What's in a name?

Seeking Truth,

Thanks for your comments. Can't remember the last time I was called a hypocrit. That added so much to the discussion. I don't really understand it though, since a hypocrit is one who says one thing and does another, and I've been pretty doggone consistent on this one. I thought all your points were covered, but I guess not, so let me go over them again.

We say we are not the place for someone who is looking for a Baptist church. The one possible exception to this is someone who has just moved to town and has no connection with any other Baptist church. That's not the norm. The overwhelming majority of people who are looking for a Baptist church are looking because they were not happy at their last Baptist church. And the reason the overwhelming majority of these folks weren't happy there is because they weren't getting their way, and it's almost a surefire guarantee that they won't get their way at our church either. So for that reason alone, we are not interested in trying to attract people who are church shopping. In our case, we are a new plant, and church planting takes a lot of hard work from people who are willing to be very unselfish. Sad to say, that's not the average church member. Add to that the fact that we're contemporary, purpose driven and staff led, and you can see that we're not going to be a good fit for someone who just got their feelings hurt at First Baptist and decided to look around.

Now, surely you can see the difference in avoiding church shoppers, and recruiting mature workers who can step in and fill ministry needs. The difference is like night and day. The people we have recruited were not looking for a church to attend, they were looking for a place to serve. Huge difference.

Now about the money. Dude, I was having my morning coca-cola as I read your post the first time. You owe me for having to clean my desk, keyboard and monitor. That's about the funniest thing I've ever heard. In case you haven't ever talked with a church planter before, funding from the North American Mission Board is a joke. Our church plant is not quite 3 years old. Would you care to take a guess at how much $$$ we've received so far? A grand total of $1,500. And that was designated for special outreach projects. We received a $1,000 grant to pay for summer camp for the children of drug addicts who couldn't afford to go otherwise, and we received a $500 grant to pay for supplies for a backyard Bible club. So yeah, we're rolling in dough here. They say every man has his price, but I promise you, mine is more than $1,500. As far as funding for the day to day operation of the church, we have not received one dime from the SBC/NAMB

Finally, as for the new breed/old breed stuff. I've been in ministry for over twenty years now. Until we planted CrossPointe Church in 2002 I had served in very traditional churches, mostly SBC, but one Missionary Baptist. I would say, even though I've been around a while, that I definately am a new breed of Baptist. And it's a breed that says I'm not willing to sit comfortably in a sunday school class, discipleship training class, church fellowship, or even a Sunday morning worship service while the community around me is going to hell. We made the decision in the very beginning that our church would never be a social club for Christians. Instead, we want to run a rescue station only steps from the gates of hell. The people who Jesus uses us to rescue get pretty excited about going back to rescue more. Those mature Christians who have joined us say they hope they never have to go back to "doing church" the old way. And those who can't or won't catch the vision we have for reaching the lost think we're nuts. And that's okay with me.

I don't expect you to understand this, because it's been clearly explained already. WE DO NOT DENY THAT WE ARE BAPTIST. Never have. Never will. It's just not part of our name.