T.B. Maston Dinner Honoring Leon McBeth

[Big Daddy Weaver]

I went with my dad, Alexis, two Religion doctoral students and 3 undergrad religion majors to the T.B. Maston Foundation Biennial Christian Ethics Award Dinner last night in Dallas at Wilshire Baptist Church.

The 2009 T.B. Maston Award was presented to Leon McBeth.

McBeth told a couple of stories. I wish he would have talked more. He did make one powerful statement about the legacy of T.B. Maston. He lamented that "Maston's not remembered much at the institution he gave his life to."

Brent Walker was the keynote speaker and gave a talk about the 3 tensions that Baptist proponents of religious liberty face in the upcoming years. Walker talked about the tension between the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause and the need to be balanced in our advocacy for religious liberty (and not focus entirely on the Establishment side of things). Walker noted the historic tension between the rights of the individual and the responsibility owed to the community. And then, Walker concluded by highlighting the tension between Civic Engagement and Civic Withdrawal.

The last point was inspired by a earlier this summer on the official CBF blog that was strongly critical of the BJC from an Anabaptist perspective.

A great evening in a very nice church.