\n(Cover of Heritage Seekers magazine for children. See below)<\/p>\n
I \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grew up Baptist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as they say. My own religious and cultural tradition colored our Baptist heritage with a particularly pietistic bent. We weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fundamentalist but not liberal either. Growing up the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Baptist way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d often served as the preservative equivalent to the infamous \u00e2\u20ac\u0153seven last words of the church\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve never done it that way before.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d) Like many, my own spiritual journey has kept my feet on my denominational path though I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve wandered byways that have given me new vistas and perspectives on faith and belief. They have expanded my horizons and, as is the nature of journeys, now there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no going home again. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s safe to say that while my faith is different than it was (some of my friends acuse me of being an EpiscoBaptist), I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not strayed far from the faith of my forbearers.<\/p>\n
\n(Cover of Heritage Seekers magazine for children. See below)<\/p>\n
I do have a concern that some Baptist congregations are not doing a good job of inculcating their own \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Baptist way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d into the next generation. Inclusiveness, relativity, individualism, and globalization—-contemporary concepts raised to the status of universal values—-often take their toll on any group making claims to being distinctive. For the thin-skinned self-definition often feels like exclusion or elitist, and, paradoxically, rarely tolerated. But I think the distinctives that make up the people called Baptists are worth claiming and worth passing on to the next generation.<\/p>\n
My own denomination, the American Baptist Churches (ABC\/USA),<\/a> puts out a wonderful children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ministry resource in the form of the periodical titled The Pebble.<\/a> Free <\/strong>copies are available on the National Ministries<\/a> website. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a resource worth getting and referring to—certainly it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great resource for your children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s teachers and leaders (and be sure your pastor gets a copy!).<\/p>\n The Spring 2007 Vol. 5. No. 5 issue has a couple of terrific articles related to teaching children about their religious heritage. The feature article by managing editor Wilda Morris is titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Teaching Children in Ways That Embody Baptist Beliefs.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Morris reminds us of the important educational axiom that how you teach is what you teach, and challenges us to think about whether we can measure our ways of teaching children against Baptist distinctives. <\/p>\n Other articles that address the need to teach children \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Baptist way,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d are: <\/p>\n In addition to the articles the newsletter contains information on resources and events related to children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ministries. Highly recommended. <\/p>\n Another exciting and worthy resource for introducing and educating children in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the Baptist way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is the Heritage Seekers<\/a> magazine put out by the Virginia Baptist Historical Society and Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies<\/a>. Heritage Seekers<\/em> is a magazine designed specifically to teach Baptist heritage to children. The publication includes a family guide with each issue and each issue features a different historical figure and important principle or theme. The magazine is edited by Jon Messer, who is a member of this blog\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s G.R.A.C.E. group and who started and maintains this blog.<\/p>\n Other Baptist heritage resources:<\/p>\n Baptist Heritage<\/a> I \u00e2\u20ac\u0153grew up Baptist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as they say. My own religious and cultural tradition colored our Baptist heritage with a particularly pietistic bent. We weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fundamentalist but not liberal either. Growing up the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Baptist way\u00e2\u20ac\u009d often served as the … Continue reading \n
<\/p>\n
\nBaptist History & Heritage Society<\/a>
\nThe Center for Baptist Studies<\/a>
\nThe Reformed Reader<\/a>
\nVirginia Baptist Historical Society and Center for Baptist Heritage and Studies<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"