Last Sunday in worship, we observed one of the rituals that makes Baptists who we are–believer’s baptism by immersion. Next Sunday, October 27, we will practice another–church conference. One might not think of a meeting as being a key distinctive for a church or any other organization. But the way we meet is central to our identity as Baptists and as FirstBaptist Church of Christ.

In our church, we lean into what our own Baptist historian Walter Shurden calls “church freedom,” one of the four primary characteristics of the Baptist identity (the others are soul freedom, Bible freedom, and religious freedom, in case you are wondering). Our church alone determines how we worship, what we do with our resources, who we count among our membership and leadership, and how we will carry out our mission and ministry. When it comes to our congregational decisions, we meet together to discuss and decide. No member’s vote carries more weight than another’s.

As Shurden writes in The Baptist Identity, “Baptists practice democratic church polity not because it is more efficient or more reliable or even more biblical than other forms. They follow it because it accents the role of the individual within community, allowing the greatest freedom for the greatest number of people to have a say.” We share a conviction that everyone who is invested in this community should have a say. On Sunday, October 27, at 9:45 a.m., you have an opportunity to have a say! We gather for church conference at least quarterly, but our annual church conference in October is typically our most important of the year. At that meeting, we discuss and vote on our proposed operating budget and church leadership structure for the coming year. Church budgets and nominating committee reports may seem like bureaucracy, but they actually are theological documents that reflect our priorities. They tell us something about who we are and who we feel called to be.

You’ll have all you need to be prepared to discuss and decide – a mailing with our proposed budget and an explanation of it will go out in the mail early this week, and this week’s e- newsletter will include a link to the nominating committee report and other conference documents online. Take a look before next Sunday and come prepared with your questions. Then, meet us in the Fellowship Hall during the Sunday School hour as we practice being church together.

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