The Pastor’s Perspective
By the Rev. Daniel W. Bellavia
October 2007

It is an unfortunate fact that older churches are having more difficulty with growth strategies than new churches. While some people have attempted to understand why this is, many have simply thrown up their hands and mimicked the strategies and culture of the newer churches. The assumption is often made that traditional organizations, structures and services are no longer needed in our post-modern world. What if I were to tell you that there was a legitimate way to use our very tradition to grow our church? Would you believe me?

The problem is not that a church is traditional. Often people are looking for a good old-fashioned church. The problem is what traditions we choose to stand by. If a church decides to stand by a particular style of worship, yet abandons the evangelistic fervor of its original members then it will suffer for this. Why? Simply because evangelism is the life-blood of church growth. You can not grow a church without sharing the gospel message of Jesus Christ with those outside of our walls. To attempt to do this would be like opening up a new store and not advertising the “grand opening.” One of the things that often helps a new church to grow is that the new congregation has an excitement surrounding the new location / building / or fellowship, and they tell their friends about it. It is the real excitement about the new things being done that helps to communicate the message to others. A church without passion will not easily share the gospel message.

Another problem with older congregations is the baggage that builds up over time. Human institutions, even those consecrated by God for a divine purpose, will always leave casualties in their wake. In other words, people will always become hurt or offended in the life of a church. I made every attempt to warn you about this last month. I did so because I know that no matter how hard we try to explain ourselves, we will be misinterpreted or simply misstate something about ourselves or others. Our individual and collective errors and sins will eventually catch up to us. This can result in us being labeled as a “bad” church, whether or not we resemble that impression.

When most people hear the name First Baptist Church an image pops into their mind. Whether that image is accurate or not is unimportant, for our name will eventually impose a feeling or impression on others. It is important to note that there are a legion of First Churches, of all different shapes and sizes. There are countless First Baptist Churches in Ohio alone, from all different brands of Baptist. When you add to this list the First Presbyterians, First Methodists, and First Episcopal Churches, then you see the problem with our name. We are one amongst many.

To this problem, some experts may suggest that we change our name. They might suggest that we call ourselves something neutral or non-threatening, in order that we might avoid offending those who fear First Baptist Churches. They might come up with a princely name like Ticky Tack Fellowship or (name of a tree) (name of a body of water) Church. You have heard the names Oak River Church, Willow Stream Fellowship, and the occasional offshoot of the Maple Valley Church.

The problem with this is that though we might change our name, within a matter of months we will, due to our lives and our work, eventually become branded by the impressions created by our new name. Restaurants often subtly change their names in order that they might avoid a negative connotation while maintaining their brand name. A recent example of this is Kentucky Fried Chicken who recently attempted to rebrand themselves as KFC, ostensibly to avoid the negative ramifications of serving fried chicken. The problem with this, of course, is that the only reason we go to KFC is to buy some of that Kentucky Fried Chicken. They can avoid the name all that they want, but we still know what a bucket with Colonel Sanders’ face on it means.
One way to truly and successfully rebrand an organization is to find a new thing that we are trying to deliver. Apple computers did this successfully when they created and marketed the I-pod. Apple may never sell another computer, but they have guaranteed that people will buy their product when they introduced the I-pod, I-tunes, and the I-phone. This one computer-related innovation has delivered a new market to the company and has forever shaped the way people see Apple. Yet what they did is not that different from what Apple had always attempted to do. Apple computers has always been on the forefront of making computers usable. Apple’s stated goal has always been getting the power of personal computing into the hands of the normal person. They always knew that people wanted to send e-mails, type papers and make a DVD of a home movie, not learn how to talk in a specialized computer language. So they made it possible to do these things without learning complicated software commands. The I-pod concept simply followed their old trusted formula of pointing, clicking and enjoying.

Now ask yourself, why do people come to church? Is it to follow a doctrine, or join a board? Is it to learn the complicated words that we sometimes use, like sanctification and justification? Of course not, people come to church to encounter God and to find salvation from their sins and weaknesses. Isn’t it wonderful that this is exactly what our stated goal is here at First Baptist. Our mission is to “demonstrate God’s love.” The scriptures tell us that when we do this we proclaim Jesus Christ, for they’ll know we are Christians (followers of Jesus) by our love.

Most people think of tradition as an anchor that keeps us from moving forward. They negatively imagine that our traditions are things to be ignored or worst yet, afraid of. The Bible however, especially in Hebrews 6:18-19, which reads in part, “we have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure,” sees the anchor of the past as something that pulls us forward. Dr. Leonard Sweet, who was the President of my seminary and a former mentor, once wrote about a nautical practice called “kedging.” Dr. Sweet had never heard of an anchor moving someone forward and so was shocked and comforted to hear of kedging. Kedging is the practice of casting or carrying the anchor forward, in order to pull the boat toward the anchor through rough or stormy seas. It involved a small boat being launched from the vessel with the anchor on board. When the small boat reached the limits of the anchor’s reach, they would drop anchor and then slowly drag themselves forward through the storm. Dr. Sweet reminds us that our traditions can indeed be used to move us forward. Often the difference between moving forward through the storm and being tethered to the dock is how we see and utilize our own history.

If we see First Baptist Church as being important or valuable solely because we were here first, then we will be guilty of false and mistaken pride and fail to move forward to answer God’s call. Obviously we were the first American Baptist Church to do ministry in Toledo, Ohio, but that is not a reason for anyone to come to our current church building, nor does it truly tell people who we are. Are we any better because we began our ministry ten years or one hundred years before one of our sister churches in the Toledo Area American Baptist Association? Are we any more blessed? Of course not.

Over the past few weeks I have shared with you the concept of first things. I have told you repeatedly that we will make sure that the number one thing, in fact the only thing, that matters at First Baptist Church will be Jesus. Jesus and the message of salvation, brought through His life, death and resurrection is the only thing that has eternal meaning. This is our one thing, or to put it another way: the message of salvation in Jesus Christ is our First Thing. It is what we gather to share. It is why we are here. It was why Henry Hayes and Rev. Edward Platt collaborated in order to start a Baptist church in Toledo. It is a tradition worth trumpeting.

Jesus tried to tell us that the most important things in life were the things that had eternal implications. He told us not to worry about our clothes, or what we would eat and drink. In Matthew, chapter six, Jesus shared with us the truth that because of God’s great love for us we have nothing to fear, if we would only “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness.” Jesus tells us that if seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, then “all these things will be given to you as well.” This is the core concept of First Things thinking. We seek first the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ, and everything else follows.

This is how we will rebrand our name. We don’t need to be new to be effective. We only need to rightly order our ministry and work. We need to keep First Things First at First Baptist. That is what we are going to do. In fact this might show up in other places as we move forward, propelled by our scriptural and cultural heritage. You’ve read it here FIRST!  First Baptist Church of Greater Toledo - Keeping First Things First Since 1853.

Looking Forward to Our Continued Conversation,
Rev. Daniel W. Bellavia