In the case of Absalom there are some interesting features of the story. Absalom’s opposition to the king was one that grew slowly, and was based on two important points. The first was Absalom’s dissatisfaction with David’s inability to take a moral stance over the case of Amnon and Tamar (2 Sam. 13.15-29). The second was the concentration of power in the hands of the king, to the point where David assumed the role of chief judge, and also controlled the priesthood (contrary to the pattern established in Deut. 16-18). As a result of this concentration of power, David was unable to execute justice properly. 

Now, the whole story of David, warts and all, is told to demonstrate how David survived, so the Bible in some ways is on David’s side. However, the Bible does not condone David’s actions depicted in these stories. On the other hand, neither does it condemn the actions of Absalom. It is for David, but not against Absalom. He is depicted rather as a tragic figure, and the activities of David compound the tragedy. 

With Jeroboam matters are similar, but also different. Originally a young man in the service of Solomon, he is promoted to senior administrator, and then experiences what can only be described as a prophetic call to be the agent of the destruction of the United Monarchy under Solomon (1 Kings 11). He is persecuted by Solomon, flees the country, and eventually returns as leader of the northern tribes with a legitimate complaint against the king — the imposition of forced labour. 

These two figures play interesting roles in the Bible. They do not take centre stage, and one of them is regarded as the ultimate apostate. But their opposition to their kings is never condemned, and it is legitimate. 

Alongside these two individuals we can place what one scholar has called "His Majesty’s Loyal Opposition." They are the prophets of the Old Testament. They were, for the most part, contemporary with kingship, and provided an important corrective to the styles of leadership, which developed under the monarchy. 

They criticized bravely and openly the corruption of ruling élites (Mic. 2.1-2). They criticized the abuse of power exercised by the leaders (Mic. 2.8-9). They condemned deceit in the dealings of the powerful (Jer. 8.8). They pricked the bubbles of self-aggrandizement of leaders (Jer. 22.13-15). All of these objects of their preaching were strong temptations of leadership and the possession of power. Some would argue that they were inherent in any systems of leadership. 

The reactions of leaders to such opposition is varied, but does display a consistency. Even though I am restricting myself here to Biblical examples, I follow an earlier maxim about establishing models of behaviour. I am sketching what Max Weber called "ideal types," that is general models of behaviour that do not necessarily correspond to one single example, but are typical of many. It is a "big-picture" approach. Let us then look at a pattern of reactions. 

The first reaction to opposition, exemplified primarily by the David and Absalom story, is ignoring the problem. David did not deal quickly and decisively with what was an essential injustice, the rape of Tamar by Amnon. There may be many reasons for this, tied up with ancient perceptions of male prerogatives. Nevertheless, the problem was dealt with neither decisively or honestly. This led to the subsequent usurpation of power by Absalom — interestingly on the matter of "justice," and the bloody civil war. 

A second reaction, exemplified by the story of Solomon and his underling, Jeroboam, is to deal with the problem on the basis of power. Neither Solomon, nor his son Rehoboam were prepared to accept first that Jeroboam had a divine right to split the kingdom, and secondly, had a legitimate protest over the issue of forced labour. Solomon forced Jeroboam into exile, and when he returned he led an opposition movement in the north over the issue of slavery. Rehoboam acted with interesting candour. "My father has beaten you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions." (1 Kings 12.11) It is a reaction born simply out of the possession of power and the ability to use it, with no consideration of the immediate context. Bailey suggests that this is the most immoral aspect of leadership, yet so common. 

A third reaction, exemplified in the king’s response to the prophets, is a combination of these, plus a number of others. First, for a while prophets were ignored by kings. Jeremiah preached for 20 years before he got into trouble with the king, although with others it took a little less time. Second, there is the development of a threat, as is seen by the relationship of Elijah and Ahab and Jezebel. Third, there is the playing of the victim by the king, adopting a "poor me" approach to the situation, and by claiming that what is said is outrageously untrue. A good example of this is the royal Psalm 109. In this psalm the king complains about those who open their "wicked and deceitful mouths" against him, presumably the prophets. What the reader needs to be aware of is that this psalm "For David," i.e. a royal psalm, is the reaction of power to criticism; criticism found in vss. 16-18 which seems entirely justified from the stories of the kings. The psalm is characterized by a vindictiveness rarely seen in the collection of pejorative psalms (such deprecation is often reserved for outside enemies of Israel), with its appeal for vengeance on the critics (vss. 20-25). It contains a sense of self-justification, and a casting of the psalmist into the role of victim with its pathetic plea, "for I am poor and needy" (vs. 22). This is a plea which, in the light of what we know elsewhere of monarchy, borders on the obscene. A fourth reaction to prophecy is the spreading of disinformation, as seen in the case of Amos and his confrontation with Amaziah, priest at Bethel (Amos 7.10-15). Amaziah is careful to report to the king, not what Amos actually said, thus allowing for the possibility of repentance, but turns his criticisms into a political act of rebellion. He puts into the mouth of Amos words that he did not actually say. It is little wonder that the Jewish community developed the tradition that all the prophets died at the hands of kings. 

By way of conclusion the following may be stated. Opposition and the reaction to it by élites says much more about the nature of power and leadership than it does about its opponents. The patterns which develop betray the fundamental insecurity of those in power, which leads to their desire for self-preservation, and their lack of moral judgment. Reactions come not from considered values, or willingness to debate matters, but are motivated by power and the simple
ability to exercise it against these "troublers of Israel" (1 Kings 18.17). [©Ray Hobbs 1998]

Bookfile

BAPTISTWATCH 

The assurance that some form of news will be produced at regular, but infrequent intervals from the officers of our denomination does not cover the need for an independent voice, and some fear that the ‘news’ reported will degenerate into public relations exercises, or to use the modern slang, ‘spin’. Milton once wrote, in his classic essay on freedom of conscience, ‘When complaints are freely heard, deeply considered, and speedily reformed, then is the utmost bound of civil liberty attained.’ This would be, we suggest, a good motto for any organization to adopt. 

So, with this in mind, the Gathering Newsletter invites readers to submit items of news related to our denomination. The criteria for publication are that the news be informative, accurate and true, not slanderous or libellous. Care should be taken to check the facts involved, and the material should be written in good English, without malice or intention to harm. To quote Milton again (exclusive language excused): ‘For he who freely magnifies what has been nobly done,
and fears not to declare as freely what might be done better, gives ye the best covenant of his fidelity.’

Ignatian Discernment for Groups:
a Facilitation Workshop

by Bob Paterson Watt©

This past March, I had the privilege of attending this workshop at Loyola House in Guelph, Ontario, on the grounds of the Guelph Centre for Spirituality. The workshop ran five days in retreat. The overarching purpose of the workshop was to gain insight of group life which acknowledges the communal, by learning and applying instruments for communal discernment. 

I have been involved in spiritual direction in Guelph for nearly four years now, already valuing the insights for myself personally, and by extension, in the life of the church. Along with the richness of interacting with Christian leaders from around the world, the Ignatian tools for discernment took on a whole new power for me. 

In particular, the instrument called "spiritual conversation" has changed the way I interact in group life. Spiritual conversation is a form of group prayer, by which the group may share individual experiences of prayer. The primary activity of spiritual conversation is grateful listening, a way of "leaning in" towards those who speak, expecting to receive good gifts from God through them. Each participant is invited to describe their experience of prayer in a brief,
clear manner. It is not the time to homilize, monopolize, convert others to your point of view or continually "impose" your favourite topic or idea upon others. The use of "I" statements, versus "we" statements is an important feature of the first round of sharing. 

Once each person has shared their experience of prayer, the group is asked to remember the experience gratefully, reflect quietly, then share a second time around a few questions: Where did I experience affective union and concurrence with the others as they shared? What new insights was I given about myself and the group? How will this help in my future prayer and spiritual life? 

Since the powerful experience of spiritual conversation over those five days at the workshop, I have used the tool at deacons’ meetings, a home book study group, Encounter (the BCOQ youth retreat), at a church retreat, and a retreat/workshop with group leaders from Calvary Baptist Church in Toronto. Each time, I have been impressed by the willingness of participants to move well below the surface of social niceties to express deep hopes and fears, confess
doubts and sins, ask for help from God and others. I have been equally impressed — when it came time for the second round — by the groups’ care for each other and expressions of grateful listening: both clearly showing investment in the group and the process. Also impressive is the fact that group participants are never in a hurry to leave the group following the experience. It is as though they have been in God’s presence and wish to bathe in that presence for a time.

I cannot recommend this workshop highly enough. It doesn’t come cheap, but is worth the cost, both in personal terms and for the life of the Christian Community. The next workshop takes place February 28 to March 5th. For information, call secretary Jane Crawford at Loyola House, 519-824-1250, ext. 266. Feel free to talk to me if you have any questions. (bpw@golden.net; 519- 745- 9461).[©Bob Patterson Watt 1998] 

NETWATCH 

More and more folks are getting "on-line," and these sites will provide some good information for interested Gatherers. Often the sites listed contain their own links, and they are worth following — you never know where you might end up! The listings are not exhaustive, but, useful. 

http://www.dogpile.com 

Yikes, what a name! But this is the most useful and used site I have in my list of bookmarks. It is a comprehensive search engine. Just enter a keyword, press "Fetch" (cute eh?) and it will find stuff for you in seconds. Try "Baptist" and see what it digs up — everything from the utterly sublime to the silly and ridiculous. 

http://www.christiancentury.org

Many are familiar with this excellent journal. Selected articles, commentary and news items are listed on this site. 

http://www.baptiststoday.org

This is the journal of the moderates in the SBC, and features good news items and commentary suited to the Co-operative Baptist Fellowship and the Alliance of Baptists. 

http://www.helwys.com/abpnews.htm

Helwys Press, which produces Baptists Today also offers access to a number of Baptist news links in the U.S.A. It is a pity that nothing of the kind exists in Canada. 

http://www.choralnet.org

An excellent database of choral music. More classically oriented than most church-related sites, this one covers music for the symphonic choir, and the small local (church) ensemble.

http://www.ptsem.org/ejournl.htm

From Princeton Theological Seminary, this is a list of electronically published journals on the web which are directly related to theological study and ministry.

More to come next time!

ROGER WILLIAMS’ FELLOWSHIP

On the evening of October 18, 1998, I was a welcome guest at the Roger Williams Fellowship (RWF) Conference at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, KS. When I left for home on October 20, it was as a brother. A number of us from different Baptist groups met with the RWF to learn together about what it means to be a Baptist on the eve of a new millennium. The Atlantic Baptist Fellowship sent greetings. I was the Gathering representative, the Alliance of Baptists were represented by Jeanette Holt, the Asian American Baptist Caucus by Timothy Tseng, Baptist Women in Ministry (ABC) by Molly Marshall, BPFNA by Ken Sehested, and the Co-operative Baptist Fellowship by Dub Streicross.

RWF president Dick Myers focused our attention on Jesus’ nativity as a paradigm for our future as Baptists. He pointed to the obvious instances of kairos in the birth narratives as RWF seeks to know the direction of their ministry as an organization. They have a long history as a conscience within the American Baptist Convention, having fought since 1935 to ensure respect for diverse theological perspectives and religious freedom. They received an unexpected kairos
moment from a group of students at the concurrent ABC Seminarians Conference at Green Lake, where more than 30 gathered together and contacted RWF during the conference to request involvement and mentoring.

Reports from various sister organizations were tales of struggles and joys. The pockets of life-affirming ministry still found within some SBC churches, and ministries such as the Associated Baptist Press and the Baptist Center for Ethics as reported by Dub Streicross of the Co-operative Baptist Fellowship (a dissenting voice within the SBC), were tempered by his palpable grief over the attempts of the leadership of the SBC to consolidate power by the systematic takeover of the State Conventions. After moving to Central Baptist Seminary in 1996, Baptist Women in Ministry (ABC) are flourishing with their ongoing dialogues, the publication of a folio and retreats. But the memory of Molly’s "departure" from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is still fresh in their minds. Baptist Peace Fellowship is directing energy toward building a community of communities committed to peace and justice and to developing a resource to help churches dialogue about sexual orientation. Timothy Tseng reported that the Asian American Baptist Caucus is trying to deal with the paradox of being marginalized by the ABC and their own indifference to being included. 

The juggernaut in U.S. "alternative" Baptist life is the Alliance of Baptists. Sixty-two thousand strong, incorporating 123 congregations, they have stopped wringing their hands over not having a denomination to call home, but instead are asking themselves how they fit in to where God is at work in the world. Jeanette Holt reported that they are working together with BPFNA to produce a social justice curriculum for young adults, and are joining the US National Council of
Churches.

RWF also maintains contacts with American Baptists Concerned, Ethical/Racial Caucuses of American Baptist Churches, Honesty, Mobilization for the Preservation of Baptist Principles, and Welcoming and Affirming Baptist Churches.

Molly Marshall, Professor of Theology and Spiritual Formation at CBS, Ken Sehested, Executive Director of the BPFNA and Timothy Tseng, Professor of American Religious History at Colgate Rochester Divinity School brought biblical reflections and a historical perspective as we sought to answer the question of what it means to be a Baptist on the eve of a new millennium. Answering the question raised new and enduring ones, such as "Who are my people and where can I find them?" "What is God doing and where is the Spirit breathing?" and "How do we engage in the ongoing debate between memory and hope: i.e., who are we, where have we been, who decided how we got there, where are we going and who decides how we get there?" We discussed the value of creeds in Baptist life. This was extremely timely for both the ABC and SBC (and us, can you say "EFC"?). The overwhelming opinion was that while the formulation of creeds can be a positive means of defining who we are, they lock in the Spirit and become tools of control, exclusion and blocking communication. We need a continuing opportunity to discuss our beliefs, and Covenant — a statement of relationships — is a better model for Baptists. 

Significantly, without discussing their presentations with each other beforehand, Molly, Ken and Timothy all declared that the greatest challenge to Baptists in the new millennium will be the influence of international economics on our society and how that influence will shape us and our societies.

RWF is part of our larger family of Baptists who share the same commitments as ours in the Gathering. I am convinced of our need to get and stay "connected" with our relations. We know that our separate branches of the family needed to maintain their own identity, but that we also need to strengthen our ties with each other. I took the liberty of inviting folks from the various groups represented at the conference to our meetings, and each of the representatives present made it clear, as appropriate, that we were invited to all of their gatherings. We should find a way of taking turns representing the Gathering at such events as RWF, the Alliance of Baptists’ Convocation in Richmond, VA, next March, the Atlantic Baptist Fellowship, etc. The Alliance of Baptists have a web page on which we can post our links and notices of future meetings, and RWF has agreed to begin to work toward co-ordinating appropriate invitations. [©Cam Watts 1998]

Meeting of the Gathering in Woodstock: Oct. 31st

The meeting was unusual in that there was no "theme speaker," and the group, under the able guidance of Bob Bond, created its own agenda for the day. The method of "Open Space" was used, and one had to be there to experience the energy, the direction, and the thought that such a method generated. We could have stayed an extra day to cover all of the subjects we listed.

From the first plenary session 16 focus groups were designated, and their topics ranged from organization and finance (including the archives, the nature of the Gathering), to communication (including the newsletter and its future), to call to ministry, congregational autonomy, spiritual formation, worship and liturgy, women in ministry, the nature of the 'just society', creedalism, generational issues (of the Gathering), and the notion of 'covenant' as a metaphor of our life
together — among others.

Each group discussed its topic, and three such sessions were organized so that folk could sit in and participate in the discussion on the topic of their choice. Careful records were kept of the discussions, and these records included 'future steps', so that the discussions and the enthusiasm about them would not just evaporate in the fall rush of church life.

A fuller account of the meeting is available from Bob Bond by e-mail (bonds@iaw.on.ca), or from Merle Caldwell by 'snail-mail'. Merle can be reached at: 2464 Concession 2 West, R.R. 1, Lynden, ON, L0R 1T0 519-647-3504

The day was a most meaningful one, as many felt that the Gathering is growing to where it has reached a decisive point in its development.

The excitement of the day was medicine to the heart, the food prepared by the members of FBC Woodstock was excellent and nourished our bodies.

The worship session prepared by the Furry clan spoke to our whole being and provided an excellent context for our day together. It was good to see many friends there, and to welcome new faces who will become friends. We all appreciated Rex Deverell's comment that before he came he felt like Paddy and Tim in the liquor hold of the Titanic. They knew they were heading for disaster but did not care! "Now," he said, "I care."  [© The Gathering 1998]

Feedback can be directed to:  The Gathering Newsletter c/o Ray Hobbs e-mail ray.hobbs@sympatico.ca