Go Covenant Baptists

[Stephen Fox]

Mercer Eliminates the Duke Methodist Blue Devils from March Madness!!!!!

[Neil Heath]

I confess I didn't think they could do it, but they did! I'm proud to be a Mercerian, as always, but especially proud of the team.

The university gave unbelievable support to the team, too. Our local paper says they created their own home court advantage in Duke's backyard by taking 6 busloads of students there. They gave students a seat on the bus, a courtside ticket, and a motel room for $25, and there was a sea of orange as a result. And of course there were many faculty and community people who made the drive over. People who were there said the Mercer section stood up for the entire game.

And here in Macon the school closed a street beside campus and hosted an outdoor party attended by hundreds who watched the game on a big Jumbotron screen.

I've never seen a stronger display of school support and spirit!

[Sandy]

I didn't expect Duke to go very far in the tournament this year, but I didn't expect that Mercer would be the team to knock them off.

As far as the Baptist-Methodist thing goes, I think you've got more in the way of historical ties than actual affiliation, at least as far as Duke is concerned. The university's website mentions historical ties to the UMC, but calls the school a "non-sectarian research university." It's history states that it was founded by both Methodists and Quakers, and its demographic profile shows that it actually has more students enrolled who claim affiliation with a Baptist church than with the UMC.

Mercer claims Baptist roots but not Baptist affiliation, according to its website. The trustee board is independently chosen, there is no oversight or control of initiatives by a Baptist body, and the majority of the students are not from Baptist churches. The only part of the school, according to its website, that is Baptist affiliated is the McAfee School of Theology, which receives scholarship funding from CBF in a partnership arrangement that does not involve trustee oversight.

Exciting game, as Mercer now looks to try to beat Tennessee. But not really a Baptist-Methodist thing.

[Tim Bonney]

I believe Duke Divinity School is still affilated with the UMC. United Methodists, for the most part, have much looser ties to their schools than the SBC does. It is similar to the way ABC seminaries are related to the ABC. They are affilated with but not run by the denomination.

Glad I didn't play bracketology this year. I'd have bet on Duke to go farther.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Sandy]

[Neil Heath]

Actually Ga. Baptists voted to separate from Mercer, not the other way around. The blame for the move rests with the denomination.

Onthe NCAA front, Mercer just lost to Tenn. But they took 10 buses of students to this one. After the game we could see the team applauding their fans for unmatched support every step of the way.

[Sandy]

It is my understanding that the story of Mercer's separation from Georgia Baptists is similar to that of several other schools in recent years. First, the move to "protect" the school's "academic freedom" by removing the convention's ability to choose its trustees. Then, distancing the school's mission and purpose from that of providing higher education in a context that reflects the convention's beliefs and values, and provides theological education for its ministers and missionaries. Ultimately, the convention begins to question why it is financially supporting an institution that no longer conforms to the relationship it once had, and presto! The school can walk away, blame the convention for the separation, and get exactly what it wanted, which was to be set free from what they perceive as the limiting effects of their Baptist affiliation.

Sorry for the loss to Tennessee, though I doubt that will do much to dampen the enthusiasm from beating Duke, which will last through several seasons, and will be something that everyone talks about for a long time.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Sandy]

It's not disingenuous, Ed. "Affiliated" means that the school is in a formal relationship with a denomination, where there is a connection between the school's mission and purpose, and that of the denomination. Historically, that involves a level of support from the denominational constituency, and in most cases, the denomination provides direction and leadership through trustee selection. For the schools, generally the connection in the mission and purpose has been to provide training to potential ministers, missionaries and other church leadership. For some denominations, "affiliated" involves a different type of relationship but what I've described has been the pattern for Baptist colleges, universities and seminaries. That does not preclude the school's attraction for students of other backgrounds. But when a school states that it is "no longer affiliated" with a denominational body, that is a statement to be taken at face value. The statement you cited from Mercer tells me that it was founded by Baptists, is no longer affiliated with a Baptist denominational body, but retains some of the broader influence from a Judeo-Christian background.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Ed Pettibone]

[Neil Heath]

If I'm not mistaken, Mercer's board of trustees has always been independent of Ga. Baptist control, since Mercer is older than the GBC. They had a cooperative relationship in the naming of trustees, but were not legally bound to do so.

The GBC was quite frustrated by the fact that they could not control the membership of the trustee board. That's the only thing that saved Mercer from a fundamentalist takeover that has already happened at the other Ga. Baptist colleges for which I am extremely grateful.

[Sandy]

I have no problem with a state convention body that gets to elect trustees in exchange for financial support, and a relationship which opens the door to a constituency that provides students and millions of dollars in contributions to a university or college. It's not just the budget money that the state convention provides, which is a small portion of a school budget, especially these days. I don't know about Mercer, but when the Tennessee Baptist Convention settled its court case with Belmont University, it was estimated that the convention and the school's Baptist constituency had contributed about 80% of the total value of the school, though the school was only ordered to pay back about $50 million over the course of a decade. I know that at my alma mater, most of the endowment, and most of the facilities and buildings were gifted to the school by faithful Southern Baptists, who expected the school to reflect their denomination's beliefs and values.

[Stephen Fox]

Sandy acts as if nothing happened in Baptist life in the last 30 years, to wit residues of the the John Birch Society brothelizing a grand tradition for Pressler and Jesse Helms right wing politics.

Sandy should know by now, even the conservative Truett Cathy, on the board of trustees when Ga fundies of Lee Roberts stripe were attacking President Kirby Godsey; Cathy grew nauseous and stood by Godsey.

As for Baptist affiliation, there is no more authenic Baptist on the planet today than Mercer Pres Underwood; see Mother Jones piece on Baylor of 2004.

And Paul Harvey's Moses Jesus and the Trickster is a strong a Testament, a Third Testament if you will, I've seen recently, and that from a Mercer lecture series.

So Sandy can keep on spouting his well articulated ignorance if he wishes, but Worthen, Giberson and Stephens to tip the iceberg have convinced me for some time he is startin to believe his own delusions.

[Ed Pettibone]

S Fox "As for Baptist affiliation, there is no more authenic Baptist on the planet today than Mercer Pres Underwood;"