Reflections and Musings from my Trip to Southern Seminary and Capitol Hill Baptist Church

It has been barely a week since my return from a visit to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and to Capitol Hill Baptist Church in the United States. Even now, the impact of this trip continues to reverberate as I process my thoughts and reflect on how God has taught me many valuable lessons on this trip.

I count it my distinct privilege to be able to visit Southern Seminary; this visit almost did not occur as the Seminary had been closed for the week due to a massive city-wide power blackout caused by heavy winds from the remnants of Hurricane Gustav. The power was restored to the Legacy Centre where I stayed and the Seminary that very afternoon I was due to arrive. I had a wonderful Wednesday at Southern Seminary - I was given the grand tour of the Seminary by Toby Jennings; I met some faculty, namely Dr Hal Pettigrew, Dr Tom Schreiner, and Dr Bruce Ware. I also had the joy of meeting some students - Terry Delaney and Kevin McFadden, for conversations and mutual encouragement.

I made a number of observations of which these three made the deepest impact. Firstly, there was a sense of humility and expectancy. Both staff and students strongly believed that God's Sovereign Hand was on Southern Seminary and it was not due in any part to their own ingenuity. Southern Seminary, to their knowledge, is the only institution of higher learning in America, that had turned from liberal to conservative, reclaiming the belief in the inerrancy and authority of God's Word. And they believe God is going to do greater things in their midst. Secondly, there is a deep commitment to the local church - the faculty are either Pastors or Elders of local churches or otherwise involved in ministries to local churches. Students too are actively involved with the local congregations. And thirdly, the staff and faculty are passionately involved in the transmitting of the Gospel into the next generation; they are fully aware of their own alloted years, and are concerned that the baton of the Gospel be passed into the subsequent generation.

There were other things learnt; but even as I was processing and praying through, I had to leave for Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington DC the following day, to join my mentor - Elder Yap Kim Meng and my pastor Bobby Lee for the 9Marks Weekender.

Unknown to me, I was in for another intense period of re-learning and thinking at Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC). Preconceptions were shaken and repentance required as I was immersed in the experience at CHBC and its 9Marks Ministry. Dr Mark Dever and his team seeks to grow biblical healthy churches; and as part of their ministry CHBC opens its doors 2 - 3 times a year to a group of 50 plus pastors, church leaders and seminarians to observe first hand their example of "doing church". They are certainly not perfect but they do take church seriously. I was, as Caleb said, smitten by the whole experience. First Southern Seminary and now CHBC - both exemplifying high commitment to the cause of Christ.

There are far too many observations made and lessons learnt at CHBC to be fully captured; those listed below are my attempts to capture a snapshot of the essentials. Firstly, all that they do is motivated by the Gospel, i.e. they are responding in humble gratitude to how Christ came to live and die for us, that by His death, our sins are removed and righteous credited if we by faith believe into Jesus. God's wrath against us has been averted, our relationship with God restored and we have been redeemed to inherit a full and eternal life. All of their ministry stemmed from this essential truth of God's grace.

Secondly, they have a high view of God's word and they take it seriously. From Church Membership and Leadership to Church Discipline to the Church Service. The word of God is central. They sought to trust and obey God's word. At their church service, all the worship proceedings were solidly Word based - from emphasis on reading scriptures to hymns with biblical contents to the sermon - all seeking to declare God's Word.

Thirdly, quoting Mark Dever and Matt Schmucker, they do what they do for the generations yet to come. They, like the faculty at Southern Seminary, are deeply moved to transmit the Gospel into the next generation and to disciple others who will do the same. This goal motivates their internship programme and the ministry of 9Marks which seek to equip pastors and leaders.

Fourthly, the leaders, namely the Staff and Elders exhibit a deep love for the members of the church. This was clearly exemplified by the Elders spending two hours in prayer for individual members from part of their membership rolls. Also each Elder, both Staff and Lay, showed a intimate knowledge and care for the members - they knew all their names, their struggles and where they were in their spiritual growth. The interactions during the service clearly demonstrated the mutual love between the leaders and members.

Lastly, there was a sacrificial commitment to the local body at CHBC by both the leaders and members. Members commit to pray through the membership rolls each week, and to attend two services on Sunday - the main service at 10.30 am, seating through an hour sermon and a service that stretches for two to two and half hours; and yet coming back Sunday evening for a prayer and fellowship service at 6 pm. The Staff Elders open up their homes for the members for fellowship and some of the Lay Elders take up employment that either free up time for church commitments or give flexibility to do so.

All these left a indelible and deep impression of how seriously they "do church". CHBC and 9Marks believe that the main purpose of a church is to image God; and that a healthy church image God well to the world and this not only promotes evangelism but also glorify God. All that they do, as described above, worked to this end.

This experience led me to repent. True, CHBC is not perfect, however, they trust and believe in the bible, and they sought to live it out. I must admit, that while I had read about the New Testament Church in Acts, deep down inside, I thought that it was a high ideal, not actually achievable this side of heaven. The visit to CHBC has taught me otherwise. Yes, while perfection is not likely this side of heaven, but we are called to trust and obey, and to a life of radical commitment - a large part of which is to the local body of Christ which we have been called to.

You can also read Caleb's reflections of the 9Marks Weekender here as well.

(HT: Caleb Yap)


Ollie
Sep 2008