Council Voices

Dr. H. Stephen Shoemaker, Myers Park Baptist Church

This man is scary. To others, probably also to himself. He lived among the tombs. There was no place else to live. He wore no clothes, the text says, and had no home. Does that mean no family too? The diagnosis of the time: He was possessed by demons. We guess today a psychological disorder, but let’s not be armchair psychiatrists, two thousand years away.

Rev. Dr. Christopher C. F. Chapman, Knollwood Baptist Church (Winston-Salem)

For we can believe all kinds of things about God and have all the right positions on ethical issues, whatever those are, but if we don’t have love, who wants to be part of the church? We can have great ministries for all ages, the best staff, the most up-to-date programs with all the whistles and bells, but if the people of the church don’t genuinely love each other, who cares? We can have the best maintained buildings and grounds, the latest equipment and technologies, the perfect organizational structure and communications systems, but if we don’t want to be with each other, the buildings will eventually be empty. We can even claim to have a passion for missions, want to share God’s love with people around the globe, but if we do not love for the person sitting next to us, our passion will be all fire and no warmth.

Rev. Amy Jacks Dean, Park Road Baptist Church

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all tell this same basic story of the healing of this blind beggar, but Mark is the only one to give the man a name – Blind Bartimaeus is how we know him. Jesus is headed to Jerusalem from Capernaum – and all along the way he is talking and teaching and answering questions and listening in on the disciples’ conversations with each other. You know how bad there were to get off track and try to figure out who was the favorite.

The Rev. M. Jonah Kendall, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church (Durham)

I want to come straight at you today. I want to be clear, and I want to be concise. I’m not going to open with an illustration but rather get straight to the point. And this is because our lesson from Genesis, with Noah’s ark – along with Jesus’ words in Matthew’s gospel about the house that could withstand the wind and rain – we are confronted with what I’d call the perfect storm.