On Being Brethren

I am at my denomination's Annual Conference in Des Moines, Iowa. The best part about this conference is always the chance it affords to reconnect with seminary friends. This year has been no different. The worst part: just about everything else.

For about ten years I was a member of my denomination's steering committee on new church development. I left the committee last year after new denominational leadership came on board and it was clear that leadership had even less interest in new church development than previous leadership. But last night I attended an insight session hosted my old committee where the current church "plants" were invited to talk. There were about a dozen stories. And I thought I was at the wrong denominational gathering. I heard stories about spiritual warfare in the streets and lots of conversations about souls being saved. And the moment I knew I was at the wrong demoninational gathering came when one person told the story of a group of Southern Baptist carpenters who go around the country building churches for church communities who otherwise couldn't afford a building. It is actually quite a good idea; good for them for doing it. But when a group of Southern Baptist carpenters can look at our denominational website, as they apparently did to decide whether they should help out the Brethren, and find nothing objectional in our theology then there is something wrong with our denomination. We are becoming more and more like the Southern Baptists.

Now I am on my way to this evening's worship. We will see how it is.