For the last
several years, my ecclesiastical tribe (FEB Central) has used the phrase
“stronger together” to emphasize a renewed emphasis on shared mission and less
fixation on local autonomy. I am a strong supporter of this new emphasis, and I
am delighted to see some of the ways it is working itself out in practice. One
recent example deserves special notice.
Royal York Baptist Church has been
serving the west end of Toronto since the 1960s, but in recent years the church
experienced severe numerical decline and was apparently in its last days. Grace
Fellowship Church also meets in the west end of Toronto, and instead of simply
looking on with regret at the demise of another church, the leaders began to
consider how they could be part of a solution. Pastor Paul Martin led GFC to
provide their youth pastor, Peter Mahaffey, to serve RYBC part-time with a view
to possible extension of his ministry. That began last fall, and in January and
February of this year, I had the privilege of preaching at RYBC four times to
help Peter cope with his dual focus. The group was small, but the worship was
joyful and engaging, and the people were responsive to the ministry of the Word.
And now this month, RYBC has called Peter to be their pastor, and GFC has
commissioned forty of its own members to become members of RYBC and strengthen
their testimony. My experience there leads me to expect that God will do a
powerful work of renewing that important witness in a great city.
What happened arose out of an
understanding that local churches are part of something much larger, not just
independent kingdoms responsible only for themselves. This scenario is not
common today in Baptist circles, but was deeply embedded in the experience of
our predecessors in the Baptist churches of the 17th century. When
the leaders of those early churches met in an association gathering, each
church gave an account of their present condition, and if there were needs like
those of RYBC, the other church leaders felt a responsibility to provide
tangible help. Early associations affirmed that just as individual believers
must be part of a congregation, so also individual churches must be part of an
association, but for various reasons, by the 19th century Baptists
in North America had often rejected that earlier sense of connection in favour
of a radical autonomy.
What is happening right now in
Toronto is one sign that Baptists in my tribe are moving back toward a stronger
sense of connection to the wider church. Some of us are still embarrassed by
the fact that the Affirmation of Faith of the FEBCC contains no affirmation of
the universal church at all, and the language of local autonomy seems
excessive, but at least our practice is improving. Sending off a gifted young
pastor and forty members to strengthen a church in need is no small matter.
It’s too bad that it seems remarkable.
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