Isaac's Press

The traditional approach to the issue of baptism (and thus, rebaptism) in the Community of Christ has been to tie it directly to the authority of the church’s priesthood to perform the sacrament. And so I was both relieved and grateful to see that President Steve Veazey chose a completely different route in responding to the leadings of the Spirit to present the new counsel he presented to the church: Apostle Paul’s groundbreaking statement to the Galatians:

“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-27 NRSV).

By doing so he completely changed the theological landscape: This issue of rebaptism is not about us as an institution, or who holds the power and authority to act, or what makes this faith community different from all others. The central argument is about what it means to be “baptized into Christ.” And so of all the meanings and purposes of baptism, the one that is raised up and made paramount is that to be baptized is to “be buried with Christ and raised with him to be a new creature”–a creature appropriately fit for the new age Christ inaugurates. Membership in this (or any other) institution becomes secondary, although of course still important.

Having said this, I still expect there will be howls of protest from certain quarters of the church. Sooner or later somebody is going to note that the current president of the church has placed the words of Apostle Paul above the words of the Prophet Joseph (Smith). That sort of thing, I believe, would never ever happen in the other latter-day saint church, and I’m fairly certain it wouldn’t have happened in this one up until perhaps a few years ago. My own immediate thought: Thanks be to God it’s finally happened to us.

I say that out of no disrespect to Joseph Smith Jr. (or Joseph III or his three sons, grandson, and the two non-Smiths called to be prophet-presidents of the church). It’s just that I’ve longed for the day when we don’t automatically assume precendence for a prophetic word uttered in the last 180 or so years over something from biblical times. I just might even go so far as to say this action may indicate we’re finally growing up as a Christian body. At the very least it confirms my decision to spend the last few months writing an introductory study guide to Apostle Paul (who has been unfairly slammed for a couple thousand years for things he actually didn’t say/write).

Now, back to the document: At first I was a bit taken aback by President Veazey’s approach to dealing with homosexuality in the church and its priesthood. It appeared to be something of an artful dodge to lump it in with a host of other moral and cultural matters: “For example, the issues include female submission, female genital mutilation, child brides, forced marriages, and sexual permissiveness. They include cleansing and exploitation of widows, harsh conflicts over same-gender attraction and relationships, and varying legal, religious, and social definitions of marriage, to name just a few.”

But given the widespread acrimony over the so-called “gay issue” in this and other churches (not to mention secular society at large), maybe that’s the best (perhaps only?) way to approach it. It at least buys the church some time. I have every confidence that at some point in the future, people in the church and society will look back on this era with both curiosity and abhorence and wonder “What the hell were they thinking back then?” There’s already a huge generational difference in viewing same-sex issues, and it’s obvious my Boomer generation and older are still very much in charge of society, government, and churches. A decade or two or three down the road should bring incredible change. That’s right: at some point we Boomers will be completely irrelevant.

There’s also the national/cultural issue at work here. For all the satisfaction we’ve had claiming to be a “world church,” the fact remains that the North American (along with the rest of the Western/1st World) church operates within its own milieu–and for it to dictate to parts of the so-called developing world is both ill-advised and just plain dumb. This larger issue may well become the dominant motif of a future Christian Church in which southern-hemisphere Christians (by and large, they’re quite conservative and pentecostal) far outnumber those in the north. The other day I saw a fascinating video report of Nigerian missionaries evangelizing in the United States, which left me wondering if I’d just glimpsed the future.

As for President Veazey’s companion document on changes in the Council of Twelve (along with a nod of appreciation to Grant McMurray for establishing the precedent of separating personnel changes from inspired counsel): I will be saddened to see Mary Jacks Dynes leave the Twelve. I have appreciated and been touched by the spirit and substance of her ministry over the years. I’ll not comment on any of the other changes, simply to note that I would not have been saddened to see at least one other current member retire or be released. But, of course, you can’t always get what you want.

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