Editor’s note: As a relatively new member of FBC, I enjoy that there are lots of folks who know the history of our church. This post reflects on some of that history and how we came to our core values.
FBC’s Four Core Values: Not So Simple
Thomas Grisso
In a search box, type “First Baptist Worcester” and click on the “Learn More” button. You’ll get a graphic showing four “Core Values” we honor at FBC to guide our Christian life. Inclusion. Freedom of Faith. Service. Spiritual Growth.
Where did these values come from? A few years after the close of the 20th century, FBC decided to embark upon a forward-looking transition. Over about five years, FBC changed its governing structure to be more flexible. We developed a plan for its financial future that could no longer depend on a large, wealthy congregation of the mid-20th century. And we found new pastors and staff to serve 21st century generations. Before developing those strategies, FBC asked a small group to create a set of Biblically based values to guide FBC’s directions for change. A congregational vote put them in place.
The values look straightforward. But putting them into practice can get complicated. What is involved in practicing these values? What challenges do they raise? If we honor them, we must embrace those challenges and struggle with them. Let’s start with two of the Core Values that are intertwined: Spiritual Growth and Service.
Spiritual Growth: “We encourage all to seek Christian growth”
Growing spiritually means strengthening your personal connection with God. We are born with the hardware—the potential—for that connection, having been made in God’s image. Spiritual growth provides the software and bandwidth in our communication with God. We change and mature in our ability to include God in our daily decisions about how to live our lives, gaining greater understanding of what God wants us to do. This is possible by our effort to interact with God’s spirit, whether in prayer or meditation or just thinking. The Bible calls it the Holy Spirit, a counselor and advocate (John 14:26). It’s a difficult concept to understand. But most of us don’t understand how Bluetooth sends words from one device to another, and we don’t let that stop us from depending on it.
What does it take to grow spiritually? Attending worship provides a better understanding of God’s will. But hymns and a sermon are just a start. No one ever increased their muscle strength by watching the Olympics. It can be inspirational, but sooner or later it requires engagement, a bit of focus, and personal effort in conversation with the Spirit. We are also strengthened spiritually by talking about what we are learning—for example, in Bible studies, casual conversation in Gordon Hall, or FBC forums. And one of the greatest sources of spiritual growth is putting our faith into practice through service.
Service: “We seek to be a Christ-like presence in the world”
Jesus was the perfect servant (Mark 10:45). He did everything for others and nothing for himself. We know we can’t come close to that. But doing for others is a fundamental principle of Christian life. And when we serve others, we become a “Christ-like presence” that can lead others to do the same, creating great ripples that work their way across our community in revolutionary ways.
Being of service is simple at one level. All it takes is noticing that someone needs a ride to church or stepping in to hold someone’s baby while they look for their lost car keys. But your commitment to Christ’s Way calls you to branch out if you are able. And there are so many ways, like FBC’s community missions to the homeless and hungry. Like helping with our immigrant programs. Or serving inside the church by joining one of the church’s teams and lending a hand for church events.
Moving to that level gets more complicated, creating a greater demand on your time. Christ’s life was not easy, nor can we expect ours to be easy if our way is his way. And yet he said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). If we join him in service, we grow spiritually, which lightens our burden.
The other two Core Values go together as well. They’re the church’s equivalent of DEI in 21st century corporate life. But implementing them isn’t simple.
Freedom of Faith: “Individual interpretation of God’s word and freedom of expression are cornerstones of our faith”
When you look at the cross in FBC’s chancel, what do you see? Most of us see a symbol of a man, called Son of God, who died for a cause. But who was that man?
- Some of us believe he was literally (really) God in a human’s body. Others believe he was not God incarnate but a man who came to know God perfectly.
- To some, Jesus was sacrificed, raised from death, and ascended to heaven to save us from the consequences of our sinful nature. Another view is that he was resurrected not bodily, but in our hearts, living on in our services done in his name.
In both these examples, one of the interpretations has been traditional in Christianity for centuries and is seen nowadays as mainline or conservative (sometimes “evangelical”). The alternative is more often part of progressive or post-modern belief. Two starkly different views of who Christ was, about which 21st century Christians disagree. Freedom of Faith means these disagreements must be tolerated.
We certainly didn’t invent this. Religious freedom was at the heart of the “protest” in the 16th century Protestant Reformation and central to the establishment of Baptist churches in colonial America. Religious freedom has several meanings, but the one in our Core Values emphasizes each person’s freedom to interpret God’s word rather than being limited by institutional creeds. FBC aspires to tolerate these individual differences in belief.
This openness to diversity of beliefs, however, is not without discomfort. Historically it has been the reason for disagreements that have split Protestant churches into hundreds of U.S. denominations because of disparate beliefs about specific doctrinal issues. It can fracture churches if its congregants cannot tolerate opposing but deeply held convictions about the Christ they both claim to follow. It is difficult to say to another Christian whose beliefs differ from ours: “We believe different things. But neither of us can be sure we’re right. Only God knows, and, in love, who are we to pass judgment on each other? Do not betray your belief, and I will not betray mine.”
Sounds right, doesn’t it? But let’s move on. It isn’t that simple.
Inclusion: “We welcome all in Christ’s love”
Jesus loved everyone. He welcomed anyone who wanted to learn from him. When he looked at a crowd, he recognized no distinctions of gender, race, social status, or nationality. Just knock, he said, and the door to the Kingdom will open (Matthew 7:7-8).
As a church, we seek to do the same, welcoming all and rejoicing at whatever diversity it creates. Inclusiveness is also at the heart of our reason for embracing the marginalized immigrant, the LGBTQ community, and those victimized by racism and restrictions on women’s roles and choices. Beyond welcoming them in Christ’s love, FBC serves them by opposing social and political circumstances that marginalize them.
Therein, however, is an irony. The strength of our commitment to include those whom society marginalizes makes it sociologically improbable for all to feel welcome. Many Christians interpretations of the Bible reach very different social and political conclusions, some of which FBC opposes in the name of social justice and Christ’s love. What one Christian sees as just and right, the other finds doctrinally abhorrent. Can one be welcomed and, if so, also feel welcome and included in the other’s church?
In that context, our commitment to inclusion welcomes many, but some will not feel welcomed. For those who interpret the Bible very differently from FBC’s progressive insights, their sense of marginalization in the church is probably unavoidable. This limits FBC’s theological diversity. But this dilemma could only be resolved by forsaking our Bible-based commitment to what we believe is Christ’s way. There may be no remedy. But in the spirit of Freedom of Faith, we can at least avoid casting stones at opposing Christian views, claiming that ours alone is right. This is not a simple thing to do in an era of polarized political and religious views, especially when politics and religion intersect.
Spiritual Growth. Service. Freedom of Faith. Inclusion. Let us never lose sight of them. Let them stand as aspirational beacons toward which we can aim our Christian life. And let us struggle with all the complexity, inconsistency, and conflicting pressures that we encounter in our effort to live the Way of Jesus Christ. He said it began simply with a child-like faith in God. But he never said that living our faith would be simple.
