1 :: Denver Baptist Church

This morning, I drove out to a Southern Baptist church in Denver, North Carolina. For those in-the-know, Denver is in Lincoln County, which is past Gaston County, which is next to Mecklenburg County. Denver Baptist Church was featured in a recent news story about churches that are making an effort to adjust to the Covid-19 pandemic by holding "drive-in church." 

Denver is far from Charlotte, I drove forty minutes. And if you know the Charlotte area, forty minutes in any direction is definitively country.

Denver is a rural town, but in recent years has attracted more people looking to build huge homes on the western shore of Lake Norman. Denver is a true mix of rural and suburban. It's both Old South and New South. What is also unmistakable in Denver is that church is a big deal. There are churches everywhere in Denver. Old school and modern ones.

Lots of churches.

A lake home in Denver, NC

For those outside of the Southeast, you likely have less familiarity with the Southern Baptist denomination. It is oft reputed to be the largest in the US, with more than 30 million members on the books. On the whole, they have a reputation for being conservative, both theologically and culturally. While I have found much more nuance in Baptists that I know personally than the stereotype indicates (and isn't that always the case?), Southern Baptists are unquestionably a unique group of folks.

More Southerners are Baptists than any other denomination. This is true in both the black and the white communities, which have separate Baptist denominations. 

MLK, Jr. was a Baptist. 

The abolitionist John Brown was a Baptist. 

Despite noteworthy names like that, the painful history of race in the South has led to two distinct Baptist denominations - one mostly white and one mostly black. There are a few other Baptist denominations throughout the country, but they are largely dying out now.

Some new churches that are (or were) loosely affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, such as Elevation Church in Charlotte, are very racially integrated. Of note, Elevation Church broke its ties to the Southern Baptist Convention.

I pulled into the church at 10 this morning and was directed into a row of cars filled with the faithful. I parked toward the back of the vehicular congregation, which meant that I was a good distance from the band and the pastor. 

Drive-in Church

They had everyone tune to 90.5 FM. The church emitted a low frequency onto that station, beaming the service across the field. The aggregate effect of each car playing the service led to an ambient noise that filled the immediate environs. It helped you feel connected with the service and those around you.

No one got out of their car. Many people stared at their phones for the whole service, which may have been by design. The church bulletin was on the website and available for download. It contained the lyrics to the worship songs, as well as the sequence of the liturgy itself.

If nothing else, humans are very adaptable.

Digital Church Bulletin

The pastor stood on the roof of the entrance to the church's "West Campus" building. He gave a sermon in a deep Southern drawl about how Jesus was like the soldiers we are honoring on Memorial Day. He explained to us that Jesus was like a captain in the military, in that he went to battle for our souls. He said that Jesus marched up Calvary with the resolute nature of a military fighter.

Rooftop Preaching

Candidly, I was not accustomed to this kind of sermon. 

My mind was racing with thoughts. 

• Could The Prince of Peace be reasonably compared to a military member?
• The One who said that those who live by the sword would die by the sword... a soldier?
• Military metaphors proliferated throughout the sermon. 

The point of the sermon was simple and clear, as I expected prior to my visit. There was little to wade through. Christ came to save us two thousand years ago and He remains ready to lead us like a strong military leader.

Wow. That feels different to hear.

As I looked around, I got a very real sense that I may have been the only one listening closely, at least on my row. There was nothing on the bulletin to read during the sermon, yet many appeared to be engrossed in digital pursuits.

Faithfully Distracted

Despite this, I know that some outside of my row were indeed listening closely. I knew this due to the fact that they honked their car horns in unison at key points in the sermon, including when the pastor said someday they would all be back together in the main church. 

The honking of the horns was a mechanistic proxy for yelling "Amen," I came to believe.

I also honked my horn a couple times. It felt good, to be honest. That my car horn became a facet of worship is but one of many illustrations of what uncharted territory we find ourselves in these days. 

Once the sermon was done, we had another song or two and then we were permitted to depart in an orderly fashion. The closest I came to another human never went below six feet. I left feeling like I had had a unique cultural experience, albeit perhaps less the type of experience that resonated deeply in my soul and psyche. Perhaps the Soldier Jesus didn't feel like the Yeshua that I know.

Quick and interesting. 

I am grateful for having had a chance to be in the company of people worshiping this morning. In many ways, it felt a bit different to me. On many levels.

But, feeling out of place and stretched is what this spiritual shift is all about.

Sincere thanks to Denver Baptist Church for their Southern hospitality, which always feels nice.