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Associational IMPACT! – Sweetwater Baptist Association, Tennessee
Posted by Geoff Baggett in Uncategorized
From the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector on-line…
Walnut Grove Methodist Church in Vonore, Tennessee, had a decision to make. The church, in existence since the mid-1800′s, had fallen upon hard times. Attendance dropped to about thirty people. The Methodist conference wanted the church to close its doors and relocate to a nearby community. Then tragedy struck the small congregation when a tornado blew a tree into the church building during a service. Sweetwater Baptist Association disaster relief volunteers were first on the scene to provide relief and assistance. Churches from the association provided clean-up, meals, and other assistance. But no one from the Methodist conference came to assist after the storm.
In the days that followed church members and leaders made an interesting, unbelievable, incredible decision. They decided to change denominations. They decided to become Southern Baptists.
On Sunday, September 9, the new Walnut Grove Baptist Church baptized 22 people, including the six-year-old daughter of the new pastor and 89-year-old Glen Simpson, the oldest member of the former Methodist church. The church now averages about 90 people each Sunday, and recently had an all-time high of 130 people in attendance.
Be sure to check out the article … it’s a pretty awesome testimony to the power of hands-on ministry and meeting needs.
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Geoff,
I am pleased to hear of the testimony of the efforts of the disaster relief workers from Sweetwater Association. I am also happy to hear of a group of believers like the Walnut Grove congregation searching the Word of God, and following their convictions regarding what it teaches. And, I am especially happy to hear about people following the Lord in baptism, and attendance growth at a local church.
However, I was a bit disappointed to see a title such as “Former Methodist Church Becomes Southern Baptist” as the front-page headline (in the print edition) of the “Baptist and Reflector.” Is that what we are really about as Southern Baptists? Converting Methodists over “to our side”? If so, I think we’ve got our priorities mixed up.
David,
I quite agree. That’s why I focused upon the ministry provided by the association, the transformation of the church, and the baptism of believers. I think the story is an amazing picture of the power of ministry to change lives.
I don’t think that this indicates what we are “about” as SB’s … converting Methodist churches to “our side.” I simply think it is so unusual an event that, perhaps, the editors didn’t know how else to tell the story. Indeed, the novelty of the situation is what caught my eye.
But a visit to the church’s web site, and a look at that photo of Mr. Simpson being assisted out of the baptistery, is a most powerful picture.
i thought it was great that these methodists saw the need for a proper baptism. and, that the baptist church that helped them had the fortitude to tell them that they needed to be properly baptised in order to be a sb! i think that many wouldnt have told them that.
as a former methodist…i say welcome to these brothers and sisters in Christ… welcome into the tn baptist family and into the sbc. we’re glad to see you come around. God bless you, and may more methodists see the light.
david
Baptist Disaster Relief has been the instrument that God has used to change many lives. I am proud of everything they do, meeting needs. You’ve heard the song, They’ll Know We are Christians by Our Love? Most families that have been touched by SBC Disaster Relief have seen God’s love in action.
I doubt if anyone tried to “convert” those Methodist’s to Baptist, I believe they responded to love and wanted to be part of a people that will get dirty to show it.
Liz
Liz,
I am sure you are right about this. I too am proud of the ministry of Baptist Disaster Relief.
The only thing about this story that didn’t sit quite right with me was the wording of the headline, and the prominence given to the fact that they did convert from being Methodists to Baptists.
David, I agree that the headline was tactless.
Liz
oh contraire……the headline was great. it was true. and, i’d say that it’s pretty big news that an entire methodist church would become southern baptist! that’s not something that you see everyday. not only that, the baptist and reflector is the baptist newspaper for tn baptist. to hear news like this was interesting to me as a tn baptist.
now, i agree…the main thrust of our work should be to convert sinners……but, it’s still big news to hear of such things as this. in fact, i’d love to hear more of this kind of thing happening…especially if it means church of christ churches finally understanding grace by faith, or methodist churches understanding eternal security and coming back to the bible.
from a former methodist who has many former methodists in his church,
david
David,
You and I just come from different perspectives on this. I think my perspective is illumined from the what the Word of God teaches. But, I am open to being corrected, if you can show me otherwise, from the Word of God.
David
I find the comments on this story interesting. I just don’t understand what is tactless about the headline. Most headlines are written by copy editors and the intent is to attract a reader to the story by summarizing the content of the article. The headline is factual and the point of the story. It’s not like there was a graphic of Homer Simpson shouting “Hey Methodists, in your face!” This is a human interest story. I sincerely don’t believe that the motive of the disaster relief people was “Let’s help them, maybe they’ll become Baptist.” What was the Association to do? No, we won’t let you know how to be Baptist. Your church just needs to die. Quit asking us about what Baptists believe.
This is not about Baptists converting Methodists instead of converting sinners. It’s about Methodist Christians reflecting on their faith and deciding by their own unanimous vote to join a denomination that directly ministered to them when their own denomination abandoned them.
Lest you think that I’m hyper-denominational, I pastored a church in South Texas in which some Sundays we had 22 denominations represented in the worship attendance. I promote open communion and much cross-denominational ministry projects.
David (a different one) Rogers
David (a different one),
This is weird. I feel like I’m talking to my alter-ego or something. But I guess you’ve got just as much a right to the name as I do.
Once again, I have no problem whatsover with the action of the Association. And, it does not bother me that the Methodist church decided to become Baptist. For the most part, I think that is a good thing.
I can even understand your point about a copy editor just doing his/her job. You do want to write headlines that attract attention.
I guess the point I’m wanting to draw out is: Do the wrong things attract our attention? There are a lot of aspects to this story, in my opinion, that should attract our attention more than the fact that the church eventually decided to change denominations.
To illustrate, I wonder how those who are defending this headline would react if the tables were turned? What if, for example, a Pentecostal newspaper had an article with a big headline about how an entire Baptist congregation were “baptized in the Holy Spirit” and all decided to quit being Baptists and become Pentecostal?
Yes, it is a free country, and, we are all free to choose our religious preferences. But, it would get under our skin a bit, if that were to happen, don’t you think?
David (the other one)
By the way, when were you at SWBTS? I was there from 1986-1997. I remember being in a philosophy of religion class with another David Rogers and I always put my middle initial on my tests to distinguish myself. Also, one day when I lived in the dorm, and Adrian Rogers was in town, I got a call from someone asking if I could arrange an interview with him. I had to tell them that they had the wrong “David Rogers.”
Back to the question. Would it get under my skin a bit if a Pentecostal newspaper reported the scenario? No, because I expect denominations to report events using terminology that reflects their underlying beliefs about certain phenomena. I would hope for factual reporting of the process, but interpretive evaluation of the events in accordance with their religious presuppositions is always part of denominational reporting.
What would get under my skin is not the newspaper reporting but the actual event. Why did these Baptists experience this? Are other Baptists missing something? Has emotional manipulation occurred? Why did it have such a effect in this historically Baptist congregation? Why is this congregation so naive about Pentecostal theology? Why are non-Pentecostals so resistant to this phenomena?
Getting under our skin can be a good thing. It causes us to examine possible complacency; become aware of fresh movements of the Spirit; reveal weaknesses of theology and weaknesses of ministry praxis, etc.
What saddens me most is that a once vibrant Methodist denomination is dying on the vine and moving ever more quickly into becoming a secularized charity. Their national motto is “Open Hearts, Open Minds.” I would hope such an event as this congregation “conversion” and maybe this story about it would get under their skin and wake them up to what is happening in their denomination.
With regards to Baptists, I hope they would see that disaster relief ministry actually has visible impact on the decisions people make when they are ministered to. I don’t think that the story was gloating; it was reporting. The writer of the story and the editor who printed it can’t control whether some knot head Baptists will use this as an excuse to strut. They are called to tell stories of what has happened. Readers have the responsibility to respond maturely to the stories.
David (a different one) Rogers
David (the other one),
I was at Southwestern from Jan. 88 to Summer 89. Sorry about all the identity confusion. Actually, looking back, in every one of my classes 1st to 12th grade, I was never ever the only David. I guess you kind of just get used to it.
In regards to the article, I can see your points. I guess it’s just a different way of looking at things. We all see things through different lenses.