Prodigal Churches: Should Associations Discipline, Disciple or Discern?
A perspective for local denominational organizations/judicatories on how they best empower their churches to serve from the base of their local context.
Rundown: Articles on Baptist associations are often applicable to the local denominational organizations/judicatories of various denominations. They may be called associations, districts, classis, synods, and by other names. They are typically organisms more than organizations. Relational more than functional. Regional and national expressions of denominations are more organizational and functional.
GBJ Blog Post 107 includes—a Column, personal Reflections from George, and questions for your Reaction.
(This column appears this week in the digital and print edition of The Baptist Paper. Access the column in the digital edition HERE. The Baptist Paper is a publication of TAB Media. Request a free trial HERE. See all TAB Media columns written by George Bullard HERE.) (Subscribe to this Substack Blog using the “Subscribe now” button below.)
Prodigal Churches: Should Associations Discipline, Disciple or Discern?
Which are the churches in your association that need to be disciplined, discipled or about which you need to seek spiritual discernment?
In an earlier column, I addressed the issue of the association as a loving father. Churches could be like the prodigal son, the elder son or the servants in the biblical parable. See the column here.
I suggested that the father’s love is like the love that emerges out of the relationship of churches in association. The image is one of open arms welcoming all congregations — those wandering, those effective and innovative and those faithful and dependable.
Wandering
Some churches may intentionally wander away. They lack some convictions that Baptists claim are essential, but they still remain congregations of worth created in the image of God.
In this time when Baptists in our tradition are thinking more about who is and is not in friendly cooperation, Baptist associations must have a proactive, positive response.
Should we allow churches to go on a wandering journey and love them through it? Do we reject churches that express convictions or take actions that do not please us? Do we give them time, pray for them, dialogue with them and love them?
There are three possible approaches.
(Continue reading HERE.)
Reflections from George:
In our post-denominational or denominational transformation era, many denominations are redefining their identity. Some are moving to serve more as a bounded collection of churches and finding reasons to discipline or exclude churches. Some churches are excluding themselves, connecting with a new emerging denomination, or becoming a nondenominational church.
In some denominations, the exclusion of churches and/or the formation of new denominational expressions is happening simultaneously. Most recently we have seen this among Methodists.
A couple of years ago a new denomination formed out of the Reformed Church in America and the Christian Reformed Church thus creating a new reformed denomination which is now seeking churches from various reformed movements who want a more conservative to evangelical approach.
Other splits and new forms have happened. More will happen in the future.
My observation is that when denominations split over theology, missiology, who they ordain as ministers, and other issues, the side of the debate that leans to the left moves further to the left. The side which leans to the right moves further to the right.
This polarization creates an ever-widening middle between two extremes. I believe in the future we may see some new denominational forms which are in the middle between the two extremes. These will be centered set denominations.
Out of the split in my denomination of heritage—Southern Baptists—a grassroots and regional effort to form some type of denomination expression that is in the middle is beginning to take place. Whether or not it will actually happen and exactly what form it will take is still an open question.
One church I consulted with in the past year is experimenting with a “cafeteria approach” to denominational affiliation. They are choosing to support specific missional activities of multiple denominational expressions without formal affiliation or membership in any of them.
Reactions:
You are invited to share some reactions (comments) to this article and my reflections. Here are three questions to guide your reaction:
How does your denominational organization or judicatory discipline, disciple, or discern churches? Is it happening in a positive or negative way? Is it helping you move forward, or stagnating your progress?
What are your suggestions for improving your system for how you nurture churches?
What seems impossible today that if it could happen would transform the discipline, disciple, and/or discernment process in your denomination or network?