This weekend I finally brought my two footlockers up from the basement. One was full of musical scores and the like. I had forgotten that I have this great book on percussion. Maybe I'll begin studying the bodhran again. I dunno. Maybe I'll finish my thesis before I start banging on the drum all day (I don't wanna work. I just wanna bang on the drum all day...).
Oh! Here is a quick aside. I am now in a band. This is a good thing. Yes, a band. It is called (for the moment) One of the Girls. We play Irish music. Right now it is mostly Makem and Clancy covers, but we will add more provided the band survives past St. Patrick's Day. We have a gig then. Huzzah! Yes, I am playing in an Irish band in Chicago on St. Patrick's Day. Everyone is invited to The Handlebar (North and Oakley approx...details to follow) on The Feast of St Patrick. We go on at 9:00. The Handlebar is part bar part vegetarian restaurant. Good food. Reasonable prices. So, come one and come all. Prepare to sing along. Prepare to be amazed at the audacity. This is a dream come true for me. Very fun.
Back to our regularly schedule program...
I found "On These Truths We Stand" in one of the footlockers. It is a flier prepared in 1989 during the SBC denominational crisis. For thise who do not know, there was a huge split in the SBC 15 years ago. The isssues were around the ordination of women, homosexuality and chuch autonomy. The first two issues received the most press, as they tend to sell newspapers. The last was the real issue within the denomination. What a mess.
At any rate, the pamphlet is what the Baptist General Association of Virginia had to say about it. They may have well have said "Okay, SBC, you have ticked us off now. We are going to form our own denomination." Their articulation of Baptist theology, especially polity, was counter to what the powers in the SBC were running with. Now we have the CBF (Cooperative Baptist Fellowship). It is a relatively new denomination. Very interesting. Not everyone likes what it is up to.
I am going to spend a little time this week sharing what the CBF has to say about being Baptist. It is very close to the ABC, so much so that many ABC churches are calling CBF pastors and ABC pastors are going to CBF churches. There has been much talk of a formal aligning, but that is kinda impossible given the ABC's governing structure. There is nothing formal enough to join with. And since it is not unusual for individual congregations to be affiliated with several Baptist denominations at once, there may be no need for such an alliance. Well, here is a quick quote from "On These Truths."
Baptist thinkers have always recognized that the essential rights of others cannot be violated in the name of one's own conscience or religious convictions."