Dear ————-,
Your emails have left me a little puzzled. I appreciate your kind words of appreciation for Weekly Baptist Roundup.
However, your request for “a balanced coverage of VP Mike Pence” helped me to realize that you’re apparently not familiar with the mission of Weekly Baptist Roundup (WBR).
- First of all, WBR doesn’t exist to provide political coverage. It links to issues regarding religion, mostly – but not exclusively – Baptist. The articles about Harris were linked because she had just been named as a VP candidate, and there were various articles about her as a person of faith and her membership in a Baptist church, not about her political views.
- Second, I’ve never made any pretense about WBR being “balanced.” Most of my readers were supporters of Texas Baptists Committed (TBC) and are familiar with its connection with WBR. I began Weekly Baptist Roundup in May 2011, a few months after I became executive director of Texas Baptists Committed (which ceased operations in July 2017), to help Baptists stay informed about Baptist life.
Texas Baptists Committed is the organization that, under the leadership of my predecessor, David Currie, prevented the fundamentalists who took control of the SBC from doing the same to the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) in the 1990s. From the beginning, TBC had a specific mission – to promote & defend historic Baptist principles (particularly soul competency, priesthood of every believer, religious liberty and the separation of church and state, and local church autonomy) and fight fundamentalism.
For my part, in November 2016, at our annual Texas Baptists Committed Breakfast at the BGCT Annual Meeting, a few hours before BGCT messengers were to vote on a motion to kick out any churches that were affirming of LGBTQ people, I spoke out boldly and firmly in opposition, declaring that this action was a violation of the hallowed Baptist principle of local church autonomy.
David Currie and I both saw this as TBC’s primary responsibility – to hold Baptists accountable for adhering to historic Baptist principles.
I do link to some articles from SBC entities and leaders in WBR, because I think it’s important that we stay informed about the whole Baptist world, not just our own part of it. And I’m not saying that everything that the SBC and its churches do is wrong. But changes made to the Baptist Faith & Message in the 1998 & 2000 versions were clearly violations of Baptist principles, and the SBC’s continued adherence to them – and enforcement of them – perpetrate those violations by insisting on a theology, which has proven toxic in many ways, that runs counter to the freedom that we have in Christ.
- Third, I stand – as did TBC – firmly against the fundamentalist brand of Christian faith exhibited by Mike Pence that mixes church and state and promotes government policies that favor conservative Christians while promoting discrimination against anyone whose beliefs run counter to theirs.
To state it plainly once again, so there will be no misunderstanding – I have never claimed that Weekly Baptist Roundup is “balanced.” It is a child of Texas Baptists Committed and, as such, has a very clear and specific mission:
- promotion of historic Baptist principles
- opposition to fundamentalism and the fundamentalist-led Southern Baptist Convention (and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention)
- support of those who faithfully practice Baptist principles, such as Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, American Baptist Churches USA, Baptist Women in Ministry, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Good Faith Media, Baptist News Global, the Eula Mae & John Baugh Foundation, and others
I have been following your newsletter for a while and have noticed that you are a thinking and faithful person. I have read your first two blogs in response to the reader who asked you to cover VP Pence in a balanced way. Your responses are clear and point back to the Baptist way some of us can still remember. My father was a conservative, faithful Baptist minister all his life, and I started in that direction but ultimately couldn’t stay in the Baptist fold. Your thoughtful response to the reader reminded me of how Baptists used to be able to adhere to a few common beliefs and work together toward common goals. I can remember when Republicans and Democrats could do that too. I have contributed from time to time to your work, but now I want to make a small monthly contribution to support your voice in our strange wilderness.
Art,
You can’t imagine how much your encouragement and support mean to me. I can certainly relate to your frustration with fundamentalist Baptists. I’ve said that I want to be an encouragement to people like you, because I’ve been there. I’ve been blessed to have many encouragers through the years, especially during those 17 years we spent at our former church. People like David Currie, Phil Strickland, and Suzii Paynter, among others, helped me to “hang in there” and fight the good fight. Just today, I became acquainted with a new friend – via Facebook Messenger – who said my first two posts in this series helped him address some things in teaching his Sunday School class this week.
When I first saw your comment a couple of days ago, I read it to my wife and said, “Do you ever wonder why I do what I do? This is why.”
Thanks, too, for your past donations and setting up a new monthly donation. That kind of support means a lot to me. I’m sure that you’ve seen, through the articles linked in Weekly Baptist Roundup, that the number of “good” Baptists is growing these days, increasing the “fold” of those who are committed to carrying out the commands of Jesus to seek justice for those who are oppressed and marginalized, and to give mercy. It’s still an uphill battle, because the Robert Jeffresses, Franklin Grahams, etc., still get the most publicity – which they crave – but a different kind of Baptist/Christian is emerging and making an impact in people’s lives. Know, too, that you are an encourager to me. Blessings, my friend.
Warm regards,
Bill J
Well said.
EB
Thanks, E. B., my friend. Good to hear from you.
Warm regards,
Bill J