Why Baptist?

Despite Baptists’ verbal opposition to state-sponsored religion, southern evangelical churches—and Baptists in particular—have been the beneficiaries of popular and political support for over two centuries. G.K. Chesterton once said that the United States is a nation with the soul of a church, but it seems that Baptists in America have been infused with the soul of a nation. The earliest Baptists would bristle at this development, as it deviates from the spirit in which they founded our movement. 

We know that the word “Baptist” is sometimes associated with flag-waving, judgmental and moralistic Christianity, and we lament the fact that religious opportunists have soiled the reputation of our movement. But it’s time to reclaim the true meaning of Baptist faith and identity. At Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, we are committed to retrieving an older and richer tradition—not for the sake of returning to a “better” day, but for the sake of responding faithfully to the present situation while maintaining continuity with our history. 

The original Baptists were radical dissenters who gave a resounding “no” to imperial Christianity. The Christian faith, they asserted, should never be co-opted by nations and powers; rather, it bears witness to a different kingdom. Baptists get their name from a robust theology of water baptism that responded critically to the view that baptism is a rite of passage into state citizenship. For Baptists, the sacrament of baptism immerses us into a life of radical discipleship and produces a peculiar people, a royal priesthood and holy nation that we call “church”—a transnational outpost of heaven. The second-century Epistle to Diognetus puts it this way:

Christians live in their respective countries, but only as resident aliens; they participate in all things as citizens, and they endure all things as foreigners. Every foreign territory is a homeland for them, every homeland foreign territory.

Baptists have always understood themselves as resident aliens, which is why we emphasize the visibility of the church. While other Christian communities might describe themselves in terms of “communion” or “incorporation,” Baptists are characterized by visible discipleship.

Finally, Baptists have always drawn a connection between discipleship and freedom, which is why we fall under a larger umbrella called the Free Church. In other words, we emphasize our freedom in Christ: freedom from oppressive hierarchies that dictate how we read scripture and govern our congregations, and freedom for a different kind of life together. We believe that through the Holy Spirit, we are endowed with the prophetic, priestly and kingly ministries of Jesus Christ, who has given us “all things” (1 Cor. 3:21) necessary to live freely under his reign.

If you don’t consider yourself a Baptist, please don’t hesitate to join us anyway! We are Baptist by tradition but ecumenical in spirit, which means we are open to all and closed to none.