Heritage and Hope

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was putting out it's annual "Greatest Hits" report.

It was "Heritage and Hope" though at the time W.A. Criswell, James Patterson, James Robinson and other fundamentalist terrorists were conducting a hostile takeover of a perfectly excellent academic institution.

In retaliation, Duke McCall, Clyde Francisco, Dale Moody and J.T. Owens fought back by "loving their enemies."

The enemies kicked their ass.

The Seminary went from being where a mind is terrible thing to waste ... to ... a mind is terrible thing!

At the time, I was getting the Hell out anyway ... completely immersed in living the Gospel in the inner City of Louisville, Kentucky.

Going through an old box yesterday, I found "Heritage and Hope" and took a bittersweet trip into the past.

There's Bill Berry (not the former drummer for REM but the real one) on his knees ... praying ... or reading ... or ... honestly I have no idea what he's doing though he looks Holy enough.

I think it's a poised picture.

And there's me in an action shot!

The Hippy Preacher talking to Fred, the mentally-ill convert to Christ in the basement of the Jefferson Street Baptist Chapel ... where I was inexplicably employed as a "Professional Christian" ... paid to love while asking others to do it for free.

Looking at these photographs for the first time in decades, the first thoughts are memories of fellow Seminarians asking me to autograph my picture because ... "you're one of the stars of the future."

Over beers a few days later, I ask Bill, "Hey did you get asked ..."

"Sshhhuu," he says sipping the dark brew, "it's not important."

Bill Berry and I have the gift of speaking to one another without actually completing sentences.

I stayed at Jeff Street for a while before moving on to Union Mission and a life of trying to help others help themselves.

Bill Berry never joined a band and dove in at the Graffiti Baptist Center in New York City before moving on to a life time of making life better for others.

A remnant community ... Michael Ruffin, Cindy Webber, Guy Sayles (America's greatest preacher), Molly Marshall and others ... went on to do the same.

The Seminary went to Hell.

Several years later, they called asking if I would come give a speech at a convention on the topic, "A Baptist Response to AIDS."

"Why you calling me," I ask suspiciously.

"Well," the Lord led the fundamentalist to say. "You're Baptist and ... you've got one."

After a nanosecond of prayerful consideration I reply, "I'll pass."

"We really don't have anybody else," he explains.

"I really don't the time," I say, "I'm too busy taking people with AIDS."

All these years later, I've kept the hope but lost the heritage so long ago.