Expanding Educational Opportunities for Free Will Baptist Pastors & Church Leaders

 A primary mission for every church and denomination is to teach and train its pastors and church leaders. This is probably more challenging for Free Will Baptists than for other denominations, given that so few Free Will Baptists have an MDiv, the standard ministerial professional degree (see my blog article here: ). Pastors whose detailed study of Scripture or ministry is dependent solely upon their personal experience or upon a previous mentor or pastor (who himself may have not been formally trained),

are typically less capable of training church leaders than their peers who do have formal training for ministry.

This blog article sets forth a plan for the denomination to increase educational and training opportunities to support its churches in its mission

"to equip [God’s] people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming" (Eph 3:12-14).

This plan is designed to be largely self-supporting and to employ resources already available, more or less, to the denomination. The plan is similar to that already in use by New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary where I serve as assistant registrar in the undergraduate program. It may also be compared with programs such as Church Leadership Institute offered through various state associations of other denominations, but is adaptable to the needs of Free Will Baptists.

This plan would be spear-headed by the denominational school, Welch College which would offer courses through satellite locations in areas where large numbers of Free Will Baptists are concentrated. Courses would be offered at three levels: Certificate, Bachelor’s, and Graduate.

The lowest level of courses would lead to a Certificate concentrating in some area of Christian training. These could include:

·         Certificate in Preaching

·         Certificate in Pastoring and Church Administration

·         Certificate in Evangelism and Church Planting

·         Certificate in Biblical Studies

·         Certificate in Theology

·         Certificate in Christian Education

·         Certificate in Youth Ministry

The certificate program would not have any prerequisites; even those without a G.E.D. or high school diploma could enroll. Each certificate would consist of eight standardized courses, four to six of which are core to the program (e.g., New Testament Survey, Old Testament Survey, Free Will Baptist Doctrine, and Spiritual Life), allowing 2-4 courses to reflect the specialization of the particular certificate concentration. Each course would meet on a selected day of the week or on certain weekends, for a total of 8-12 hours instruction (e.g., 4-5 Wednesday evenings from 6:30-8:30, or the first and third Saturday of a given month, from 10:00-2:00, or possibly from 10:00-4:00). A student could complete a certificate perhaps in 6 months, or a year or two, depending upon the scheduling set by the college and host site.

Courses would be offered at any location, so long as there is a site host and at least eight students enrolled for the course. For example, the pastor of a growing and active Free Will Baptist Church in Chattanooga might initially contact Welch College about hosting certificate courses, and then survey the church’s membership and community to see what level of interest there is for the courses. If there are 8 or more students committed to the program, then, as the sponsoring institution, Welch College would designate the church as a satellite campus, and begin the courses.

Prior to the start of the courses, Welch College would have to recruit a qualified, dynamic teacher to teach the offered courses, and to establish qualifications for prospective faculty. At the certificate level, academic qualifications would not be as stringent as they must be for the Bachelor’s and graduate levels. So, for example, an instructor with a Bachelor’s degree with extensive Free Will Baptist ministerial experience or specialization might qualify to teach a course on New Testament Survey, even though he may never have attended seminary.

Since Welch College would be partnering with the site host (e.g., a Free Will Baptist Church), there would be minimal overhead expenses. Compensation for the instructor would be paid from the course fees which would be around $100-125 per course. An administrative fee of $25 for first time students should be sufficient to fund administrative work at the sponsoring college.

The high impact of the certificate program on the local church can hardly be exaggerated. The program would afford the opportunity of highly involved members to improve and inform their ministerial skills, as well as an opportunity to reflect deeply on their calling. Other church members who are less involved would be introduced to ministry and Christian studies, and may become more confident about stepping into various leadership roles. Church members would forge closer relationships with each other, and share a common vision of ministry. The program has often been the background for many-a-student’s ministerial calling. The host church would also develop a reputation as providing good opportunities for church members, and become more and more influential in the community and in its local association of churches. This would filter up throughout the denomination and be transformative.

Once the certificate program takes off, local associations might require prospective ministers to complete a certificate for ordination, to increase ministerial competence in the association.

In like manner, but requiring more rigorous standards, would be the Bachelor’s Degree. This degree program would be based on the same courses required by the sponsoring college (Welch College), subject to regional accreditation rules and regulations. Students would be able to take a limited number of courses at the satellite location, but would eventually transfer to the main campus in Nashville. Instructors would have to have higher academic credentials and compensated accordingly. Course fees would be comparable to that of regular campus courses, with other incidental fees as necessary.

The major advantage of this program would be to allow students to take Free Will Baptist college courses for credit at venues that might be more convenient for some students. Many colleges have expanded with great success by offering courses at satellite locations. Once Welch College begins to offer graduate programs, Free Will Baptist ministers might have more opportunities to get Free Will Baptist training at these satellite centers.

  

Toward an Educated Free Will Baptist Clergy

 A major weakness of Free Will Baptists is that their ministers are typically less educated than the communities they serve. While many communities have highly educated leaders, many Free Will Baptists in those same communities attempt to do ministry with their own pastors having no formal ministerial education. Moreover, often Free Will Baptist pastors are significantly less educated in ministry than their counterparts in other denominations, putting them at a disadvantage in articulating and defending Free Will Baptist doctrine. This is especially true in urban settings where graduate degrees and even post-graduate degrees are common, but it is also true even in rural areas. While education is no guarantor of ministerial success, communities are not likely to rally around those church leaders who function at lower academic levels than community norms.

 

Since Free Will Baptist churches and associations are autonomous, the denomination cannot simply dictate that churches require their pastors to attain the standard MDiv degree (the Master’s of Divinity degree assumes 4 years of undergraduate Bachelors studies, followed by 3 years of ministerial graduate studies). Unfortunately, the denomination has done little to promote formal ministerial education over the years. The denomination has left this job to the various Free Will Baptist colleges which have done little to change the denominational culture of educational mediocrity or educational hostility. In this essay, I lay out a plan in which the denomination itself would promote formal ministerial training—a plan that I think will eventually have a major impact in coming years. 

My plan would begin with a denominational registry of ministers. The denomination does not ordain ministers, but Free Will Baptists generally recognize those ministers who are ordained by the local association of churches, with assumed reciprocity of ordination recognition from one association to another. Of course, a local church can ordain a minister on its own, but this does not confer associational ordination, which is the basic level of ordination for Free Will Baptists. The denomination has no right to impose standards for ordination on local associations, but could provide a registry service in which Free Will Baptist ministers are enrolled. This would afford an opportunity for the denomination to classify levels of ordination.

Any associational ordination would qualify as the basic level of ordination. It may be designated as “Standard Ordination,” or some such. Any minister with “Standard Ordination” may have an advanced status if he has an undergraduate degree with a major in Bible, theology, or ministry. This status may be designated as “Professional Ordination,” or some such. For those ordained ministers who have been graduated with an M.Div., which is the standard ministerial degree of most denominations and seminaries, or its equivalent, the ordination status of “Advanced Professional Ordination,” or some such, may be conferred. Thus, there would be a three-tier level of ordination recognized by the denominational registry:

·         Standard Ordination: basic associational ordination

·         Professional Ordination: B.S. or B.A., with a major in Bible, theology, or ministry from a recognized college or university

·         Advanced Professional Ordination: M.Div. from a recognized seminary or graduate school.

What good would a registry serve? What would motivate Free Will Baptists to use the registry? Since use of the registry cannot be compulsory, there must be a motivator to get Free Will Baptists to use it. Of course, one such motivator is available.

One of the great needs of Free Will Baptist is a denomination-wide means of connecting ministers seeking churches with churches seeking ministers. Naturally, this would be the domain of the Home Missions Department (National Ministries?), or perhaps the Executive Office which would be responsible for promoting and keeping the registry. Currently, most churches seeking ministers approach their respective state association ministries or other informal networks. A national registry would supplement or perhaps supersede the current informal and sometimes less than efficient network. Moreover, churches seeking a new pastor could specify the level of ordination for potential applicants.

The Home Missions Department would work with state agencies. For example, in order to be included in the registry, the minister would have to demonstrate his associational ordination and be recommended for ministry by the state associational moderator, clerk or State Promotional Secretary. This would help assure quality ministers for local churches. Of course, more details would have to hammered out once this plan were to receive serious consideration.

In addition to providing help to grateful ministers and churches, this registry would reinforce the message that formal ministerial training is important for modern ministry. This is an important first step toward promoting an educated clergy for the 21^st century, and would be preliminary to a subsequent phase of promoting creative educational opportunities for ministers and church leaders.

How to Promote Scholarship on a Shoe-string Budget

 One of the most desperate needs of a denomination is a regular influx of young scholarship. The influence of a young educator named L.C. Johnson on Free Will Baptists history illustrates that point. The impact of his articulation of Arminian Baptist theology can hardly be exaggerated. Under his tutelage, two of the most articulate Arminian Baptist theologians arose, F. Leroy Forlines and Robert E. Picirilli, both of whom have become well known theologians in current Calvinist-Arminian discussions. These two theologians are greatly responsible for steering the course of Free Will Baptists over the last 50 years.

One might argue that Forlines and Picirilli are indispensible to Free Will Baptists, but the tyranny of time dictates that a new generation of scholars needs to be raised up to face the challenges of the coming years. Here is a strategy for nurturing young scholars without excessive expenditure of denominational resources.

My proposed Free Will Baptist Young Scholars Program (FWBYSP) at Welch College could be implemented in the 2014-2015 school year. It would follow a year of fund raising in which $3000-5000 would be raised and set aside to fund the project. Late in the school year of 2013-2014, college juniors would apply for membership in YSP, submitting theological essays for consideration. The theology/Bible department would select five of these juniors to participate in the YSP in their senior year, based upon appropriate criteria, including the theological essay. These essays would be submitted to Integrity journal for possible publication.

The key instructive and training element of the YSP would be monthly lunch gatherings, hosted by the college president. These informal gatherings would include a lunch of cold cuts, drinks, etc., organized by a theologically interested college junior. The theology and Bible faculty would meet and interact casually with the YSP participants at the beginning of the luncheon until the speaker presents his lecture. The topic for lectures would be set by the Bible faculty. Speakers would be chosen from the faculty or may involve guest speakers. Guest speakers might be supplied through the many scholarly friends of Welch College. Guest speakers might be given a token remuneration.  

Another key element of the YSP would be the annual meetings of the Evangelical Theological Society and the Society of Biblical Literature. Two of the most promising participants of the YSP will be granted $500 toward travel and expenses. Two of the Bible and Theology faculty will also be comparably funded to travel with the two chosen participants.

The final element will be a $1000 scholarship to be awarded to one of the five participants who applies and is accepted for graduate studies in an area of Christian studies. A primary consideration for the scholarship will be a new essay on a topic of the student’s choosing that would be worthy of submission to the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society. The recipient of the scholarship award will agree to present a paper either at the annual theological symposium or at one of the YSP’s monthly luncheons in the coming academic year.

Preserving FWB Doctrine for a Future Generation

Preamble

It is by a divine providence, I think, that Free Will Baptists have been made stewards of a very pure strand of Christian theology—let me call it “Arminian Baptist.” This strand of Christian theology is nowhere else credibly preserved in North America or Western Europe by a viable denominational body. To be sure, Free Will Baptists are well centered in the mainstream of Christian theology, affirming the major creeds of the Christian Church, enthusiastically endorsing the Protestant Reformation, and reflecting the doctrine of the Believers’ Church by replacing Infant Baptism with Believers’ Baptism. Within this larger context, however, Free Will Baptists comprise the sole denomination that preserves the Arminian Soteriology of Arminius (not all so-called Arminianism would be endorsed by Arminius) within a Baptist framework. An historical survey would demonstrate the unique standing of Free Will Baptists within this theological strand, but such is not the purpose of this essay. Rather, assuming that Free Will Baptists have been granted stewardship of this very pure strand of Christian theology, this essay asks what responsibilities this stewardship entails for Free Will Baptists, and suggests ways in which these responsibilities might be met.

Preliminarily, let me stress that this theological strand is worth preserving. In an ecclesiological and missiological environment where doctrinal distinctives are suppressed in favor of unity and cooperation, especially as they are exacerbated by cultural and philosophical relativism, one is tempted to undervalue theological purity and sound biblical interpretation. Yes, Free Will Baptists should be eager to cooperate in various mission endeavors, and should treat other Christians who disagree on denominational distinctives as genuine brothers and sisters in Christ. However, precisely because Free Will Baptists maintain a theological purity based on sound biblical interpretation, they should promote their doctrine, form and nourish their closest theological associations, and persuade other Christians from other denominations to join them.

On a personal note, I began my graduate education with a thorough grounding in Free Will Baptist theology, but without denominational blessing or support network. Thus, I flew from my FWB denominational nest into a world, academic and ecclesiastical, that would challenge my Free Will Baptist theology at the highest levels, and at every opportunity, and with great intensity. After the purifying ovens of my Master’s at Regent (under the heavyweights Fee, Waltke, Packer, and Peterson—Assemblies of God, Presbyterian, and Anglican), and even hotter ovens during my PhD at Cambridge with all its critical elitism, I have emerged with my FWB theology fully intact, enriched, but not compromised, clarified, but not altered. Free Will Baptists have a doctrine that can withstand the utmost scrutiny and is worth preserving.

Privilege and Weakness

It is remarkable that such a potent and pure theology is concentrated in such a narrow band of Christianity. One would think that the elements which comprise Arminian Baptist thought—Baptist associationalism, Congregationalism, Believers’ Church, a Whosoever-will Soteriology, and Continuance in Salvation by faith—all sound doctrines based upon good scriptural exegesis, would coalesce into a very wide swath of the Christian church. Such is not the case. Indeed, one might argue that these doctrinal distinctives are so rarely held that they are at risk of being lost, to be swallowed up by a number of competing denominations that come close to such doctrinal purity, but fail to preserve them in full strength and wholeness.

As it now stands, the FWB denomination is the sole domain of Arminian Baptist thought. Free Will Baptists have about 2500 churches, and about 250,000 members. The denomination is predominately rural, with few churches in the large cities; many states have no FWB church at all. FWB missions reach into less than a dozen of the world’s 200 or so nations. FWBs are seriously disadvantaged in terms of professional ministerial training, having no seminary or graduate school, and with very few of its ministers attaining a basic MDiv qualification or higher degree. Perhaps as few as 50% of FWB ministers have even a Bachelor’s degree, in any academic major. FWBs with a terminal degree are extremely rare; even at the denominational college where Bible is a required major, only two full time professors in the areas of Bible and Theology have terminal degrees. Very, very few Free Will Baptists serve as scholars outside denominational institutions, so that Free Will Baptists have no perceptible impact on American society, let alone, any world-wide impact. A bibliography of articles, books, or reviews written by Free Will Baptist scholars published by academic publishers would hardly fill more than a single sheet of paper. Outside of the Calvinist-Arminian controversy, Free Will Baptist scholars are entirely unknown.

Strengthening Our Grip

If Free Will Baptists are to nurture and expand their stewardship of Arminian Baptist thought, an overarching plan needs to be implemented to produce and train scholars devoted to the cause. My essay here is no such plan, but does contain some limited suggestions, especially in regard to FWB scholarship.

1.      A study needs to be implemented to detail the needs and assess the present resources of the denomination, and to articulate a vision for the future.

2.      The denominational college needs to be put on a more secure financial footing to rectify weaknesses in faculty and staff.

3.      A graduate school or seminary needs to be established.

4.      Denominational scholars need to be awarded sabbaticals, including income and expense stipends, to pursue scholarly research and publication.

5.      Denominational scholars in the field of biblical studies and religion should attend annual conferences such as Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, with expenses paid.

6.      Denominational scholars should prioritize publication of journal articles in Journal of Biblical Literature and Journal of Evangelical Theological Society, and similar academic journals. This can only be done if the institutions in which they serve allow adequate time to focus on such endeavors.

7.      A few students at the denominational college who are especially interested in theology and religion should be encouraged to attend these annual conferences under the mentorship of denominational scholars.

8.      In particular, one or two scholarships covering expenses should be awarded to deserving students annually, perhaps qualified by theological papers suitable for publication in the denomination’s Integrity journal.

9.      Denominational scholarships should be established to support graduate and post-graduate studies for outstanding students.

The introduction of outstanding students to the biblical studies and religion guilds is extremely important for the future of the denomination. While readers may despair of ever finding the money to support some of these more or less obvious needs in these difficult times, sponsoring young scholars would not require extravagant expense. In particular, how difficult would it be to raise $2500-3000 per year as a special scholarship to pay a substantial amount of the expense to send three outstanding college seniors to the annual meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, accompanied by a couple of the denomination’s senior scholars? Even as little as a hundred dollars from each of say, 20 state associations would cover these scholarships. Likewise, even a token one-time scholarship gift of $1000 for a deserving seminary-bound student would do much to strengthen the ties between the student and denomination, and to encourage the student to think of future work within the denomination.

Formulating a vision for the future of Free Will Baptists may prove to be an insurmountable task. However, taking some smaller steps to promote scholarship, and especially to foster the growth of young scholars, is a goal that is achievable, and can be accomplished in just a few short years.