Literature Review

Northstar Church is one of over 44,000 Baptist congregations nation-wide. The Baptist denomination is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. The Baptist faith is strongly based on the fact that followers of this faith should chose to be baptized (fully immersed in water) as a display of their faith. There is not an age restriction on becoming a member of a Baptist church; however, one cannot become a member until baptized, and cannot be baptized until they fully comprehend the significance of professing their faith (this is why the majority of Baptist churches reject infant baptism). Baptist churches share the ideas of the belief in one God, the virgin birth, forgiveness of sins through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), the need for salvation, and the Second Coming of Christ. Since Baptist churches do not have a governing authority, many become associated with denominational groups such as the Southern Baptist Convention.
Although the denomination is the one of the largest, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has reported that the baptism rate is on the decline. Baptism-“a key measure of vitality and evangelism”-has declined 5% from 2006 and is currently at 345,941 baptisms per year. The SBC also disclosed that the membership numbers dropped by 40,000 from 2006 to 2007. The promising statistic is that attendance has increased slightly and the number of congregations has grown by 1%.
A study at Case Western Reserve University examined the beliefs about God and forgiveness in a Baptist congregation and attempted to identify core beliefs about God and forgiveness. The results showed that core beliefs included that “God commands us to forgive others”, “God wants us to love our enemies”, “I believe that God has forgiven me of all my sins”, “God has forgiven me for some pretty big things”, and “God is both merciful and just”. This study, although preformed on a limited sample of members of a specific Baptist church and convenient college students, represents the fact that the majority of conservative Christians believe that God is merciful and just, that Christians are morally obligated to forgive others (it is a Divine mandate), as well as the fact that God’s forgiveness is necessary but certainly attainable.
A large piece of what Northstar represents is contemporary and creative worship. Pastor Gordon Atkinson states that “Preaching is such an esoteric art form. It requires creativity but only within very rigid rules.” Creative worship can involve using art, dance, contemporary music, digital projection, and other multi-sensory experiences. It is very easy however to add these forms of creativity and actually take away from the message. Worshipers must not lose sight of what worship is all about: identifying and rejoicing the presence of “God-with-us”. Benefits of creative worship include a picture to explain a point visually, reading the words of the songs from a projector instead of a hymnal, or using images to match the feeling of a song or scripture. Contemporary worship music is beneficial in that fact that although it is all themed by its content (Christian beliefs and lyrics) it is represented by many different genres including rock, country, gospel, and hip-hop.
Although the number of baptisms has fallen in the past year, Baptist churches still represent the values and beliefs they had aimed to represent. By emphasizing the fact that God merciful, just, and easily accessible by the means of creative and contemporary worship, the Baptist community can still reach out and touch the lives of many more people.

Bibliography:

Atkinson, G. (2008, June 3). Where do sermons go?. Christian Century, pp. 10,11. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from Religion and Philosophy Collection database.
Bott, R. (2007, November). Creative Worship. Clergy Journal, pp. 8,10. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.
Exline, J. (2008, Summer2008). Beliefs about God and Forgiveness in a Baptist Church Sample. (cover story). Journal of Psychology & Christianity, 27(2), 131-139. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from Religion and Philosophy Collection database.
Price, D. (2007, December 22). Compilation 'WOWs' Christian Music Fans. Billboard, 119(51), 74-74. Retrieved September 24, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.
SBC reports baptism rate lowest in decade. (2008, June 3). Christian Century, Retrieved September 24, 2008, from Religion and Philosophy Collection database.