"NDBC, LITURGY, and the CBF"

     For a church that finds its identity minimally associated with a denomination (for the good and the bad), NDBC will be remarkably high-profile at two upcoming national events. First, we will host the Alliance of Baptists next year on our campus; and second, we will lead a worship service for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) this year in downtown Atlanta.

     Neither the Alliance, nor the CBF, calls itself a denomination, but rather a movement. I like that. A movement is a progressive pilgrimage; a denomination can become an entrenched institution.

     This year, the CBF Annual Gathering will be at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta, 265 Peachtree Street, NE, Atlanta, GA. It is a week-long meeting; but on Friday, June 27, 2:45-3:45, NDBC will lead worship at the Hyatt. Y'all come.

     This won't be one of the big-top worship services where Andy Young will preach; rather, it will be more of a workshop setting with about 200 in attendance.

     NDBC's own, Brett Younger, Prof. of Preaching at McAfee, asked us to do it. There will be four worship services. Each will represent a tradition within the CBF. Though worship "styles" are ill-defined, most use labels like: contemporary, traditional, African-American, and liturgical.

     Guess which one we are assigned?

     Brett asked me for a 50-word blub that describes the way we worship at NDBC, for publication. I struggled to reduce the magnificent elegance, but hopeful intimacy, of what we do, to only 50 words; but here's the result:

Liturgical worship

enacts the sacred drama

of God's pilgrim people.

The crucifer's slow walk

with the processional cross,

the Bible carried high,

the frail but tenacious candle...

all joyfully join

with litanies, lectionary lessons,

chanted Psalms,

the Gospel reading among the people,

plus the sermon's outing of a  

transcendent/immanent intersection.

These carry a reverent community's  

dense theological freight...and grace.

     All of this to say: "I invite you." Please be there on June 27, 2014, 2:45-3:45, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

It will be a challenge. You know how important our worship space is to defining our worship. Our octagonal sanctuary holds us within its walled windows and sacred images in jewel colored faceted-glass. These come to life and rise-up on the weekly wind of the Schantz organ. Ah....

     Well, imagine doing "our" worship in a bland ballroom? So, pray for me.

    I will preach. Mike will help lead worship. Paul is wrangling a few choristers. Though Jeff is leaving us, he generously has agreed to keep this commitment on his calendar and play the piano. Plus, Alyssa and Rachel and some of the youth will be acolyting.

     My perspective is: "Let us trust our liturgy. Let us take the simple movement grace which carries us each week, and share it with our extended family. No extra bells and whistles...just trust what we have found to be trustworthy." 

2014 Summer Sermon Series

"Flawed Families...and the Faith They Inspire"

 June 15-August 31, 2014, @ 11 AM 

June 15: Genesis 1 and 2 (Adam and Eve)

"In the Beginning: The First Family Was Dysfunctional"

Issues: Choices, Differentiation, Stuckness

June 22: Genesis 21(Hagar)

"A Certain Man Had Two Wives"

Issues: Regret and Manipulation

June 29: Genesis 22 (Abraham and the Sacrifice of Isaac)

"Why Isaac Never Looked forward to Father's Day"

Issues: Faith, Fatherhood, Absente Parenthood

July 6: Genesis 24 (Isaac marries Rebecca)

"The Flawed Marriage of Church and State"

Issues: Romance and Grief

July 13: Genesis 25 (Esau and Jacob)

"A Certain Mother Had Two Sons"

Issues: Sibling Rivalry

July 20: Genesis 28 (Jacob's Ladder)

"Wherever You Go, There You Are, Part I"

Issues: self-avoidance

July 27: Genesis 29 (Jacob marries Rachel)

"Warning: Your Kin Will Do You In"

Issues: Betrayal, Trust

August 3: Genesis 32 (Jacob wrestles God)

"Wherever You Go, There You Are, Part II"

Issues: The pain of healing

August 10: Genesis 37 (Joseph sold to Egypt)

"Playing Favorites"

Issues: More sibling rivalry

August 17: Genesis 45 (Joseph forgives)

"What you Meant for Bad, God Meant for Good"

Issues: Forgiveness, Providence, Redemption

August 24: Exodus (Moses and the Basket)

"Pharaohs that Know Not Joseph"

Issues: the anxiety of productivity

August 31: Exodus (Moses and the Bush)           

"Shoeless Mo...."

Issues: Intervention, Vocation

June 1 - Dr. Graham Walker

God Talk: How Do We Speak of the Unspeakable?

June 8 - Dr. Martha Moore-Keish

Revelation: God as Known by All and Special to Some

June 15 - Dr. Graham Walker

God of Love and Evil: Why Does Evil Happen?

June 22 - Dr. Graham Walker

Prayer and God: Does Prayer Change Things?

June 29 - Dr. David Bell

Creation, Evolution and Humanity

July 6 - Holiday: No Session

July 13 - Dr. Martha Moore-Keish

Christology: Jesus as Truly Human and Truly God

July 20 - Dr. David Bell

Christianity and Other Faiths: Living with Other Believers

July 27 - Dr. Graham Walker

Atonement: Christ's Death and God's Relationship with Us

August 3 - Dr. Steven Sheeley

Triune God: What Does the Trinity Mean for Us Today?

August 10 - Dr. Steven Sheeley

The Church: Body of Christ and Community of the Fallen

August 17 - Dr. Graham Walker

Eschatology: Kingdom of God and Last Things

August 24 - Dr. Graham Walker

Final Questions: The Virgin Birth and Other Questions

Young Adult Dinners at Home

Saturday, June 7, at 7 PM

@ Jim & Mary Lester's Home

 "Sharing food and friendship that feeds our souls."

"Woven Together"

June 22-27, 2014, in Atlanta 

  The Annual Meeting of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship will meet June 22-27, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Atlanta, GA. On Friday, June 27, from 2:45-3:45 PM, Northside Drive Baptist Church will lead a worship service at the Hyatt, with Rev. James Lamkin, preaching.