In the next few weeks, I will celebrate my 26th year as your Pastor. This time of year, I always recall the process and the days leading up to my call as your Pastor and my early days at Trinity. In conversation with the Pastor Search Committee, I was presented a document that I refer to often and I hold dear. It was a statement that was created by the church during the interim period before my call as Pastor. It was presented to me as a statement of identity of Trinity Baptist Church. Over the years, I have returned to that statement to remind myself of the congregation I came to serve. I have often turned to this statement when our identity as a congregation has been questioned or to remind me to be faithful to the task to which I was called.
I must attest, that to the best of my ability, I have stayed true to this statement over these 26 years, and I have done all I can to protect and celebrate our congregation’s identity as first presented to me.
The statement was entitled Trinity’s Identity Statement and read:
Trinity Baptist Church is a sovereign and democratic Baptist Church under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. It is committed to the cause of sharing Christ with the world through cooperation with the Raleigh Baptist Association, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
In its desire to advance and promote commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, Trinity expresses its faith through historic Baptist principles:
- The freedom of the individual before God to respond to the revelations of God as led by the Holy Spirit and is responsible for his or her own relationship with God.
- The priesthood of all believers which makes us priests to each other and guarantees equality of opportunity and responsibility of all believers in Christ.
- The freedom and autonomy of the local church under the Lordship of Christ.
- The separation of church and state and the concepts of a free church and a free state.
- The servant role of leadership within the church, which makes the example of Christ the model for leadership and calls forth the dedication of the gifts of all persons, male and female.
- The participation in the universal and united body of Jesus Christ in the propagation of the Christian Gospel, in full and honest theological inquiry and in service to humanity in the name of Jesus Christ.
Above all things, we hold the conviction that the test of discipleship is found in the words of Jesus when He said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
As we begin our 27th year as Pastor and Congregation, I again say yes to God and to you. I again affirm that this is statement describes the congregation that I love and have the honor of serving. I challenge you to read this statement and to do all you can do help us continue to live into this identity as a congregation.
