Revitalising the Baptist Church Meeting 

Ruth Moriarty introduces ​Slow wisdom, an offering of qualitative research to our denomination which shows how Baptists can discern together well and identifies positive opportunities for change at the Church Meeting

If there was a t-shirt for this book it would say: ‘Baptists like a good vote’.

It was this pithy phrase that Fiona; a member at Coleman Baptist Church, shared at our interview as part of this research project on discernment.

Fiona reflected how Church Meetings were often badly attended until a vote was announced and members suddenly reappeared to discern together.  

She also spoke of how historic conflict had marred the experience of the Church Meeting; she called it ‘wretched’.

For too long, the Baptist Church Meeting has been something of a joke among Baptists, it has been seen as boring, poorly attended or worse – known to be toxic and ineffective.

Our practice of discernment is a truly distinctive and foundational element of our ecclesiology and yet relatively underexamined.

Slow wisdom: Baptist discernment at the Church Meeting is an offering of qualitative research to our denomination which shows how Baptists can discern together well and identifies positive opportunities change at the Church Meeting. It is my sincere prayer that this research will be an aid to all ministers, local churches and our denomination.
 
This practical theology project rests on the observation of four local Baptist churches and interviewing the minister and two members from each context on the practice of discernment.

All the sample churches are near to my church; Christ Church New Southgate and Friern Barnet Baptist/URC, in north London.

Through the data analysis, Baptist discernment is identified, articulated, and named as slow wisdom. Slow wisdom is slow, listens to and hears all members, it seeks consensus agreement through a prayerful and prophetic atmosphere.

The theological emphasis on participation, described as ‘this body life’ is shown to be based on biblical images of the church as the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12.4-27) as the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2.4-5).

By comparing slow wisdom to bell hooks’ practical wisdom (1994, 2003, 2010), slow wisdom finds broader terms of expression and rationale for participation and the Church Meeting is recast as a radical place.

Slow wisdom uses embodied knowledge to form Christian practical wisdom (Miller-McLemore, 2016) that long-standing members use as an epistemological source to verify discernment.

Therefore, knowledge of Baptist discernment is expanded from a biblical basis to recognise wisdom (phronesis) in the lived experience of faith and bodily practice of attending the Church Meeting as fundamental to discernment.
 
Slow wisdom is not present when the Church Meeting fails to listen to all members. The project shows how members who are different to the habitual norm of the church are excluded. 

The low attendance of younger members and members from other denominations is shown to be effectively addressed by examples of best practices, alongside the project recommendation of sharing slow wisdom as a model for reflection.

To explore the experience of Black and Brown members whose voices have been overruled in Church Meetings, Willie Jennings’ (2010, 2020) work on challenging racism in education provides a contrasting analysis. Through Jennings’ example, the project demonstrates how the design of the Church Meeting can be changed to be inclusive of all members to increase belonging among Black and Brown members.

Having articulated slow wisdom, this new knowledge contributes to other denominations' discernment approaches and provides a pathway for renewal of practice and a revitalisation of the Baptist Church Meeting for Baptists.
 
This research was part of my DProf at the University of Chester, and it took seven years of part time study to complete. Without the generosity of Poynton Baptist and Christ Church in granting time to study and the financial support of the Further Studies Fund held by the Baptist Union, this research would not exist. I am deeply thankful to all of you who have encouraged and supported the project, and most especially to the participant churches and individuals who offered open hearts and minds to explore how Baptists discern the mind of Christ together.
 
I am delighted to share this research will be available in a video format with discussion questions suitable for use with ministers and local churches as a learning resource. The video course will be released online in 2025 through the Regent’s Park College Centre for Baptist Studies.
 

Slow wisdom: Baptist discernment at the Church Meeting by Ruth Moriarty is available on kindle (£5) and in print (£10) on Amazon here: amzn.eu/d/e6PyFLZ
 
The Revd Dr Ruth Moriarty is Baptist minister at Christ Church New Southgate and Friern Barnet (Baptist/URC, London), and a Research Associate at Regent’s Park College, Oxford.

Find out more at www.slowwisdom.com

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