First Baptist Church of West Townsend, Massachusetts

February 19, 2012 (Sunday 8)
First Baptist Church of West Townsend
Rev. Kevin Patterson
461 Main Street
Townsend, MA 01474
978.597.2641

Church History: Originally constructed circa 1834, the First Baptist Church of West Townsend possesses a tower clock and bells that were cast in East Medway, Massachusetts (now Millis) by George Handel Holbrook, the son of Maj. George Holbrook. The tower clock and bells were installed at the time of construction.

Affiliation: Conservative Baptist Association of America (200,00 members)

Sunday’s Service: After a pair of services with denominations  (Quakers, Christian Scientists) that do not have a clergy, it was time to visit a more traditional service. This week I chose the First Baptist Church of West Townsend, in Townsend, Massachusetts. This church has two services each Sunday. The 9:30 service has a more modern flavor, featuring current worship music led by a band of musicians. I chose, quite by accident, to attend the 11:00 am service, which features more traditional hymns with piano accompaniment.

The service began with an invocation followed by a hymn. After that, it was time for a Children’s story, which in this case was a parable about a chameleon and a gecko. I’m not sure, but I think Rev. Patterson authored this story, which was very nicely done and was quite humorous in places. The lesson behind the parable was that as one knows and understands more about another, their love for that person can grow deeper. The deeper meaning here, of course, is that as we know Jesus better, our love for him deepens in meaningful ways.

After the children’s story, announcements were read, then the offering, which was followed by the doxology and another hymn.

The scriptural reading was Mark 9:2-9, which covers the transfiguration, when Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus up a mountain, and Jesus was transfigured; his clothing becoming a white beyond earthly white and he was accompanied by the appearance of Moses and Elijah, and God’s voice pronounced that “This is my Son, the beloved, listen to him.”

Rev. Patterson followed the reading with his sermon, “The Transfiguration”, which nicely illuminated and expanded on the brief passage from Mark. He pointed out that the event had such a great impact on Peter that many years later Peter wrote about it in his second letter (2 Peter 1:16-18).

At this point the sermon moved to a somewhat related subject, returning to the meaning behind the parable in the Children’s Story that was read earlier. Rev. Patterson spoke about the disparity between the person who knows the basic “roadmap” facts of Christianity, which promises life everlasting (that Jesus is the Son of God, died for our sins, was resurrected after three days, and will someday return); and the person who strives to know all he can regarding the life, ministry, and theology of Christ. He brought the sermon to a close by noting that, for example, children need more than rote memorization of scripture to have spiritual fulfillment as a Christian; they also need to live a Christ-inspired life.

Following the sermon another Hymn was sung. Next Rev. Patterson gave the benediction, and the service was over.

My Thoughts: When I attend a service at a Church representing a conservative view of Christianity, I do so with a bit of trepidation. For example, I do not view the Bible as the inerrant word of God–I cannot, as I don’t believe in the existence of the God of Abraham (or any other God). When biblical inerrancy is extended (as it is by some Christian denominations) to also require literal adherence to the Old Testament chronology of creation, I am left even further afield, as in Judaism there had never been a belief in the literal word of the Hebrew Bible.

All of that aside, I very much enjoyed this Sunday’s service. The sermon was accessible, gentle in spirit, well written and well delivered. As I’ve often written before, it never fails to surprise me when someone can take a very brief biblical passage (134 words in my NRSV translation) and do such a great job of pulling out meaning and relevance that, on first reading, sails right over my head. Rev. Patterson’s reference to 2nd Peter (mentioned previously) and also the Gospel of John worked well to support the theme of his sermon. Even the hymns were particularly well chosen to echo the sermon’s subject matter.

On the one hand, this denomination’s restrictive views towards marriage, its evangelical nature, and its relatively literal understanding of both old and new testament texts is frankly off-putting to a secularist like me, who believes it is our nation’s secular founding and nature, and the tradition of religious freedom that our founding fathers absorbed from the Age of Enlightenment, that has proved to be the fertile ground that has permitted so many religions to grow and flourish in this country.

On the other hand, as has been so often the case, the members of this Church were open and welcoming to me, curious about my presence, and interested in my project. I enjoyed speaking with Rev. Patterson, brief though it was, and as I said, I enjoyed his sermon very much. Perhaps someday we can engage in a longer conversation.

Thus far, the one almost universal similarity I’ve observed during these past two months is the genuine strong feeling of community that exists among each group of parishoners I have visited.