Photo by Martin Parr
By Cherilyn Crowe
Baptist Joint Committee Executive Director J. Brent Walker received an honorary doctorate from the John Leland Center for Theological Studies June 1, honoring his work as a minister and advocate.
Walker received the degree and delivered the graduation address during the commencement ceremony, advising students to “be kind, but tell the truth.”
“Kindness and truth-telling are essential to being a good citizen, a good Christian and a good Baptist minister,” Walker said to the second-largest graduating class in the school’s history.
Walker discussed some of the top myths about church and state during his address, including the misguided beliefs that God has been kicked out of public schools and that the United States is a Christian nation in any legal sense. He noted that, while many individuals and groups are not interested in reasoned discourse or civil conversation, “fidelity to the truth and a commitment to civility require that we refuse to join the rhetorical food fight.”
Being a truth-teller does not mean avoiding controversial issues, Walker told the graduates, but the wiser course would be to start the discussion in a forum “to allow the issues to be fully developed and parishioners the opportunity to speak their mind.”
The John Leland Center awarded Walker with an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree during the ceremony, recognizing his work as an ordained minister, counselor, advocate and executive leader. It specifically acknowledged his work defending Baptist doctrines and advising “both church and government of their respective obligations to one another.” Walker is both a member of the Supreme Court Bar and an ordained minister, and he has been a member of the Baptist Joint Committee staff since 1989.
Founded in 1998, the John Leland Center for Theological Studies is a broadly evangelical, pan-Baptist institution whose students and faculty have ties to a wide array of denominations and churches. It is named for John Leland, the colonial Virginia Baptist leader noted for his opposition to slavery, his defense of the gospel and his advocacy for the cause of religious liberty. At this year’s commencement, 320 students received degrees from the school.
From the July/August 2013 Report from the Capital. Click here for the next article.
