What Being Baptist Means to Us

By Rev. Colin Holtz
Associate Pastor, The Church at Ponce & Highland

If you ask my mother, I belong to the “butnotthatkindof” denomination. That is, whenever she tells people her son is a Baptist pastor, she is always sure to say, “but not that kind of Baptist.” The truth in this story is that there are a lot of different types of Baptists. The word “Baptist” itself has a lot of different meanings to different people — and not all of them are good.

At the Church at Ponce and Highland, we are unequivocally pro-LGBTQ, we affirm women in the pulpit, we require no statement of faith and we practice a progressive theology. And, we are Baptist. So what does being “Baptist” mean to us? 

We are unequivocally pro-LGBTQ, we affirm women in the pulpit, we require no statement of faith and we practice a progressive theology. And, we are Baptist.

According to historian Walter Shurden, at the core of the Baptist tradition are four fragile freedoms: church freedom, Bible freedom, soul freedom, and religious freedom. It is these freedoms that define who Baptists are, far more so than any worship style or theology. Let’s take each of these in turn.

Church freedom means that we are member-led (also known as “congregational”). The fact that members lead, own, and run our church is what most distinguishes us as Baptists, and from our other neighborhood churches. There are two main implications. 

First, we answer to no denomination or higher church authority. Each church is free to chart its own course in what it preaches, teaches, and practices. For example, we were free to adopt a pro-LGBTQ church covenant, unlike those churches in denominations where affirming LGBTQ Christians is a source of great controversy. (This freedom is part of the reason there are so many different types of Baptists!)

The fact that members lead, own, and run our church is what most distinguishes us

Individual Baptist churches do “band together” to support common work, like missions, service, and solidarity projects. We are currently affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists. When we were first founded, we were part of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). After we called Rev. Mimi Walker as our senior pastor, the Georgia Baptist Convention (and thus, the SBC) asked us to leave. We are no longer affiliated with the SBC.

The second implication is that our church is member-owned and run, much like a worker-owned cooperative business. Church members set the annual budget, oversee the building, and oversee pastors and church staff. Serving on a church committee may not always be glamorous, but it keeps our church in a position to adapt and thrive independently!

Bible freedom means each person is free to read and interpret the Bible as they see fit in community with others. We take the Bible seriously as a library of stories of imperfect people and their infinitely loving God. At the same time, there is no higher authority or church leader who can insist on the sole “right” or “wrong” way of interpreting it. We value each person’s unique identity, context, and perspective. This is one reason we do not require a statement of faith.

Each person is free to read and interpret the Bible as they see fit, in community with others

Equally important is that people should read the Bible in community with others. This allows each of us to learn from and be challenged by the unique perspectives of others. It prevents blindspots and readings that could hurt us or others. It also keeps us in touch with, and guided by, the long and diverse tradition of our faith.

Soul freedom means we make a commitment to follow and imitate Jesus Christ. Historically, Baptists were opposed to the idea that your religion depended on your place of birth or the religion of your king. Instead, they insisted upon only baptizing people once they were old enough to decide for themselves — hence the name, Baptists. 

Baptism is a joyful, communal celebration of an individual’s choice to try to walk Jesus’s way of love and liberation

We do not require people to be baptized in order to participate in the life of our church. Nor do we believe that a baptism changes how God views and loves us. Baptism is a joyful, communal celebration of an individual’s choice to try to walk Jesus’s way of love and liberation, in a world full of so much ugliness and oppression.

Religious freedom means we promote the freedom of religion for all people — Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, atheists, other Christians, and more. Historically, Baptists have been among the fiercest defenders of the separation of church and state. (Sadly, this tradition has become muddled in recent years). Today, this can mean vehemently opposing Christian nationalism, the idea that Christianity should be privileged by the state and that one must be Christian to be a good American. Institutions like the Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty have been defending and extending religious liberty in the United States for nearly 100 years. 

Baptists have been among the fiercest defenders of the separation of church and state

I became a Baptist because I wandered into the closest pro-LGBTQ church, and it just so happened to be a Baptist church. One of my first questions for the pastors was, “Aren’t you going to get in trouble with the Baptists?” I like to think that if I had known about these four freedoms, I would have understood. Today, I am proud to be an ordained minister in the Baptist tradition and to serve in one of the few remaining intown Atlanta Baptist churches.