Well Done

Whenever Kay and I go to a steak place, if she orders steak, you can be sure of 2 things: she'll ask that it be cooked well-done, and she'll ask for a bottle of ketchup. Yes, even in the final restaurants, a bottle of ketchup. I try to get the waiter to bring it in a brown paper bag, but people see. I'm sure they do.

The theme of this year’s Chester Brown Hampton Baptist Church Preaching and Worship Conference at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond was, “Let Justice Roll.” And everything about it was well done.

I planned to be on the campus for this first 3 weeks of the sabbatical, with the idea of “taking a class” (the “Wilderness Retreat”, that I wrote of earlier) during the May term at BTSR, and also participating in the preaching and worship event. As far as the conference goes, every element of it was well-done, worthwhile, and helpful in reaching my sabbatical goals. I am so grateful to BTSR for the opportunity to be part of these two events. I cannot think of any better way to begin the sabbatical experience.

The two main presenters were Tony Campolo, and Kate Campbell. Kay and I had the opportunity to hear both of them at the CBF meeting in Charlotte a few years ago. We enjoyed them then, and I loved the opportunity to experience their preaching/story-telling again this week.

Sprinkled throughout the 3 day event were 9 breakout sessions, from which we could choose 3. I attended “Hospitality and Social Justice”, with Dr. Elizabeth Newman, Professor of Theology and Ethics, “Sermon Planning and Preaching Social Justice Texts,” led by Dr. Scott Spencer, Professor of New Testament, and “Pastoral Care and Justice”, with Dr. Daniel G. Bagby, Theodore F. Adams Professor of Pastoral Care, and former pastor of 7th and James Baptist Church in Waco.

Each of these was presented with fresh and biblically-based perspectives on how the church is called to act justly in a world where injustice is so rampant. It was also a lot of fun to meet and talk with professors who have had Logan in their classes. I have to tell you that they all spoke highly of him, and I know what you’re thinking, of course they did, you’re his father, what do you expect? But I believed them anyway.

I enjoyed Kate Campbell and her music when we met her in Charlotte, but now I’m a fan. As she says, you won’t find my music at Lifeway or Christian bookstores, but you will find it at Barnes and Noble under “folk”. It may be folksy, but it often rings of country, and sometimes of jazz, and every now and then, a little rock and a lot of gospel. But her stories make you smile, like “Jesus and Tomatoes Coming Soon”, and she often writes and sings of times when social injustice and racial tension were pervasive in the south, in “Crazy in Alabama”, and “Bus 109”.

Kate has a way of letting the stories tell the story, and her preaching is her song.

Tony Campolo is from Philadelphia, and he presents himself with a strong voice and biting humor (humor when it bites someone else, sarcasm when it hits home). He began with a message called “Becoming Red Letter Christians,” taking off on the biblical publishing practice of sometimes printing the words of Jesus in red. His premise is that the Jesus we follow is often a product of our own values and ideas, and his call is to hear the words of Jesus as they are, not as we think they should be.

Last night Tony spoke on “Living Out the Beatitudes.” He asked, “What do you as a parent want for your children?” And he answered his own question with, “Happiness.” And then he read the beatitudes, and asked, where does Jesus say that happiness is the goal.” His call is to learn to live as Jesus lived, counter to the culture of this world, learning not to take Christ to the poor and the down-and-out, but to embrace Him in the poor, the broken, the disenfranchised, the sick, the despised. It is a powerful message.

Also, throughout the conference, were worship services demonstrating a wide range of styles and practices centered around the worship of God. We began with a liturgical service, followed by Celtic worship, Contemplative Taize’, Contemporary, and ending with emergent church worship. These were all well done, and both challenged and affirmed thinking.

One of the most touching moments of the conference was a plenary session just prior to the last worship service, when Dr. Thomas Graves, outgoing president of BTSR (he's stepping down this month due to serious health issues), from a wheelchair, delivered a powerful story of the history of BTSR (he has been the only president in the school's fifteen year history), and his hopes and dreams for BTSR in the next 15 years. It was very moving. It was my pleasure to convey to him the greetings of UBC's Terry and Angie Reeves, who are the best of friends with President Graves and his wife Wendy. And I say, "Well Done, Thomas Graves." He's been a powerful influence in Baptist life.

But the event that will stay with me for a long time, I think, was a plenary session with Kate Campbell, in which she explained how she had written songs, and how her life story had impacted her writings. Se spoke of how situations in the world, and people she’d met, became part of her music. She stood with just a guitar and sang, and mesmorized me with her melodies and her words.

My favorite of these was a song called, “Well Done, Delmus Jackson.” Kate told of the impression that the black church custodian made on her, even as a little girl. He sat down with her, and talked to her like she was an adult (a real person). He always had time for her. And her dad, the pastor of the church, would speak of him as someone who was faithful and did his work well. Behind the scenes, never wanting credit, “well done, Delmus Jackson.”

Care-fully,
rick