"Where, Now, are you Going?"
November 1953 saw the launch of The Fellowship Baptist magazine. On the surface that might not sound like much of a “thing”, but it signalled new beginnings. It was now the official magazine of the newly formed Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada.
On the front cover of the first edition was a photo of Dr. W. Hal MacBain who was the first President of the Fellowship. Dr. MacBain had been instrumental in bringing the Union of Regular Baptist Churches of Ontario and Quebec and the Fellowship of Independent Baptist Churches of Canada together. It must have been with huge satisfaction and gratitude to God that he finally saw the merger come together.
Dr. MacBain would go on to fulfill many other important roles in the Fellowship, including becoming the first full-time director of what is today, Fellowship International.
But in this post, in celebration of the 70th Anniversary of the Fellowship, we reprise some of Dr. MacBain’s article on the future of the new Fellowship as published in the first edition of the magazine.
It was the obvious desire of the Convention that this new organization should not be a stagnant pool but rather a swift moving stream, blessing and refreshing all who may come in contact with it, and also, moving forward and making progress in our testimony for God in Canada. The question which is often asked, and certainly it is a legitimate one, is, “Where, now, are you going?” …
Where are we going? We are going along a great highway of historic New Testament truth, seeking to reach the people of Canada for Christ and teach them the riches of God’s Word…We reaffirm our determination to walk the old paths where Peter and Paul and our blessed Lord Jesus Christ walked. We believe in the complete authority and inspiration of the Scriptures; in a regenerated and separated membership in our churches; in baptism by immersion in water; in the Lord’s Supper as setting forth His death until He come; in the autonomy of church and state, and the great host of Baptist distinctives so dear to us all. We have not joined together to alter one jot or one tittle of these great New Testament truths, but rather to strengthen our voice in setting them forth…
Furthermore, it is our intention under God, to employ the New Testament policy of establishing churches in every city, town, or village, where the Spirit of God directs, to serve as Gospel lighthouses sending forth the light of salvation…At the time of this amalgamation we have close to 215 churches. We hope that before many years have passed we shall have 500. Canada is wide open to the Gospel and there are tremendous opportunities that are ripe at this very moment. What we need is men of real conviction and sacrifice who will be willing to bury themselves in some needy place until God by His Spirit brings forth the fragrant blossom of a true New Testament Church. This is the way that most of the churches which now make up the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptists came into being…
Our desire to see a true Biblical Baptist Church in every community of Canada is not born of any spirit of competition but an overwhelming urge to get the Gospel out to as many people as possible and establish the same in the faith…
In this, we believe, God will be glorified and we could make our most effective contribution to the spiritual needs of the people of Canada.
Amen and amen!