a graduate of Western Carolina University, closed us in a prayer. We did not see anything extraordinary, or at least that’s what we all thought.

We have enjoyed great meals with FBC West Yellowstone every Sunday after the service. The Sunday we helped with Communion, we were having lunch with the church then leaving to go camping. We were planning on spending the night at Yellowstone National Park, and that was all we could think about.

We ate as fast as we could so we could head up to our dorm and make sure we had everything we needed to go out and interact with the wildlife. Suddenly, Benny stood up and announced to the group gathered how some people responded after we led in Communion.

He told us that some women felt affirmed after seeing women – Melani and Elizabeth – doing what the guys in the group were doing. During that service, women had the same responsibilities and privileges as men, and that was something that some had never seen before. After the service, three different ladies shared with Benny their appreciation for allowing them to worship with the rest of the church.

A visitor from Texas approached Zachariah to tell him that she was sure the hand of the Lord was with us. This type of statement shocked Zachariah, and the rest of us, because we thought that we were just doing the job we were given. We had no idea that this was a radical experience for the church.

We recognize that we are coming from different settings and are from a different generation. We also acknowledge that this should not stop us from uniting and being one with those who see differently.

We also believe that Jesus saves and that he can redeem everything. We believe that we have been sent to speak of that inclusion to everyone who seeks redemption. We do this because we believe that Jesus seeks those who are being excluded. Even though Jesus wants to include everyone, we also believe in the choices that we have.

So this is no longer a question of women being able to do something, this turns more into a question of, who is out there? And, is that person willing? This act of Communion is a basic function of the church and it is to be done with those who are willing – it does not matter if it is you, or if it is me, we are all called to be part of this Holy function.

As generations come and go, they seem to pick up battles and pass them along to the those who follow. My generation has come and it has taken the ideas of those who came before us. The next generation will inherit our generation’s steps towards progress, but they will also inherit our missteps.

A few decades ago there was a big battle in the Baptist world. Among other issues, Baptists were trying to define the role of women in the church. While some wanted to completely open the door to women in leadership, others wanted to limit their participation in the church, especially the role of leading in worship.

Now my generation carries the stories of what happened before us, and we also carry with it, some of the learned behaviors. We carry ideas on how to defend our ground, and maybe even on how to attack each other’s territory. I hope that we can all learn from the things that we have in common and move forward with the gospel of Christ.

Thankfully, the response of the church in West Yellowstone has not been negative. We have received a far more positive response than we could hope for. It has been through the service they do for us and the service we do for them that we can understand the bigger and more beautiful picture.

With First Baptist Church of West Yellowstone we have come to the understanding that we are lost, and that we have a savior who calls us home; he calls us back to what we were meant to be. We are just interns trying to learn what this is, and how we are to do it. They are a church who has come together and who is dealing with some lingering issues.

Together we hope to serve each other, and we hope to help each other see Christ; we hope to see Him moving, forgiving and loving today’s generations. With all of this, we aim at giving the next generations something better than weapons and shields, that they may inherit our feeble steps towards redemption.