The owners of the company I work for have friend who is an ordained Baptist minister. He stops by the office from time to time to visit. I was introduced to him some time ago as “a believer” so he hasn’t inquired about the state of my soul. That’s a good thing, because as a Catholic I trust in the mercy of God and the promises of Christ but unless I’ve been to confession in the last three minutes or so I’m not entirely sure. My intellect isn’t perfect so on any given day I just don’t know. Good for me and for my soul that I go to confession regularly! Preacher Willy is an interesting guy – that much I know. I got some schooling on Baptist theology and the structure of their churches. All this after I asked a few questions about where he went to school, what it means for a Baptist to be ordained, and why the congregation votes to install a pastor. At least once I heard him refer to the Baptist church in America as the “Black Church.” I didn’t ask for any clarification on that point. He politics are very closely tied to his religion. He spent a good while telling me that President Bush is just as bad as Clinton was from the standpoint of vices. Clinton’s vice, he said, was lust (I didn’t get a chance to offer him any other vices it might appear Bill struggled with) and that “lust for drink” was Bush’s. I told him it appeared Bush had a drinking problem, but if you believe what he says he’s been off the sauce for quite a while. Reverend Willy said he could be drinking and we wouldn’t know. I thought it was a pretty weak argument against his ability as President but I didn’t get much of a chance to talk when we were talking. He railed on about abortion being a great evil and I didn’t bother to ask if he ever voted on the issue. I’m guessing he doesn’t.
Something he said that surprised me was that salvation and sanctification is a process. I thought their creed was “once saved, always saved.” Again, I didn’t ask for any further clarification. I’m sure he’ll be by another day.
He said if a Baptist feels a calling to preach he approaches his Pastor, tells him he believes he’s being called and they give him the pulpit for a trial run. After that he can go to seminary or not – it’s up to him. He studied by correspondence with a non-denominational seminary in Indiana and was ordained this year. I think he said you don’t have to go to seminary to be ordained. Ordination, in fact, means that you are recognized as a member of the clergy and can marry people and “put them in the ground.” It seems ordination means you have a license from civil authorities to do such things. If you want to be a preacher then you preach, he said. If you are called to be a pastor that’s another thing entirely. Baptist congregations vote to elect a pastor – which I didn’t know. Most congregations want an ordained minister as pastor, and it is often a requirement to distribute communion. I didn’t ask why. Maybe I’ll leave that for another day.
As we were talking about his call to preach, he asked if I thought I was being called. The Catholic working at the desk next to mine, having listened to our one-sided conversation in its entirety, looked at me waiting for my response. I told him the only thing I’m sure of – God is calling me to holiness. “He’s calling everyone to that!” the Reverend exclaimed. On that much we agree, Preacher Willy!