The Baptist Choice

Tom's article last week made a salient point: Our move to SFCC is neutral. Yet, our decision and commitment are crucial for the growth and advancement of both our church and us. You might wonder why we still have to conduct 2 rounds of voting if our church has somehow decided to move elsewhere for growth and development. The simple answer is that we are not 100% sure if God wants us to move exactly to the SFCC. Thus, our leadership has resorted to a cautious approach by arranging a confirmation voting by all of our regular attendants plus possibly (if at least 80% support is obtained in the first voting) another registered members' voting to affirm our decision.

At this juncture, I wish to bring your attention to the Baptist belief of congregationalism. Baptists concluded from the Bible that authority for church governance should reside with the congregation. Also, Christ is the head of the church (see the Baptist History and Heritage Society). Related to the latter principle are two significant concepts: soul competency and the priesthood of all believers (1 Pet. 2:5, 9; Rev. 1:6, 5:10). Soul competency is the idea that God has endowed individuals with the ability to decide matters of faith for themselves. Baptists also affirm that people have free access to God through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn (Mark 15:38). The symbol of the division between people and priest in the Old Testament was removed.

Through statements of faith, the Southern Baptists assert that the individual church is an autonomous body, operating through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Members are equally responsible in such a congregation. This is the main reason why our CMC together decided to resort to the proposed 2 rounds of voting by our regular attendants and registered members respectively. By doing so, our church does live up to the Baptist faith and practice of making important decisions through such democratic process as voting. It is also an act of honesty and respect of our identity as a Baptist church and the priesthood of our believers. Beloved, please feel free to cast your sacred vote according to what the Spirit has led you. May God help us! Amen.

Howard, Oct. 22

Our Way to Move Ahead

You might have thought about whether we should move to the SFCC since our 2nd worship there on October 1st. I would like to take this opportunity to explain to you the relevant CMC decisions made accordingly. The CMC has been scrutinizing over the question of our relocation strategy in the past few months. We all agree that our church needs to grow and develop both for the kingdom of God and our own spiritual development. The remaining question is whether the SFCC is the right location for us.

Ever since our last 2 worships there, we have received some feedback from our members. For instance, some have opined that the SFCC is spacious, well facilitated and it has a beautiful surrounding. On the other hand, there are also comments on the possible traffic inconvenience of going to SFCC by the usual bus routes from areas of around Tai Po. Things appear to be a bit at a stalemate. Nevertheless, the same or similar concerns will emerge again if our church decides to move ahead at all. It happens to be SFCC this time. It could be anywhere (the Baptist Seminary, say) in the New Territory next time should things so happen and our situation so demands.

The CMC has consequently resolved to conduct 2 rounds of voting, the first being a pre-requisite voting for a minimum of 80% approval from our congregation (i.e. ALL WHO HAS CAST A VALID VOTE THEN) to move ahead to SFCC. Any registered member OR regular attendant of our church could and should vote with his/her choice in the first round. Regular attendants are those who have attended our church for a minimum period of 6 months with at least 2 Sunday attendances per month. The minimum 80% approval is intentionally set to make a cautious and prudent deliberation from among our congregants. With a bit of faith, we shall take the result of the first round of voting to be either an approval/disapproval from our Lord Jesus.

Should we get the minimum 80% on October 22nd, we would then make a motion to vote on our official decision to move ahead in the nearest general meeting of our registered members according to our church rules. Dear brothers and sisters, the move itself is neutral. Yet, our decision and commitment are crucial for the growth and advancement of both our church and us. Please do remember this in your prayer and be ready to vote according to what the Spirit has led you.

Tom, Oct. 15