Prayer for the SBC
Almighty God, we understand that there are occasions when we do not know exactly how we ought to pray; nevertheless, in such moments we rely upon the promise of your Word and in the knowledge that your Holy Spirit intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. We confess that this is one of those times.
For one hundred fifty-five years we as the First Baptist Church of Savannah, Georgia, have walked with the people called Southern Baptists. Ours has been a magnificent, shared story. First Baptist Church gave to the Southern Baptist Convention the staunch determination of a William Bullein Johnson, the saintly leadership of a John E. White, and the historical perspective of a Norman W. Cox. At the same time, Southern Baptists gave to our congregation a warm evangelicalism, a love for the Bible, and a heart for missions. We are grateful, O God, for this common pilgrimage of faith.
But now, while thanking Southern Baptists for the privilege of walking with them on this journey, we choose willingly to go a separate way. Like Paul and Barnabas in The Acts of the Apostles, we find that for the sake of your larger Kingdom that it is best for us no longer to walk together. We have been pained to know that our own gifts for ministry are no longer welcome in the denominational family which was our spiritual home. We have been saddened to watch as our brothers and sisters have made strange and new commitments, many of which have departed from our historic Baptist principles. Even as we have been called to rediscover the meaning of believer priesthood, local church autonomy, and servant leadership in our own time, we would pray that you one day would call Southern Baptists back to our common heritage in the faith.
O God of our fathers and mothers, we pray for Southern Baptists even as we also pray for ourselves. All of us are your sinful, less-than-perfect children who are in need of your redeeming love and constant care. Give to us the mind of Christ, and never let us be afraid to follow where your Holy Spirit leads. Use the efforts of all who claim the name Baptist to make known the name of Jesus Christ and to build up his Church. And though we do not all walk together, guide our separate pathways until that Day when we all shall come to that river whose streams make glad the City of God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dr. John M. Finley
First Baptist Church
Savannah, Georgia
October 15, 2000