On Being An Authentic Baptist And More...

How to recognize a "real" Baptist if you see one

By James M. Dunn

1. If soul liberty is important.

2. If the priesthood of all believers is more than a slogan.

3. If one insists on interpreting the Scriptures for themselves.

4. If one defends the right of each person to come to the Bible and, led by the spirit, seek its truth.

5. If one believes that one must accept Jesus Christ personally.

6. If the church functions as a democracy.

7. If in the fellowship of churches each one is autonomous.

8. If there is no pope or presbyter, president or pastor who rules over you.

9. If religious liberty is the password to public witness and the separation of church and state is its essential corollary.

10. If no mortal has the power to suppress, curtail, rule out, or reign over the will of the local congregation.

In addition to all the fundamentalism-fightin' and random posts about all-things Baptist , we here at www.thebigdaddyweave.com will be Saving Soul Freedom and Recovering E.Y. Mullins slowly by steadily over the next months.

Also look forward to more posts on the upcoming Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant. To help celebrate the upcoming gathering, several new bloggers are about to make their blogosphere debut - including an ordained American Baptist minister who is both female and employed! So, see, some of us do practice what we preach!

With the CBF and ABC hooking up in just a few short weeks, expect pre-coverage and quasi-live coverage straight from ChinaTown. And to plug the William Whitsitt Baptist Heritage Society one more time, I will be posting a fascinating story on American Baptist missionary Lauran Bethell and her fight against the Global Sex Trade. So, stay tuned.