Monday, April 14, 2008

SMART Baptists

I received the latest edition of Baptist World today, a news magazine that is published by the Baptist World Alliance. I liked the article written by BWA president David Coffey who says the BWA needs Smart Baptists. He credits Teddy Oprenov, General Secretary of Bulgarian Baptists with the idea.

S - Standing together in worship, fellowship and unity
M - Moving strategically in mission and evangelism
A - Acting justly for human rights and religious freedom
R - Responding to human need and engaging in sustainable community development
T - Thinking theologically.

Coffey elaborates on each one of these principles with illustrations from around the globe where Baptists face unique challenges in each of these areas. I like the acrostic and concur that we could surely use some SMART Baptists.

3 comments:

Jim Hill said...

Gary,

You are correct and so is David Coffey. We do need SMART Baptists. I plan to share the article when I meet with the representatives of the other Baptist bodies and conventions regarding a possible 2009 Midwest Gathering of Baptists. Thanks for highlighting the article. Jim

Anonymous said...

Much better than smart aleck baptists. Or smarter than you are baptists. :)

Gary Snowden said...

Jim and Bryan,

Thanks for stopping by and visiting. Your comments were very appropriate, Bryan.