KANSAS CITY, Mo—Southwestern Seminary President David Dockery and Blue Valley Church Pastor Derrick Lynch joined the Midwestern Seminary community for a special chapel service on “Being Baptist” on October 2. Led by President Jason Allen, the conversation also featured Midwestern Seminary professors Geoff Chang, Todd Chipman, and Thomas Kidd.
The conversation explored Baptist beliefs, key events in Southern Baptist history, and the panelists’ personal reasons for Baptist convictions, highlighting how Baptist distinctives have contributed to the growth of healthy churches and global missions over the last century.
Introducing the panelists, Allen expressed his welcome and appreciation for special guests Dockery and Lynch, adding, “Every one of these individuals is here because of their knowledge, their experience, and their contributions to the conversation.”
The conversation began with each panelist sharing how he became a Baptist, several of them noting the influence of studying Scripture in young adulthood.
Dockery, for example, shared, “I had the wonderful privilege of growing up in a Southern Baptist context back in the heyday of Baptist programming. It was a terrific formation for me, something that I’ll never forget, and something for which I’m always grateful.”
After going on to study the beliefs of various denominations during seminary, Dockery shared, “I realized not only was I a Baptist by upbringing; I was a Baptist by conviction.”
The conversation then turned to what makes Baptists distinct. Chang noted that Baptists hold to historic Christian orthodoxy, the Protestant doctrines of the authority of Scripture and justification by faith, and congregational local church government.
Defining congregationalism, Chang said, “When we look at the New Testament, when it comes to matters of church discipline, bringing people into membership, even the elected leaders, these things are done by the congregation under the rule of Christ, and really what that is conveying is that because Christ rules over the church, we each follow His leadership.”
Chipman also addressed the Baptist distinctive of regenerate church membership and its importance for the life of the congregation, saying, “If we don’t have a common spirit in us, it’s very difficult to have any kind of cooperation.”
He continued, “Regeneration is an experience, the indwelling of the Spirit, and a mindset. And that common mindset is necessary when we come to Scripture, when we think about missions, life together, and ethics.”
Reflecting on his experience of congregationalism in Southern Baptist churches, Lynch added, “I think the chief benefit of congregationalism, that I have been able to witness when it works well, is that there is an investment by the people in the fulfilling of the Great Commission in that church.”
The panelists went on to discuss the Baptist distinctive of religious liberty, noting its value for faithful religious practice. Kidd described how the government persecutions of colonial-era English and American Baptists have led Baptists to oppose government involvement in religion.
He said, “That opposition is paired up with the idea that the very best kind of relationship between the government and any church and any religion, is freedom, as the First Amendment to the Constitution says, that we should be afforded free exercise of religion, and that the main thing the government should do is to protect our freedom to serve the Lord and express our religion in whatever way that the Lord mandates.”
The panelists then focused their discussion on the Southern Baptist Convention and its place within the broader Baptist tradition.
Dockery gave an overview of Southern Baptist history in the 20th century, highlighting Southern Baptist churches’ cooperation to raise support for world missions, and the theological controversies in SBC seminaries during the 1960s. Dockery showed how the cooperative efforts of Southern Baptist messengers during the Conservative Resurgence restored biblically faithful professors to seminary classrooms, thereby strengthening the training of future pastors for the health of the churches they would lead.
To conclude the discussion, Allen asked the panelists to share what encourages each of them most in Southern Baptist life today. Their answers highlighted Southern Baptist churches’ cooperation for missions, theological education, and local church ministry, along with the increasing health of doctrine and practice in Southern Baptist churches and the broader convention.
Addressing the Midwestern Seminary and Spurgeon College students gathered, Chipman said, “Recognize the work that the Lord has allowed Southern Baptists to do over decades for you to be here. I want to encourage you that this work is not done.” He added, “This is for you, and there are ways that God is going to use you in the Cooperative Program and in the SBC, so have a vision today that this is just getting started.”
Similarly, Chang encouraged students, “I pray that you would walk away from your time here with strong biblical convictions about the gospel and all the doctrines connected to the gospel, but also about the church, about what a faithful ministry looks like based in the local church.”
To watch the full panel discussion, click here.
