Encounters with labels

12/2/2025

‘We can create together new ways of speaking and acting. We must not remain forever bound by history.’ (Kenneth Gergen)

This was a new experience for me. A guided group retreat at a Benedictine monastery in the North of England last week. 3 days of reflections on people’s encounters with Jesus in the gospels, led by a deeply thoughtful and inspiring priest, interspersed with periodic times in a beautiful stone chapel for singing and prayer. I couldn’t sing to save my life, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard such heavenly-sounding voices and echoing harmonies as of those around me.

I’m used to silent retreats where I spend time alone in total solitude (or occasionally with other people) before God without speaking a word out loud, so this was and felt very different. At one point, a fellow visitor asked me, ‘Are you a Roman Catholic?’ I wasn’t sure how to answer this question. I don’t tend to think in such categories or to focus on denominational differences. I’m more interested in being and walking with others who are, quite simply, followers of Jesus.

So, thinking out loud, struggling clumsily for words, I replied: ‘I first encountered Jesus through Roman Catholic friends and later trained as a Baptist minister. I often find writings by Roman Catholic mystics helpful in my walk with God. I guess that makes me a Roman Baptist, or a Baptist Catholic?’ ‘What does that mean?’, she asked, looking bemused. ‘A blend of Baptist theology and Catholic spirituality.’ ‘Does that even exist?’ she asked, puzzled. ‘It does now.’

When have you found yourself grappling with labels? How have you found ways to navigate through them?

10 Comments

Dr Jonathan Pritchard

12/2/2025 04:18:40 pm

Hello Nick. Labels, whether theological, political or cultural, are fascinating constructs. They help us define our identities, yet they often fail to capture the nuance of lived experience. Your "Roman Baptist" quip is an amusing example of how categories fail us. Denominational boundaries, though historically significant, are becoming increasingly porous in an era of ecumenical exchange.

Your experience at the Benedictine monastery highlights a broader sociological trend: the blending of spiritual practices across historical divides. It’s reminiscent of what Alister McGrath terms "mere Christianity", a focus on the core of faith rather than the walls that separate traditions. But I must ask, how much of this integration is genuine and how much is romanticized? Mysticism and Baptist theology are not just different; they arise from fundamentally distinct epistemologies.

If we are to create "new ways of speaking and acting," as Gergen suggests, we must be aware of the tensions inherent in such synthesis. Do we risk erasing important theological distinctions in favour of a more palatable spirituality? Or is this, indeed, the future of faith communities in a post-denominational world?

Nick Wright

13/2/2025 10:43:33 am

Hi Jonathan and thank you for posing such interesting and important reflections and questions. (As I was reading your comments, I thought to myself, 'I wish we had this person on faculty when I was in theological school'!). I agree that there can be a gap or tension between labels - which simplify reality, often in reductionist ways - and the nuances of lived experience.

I had the privilege of studying theology in a multidenominational college. The mix of beliefs and experiences was in many ways interesting, eye-opening and enriching. At the same time, I often felt bored and frustrated if these discussions shifted from curiosity to debate - as if we had shifted from spirituality to academic argument. As a close friend who has a nun at the time said to me, 'The only way to study theology is on our knees' - implying humility and openness, whilst also taking, as far as we can, an authentic stance before God, based on our current convictions.

I recognise that's easier said than done and that there's a risk of falling into synchretism, ignoring the dimensions of belief that don't fit neatly within our own subjective worldview or preferences, or viewing belief as if from a consumer perspective - taking what we like and leaving the rest. For me, it's less about trying to synthesise beliefs and more about holding genuine differences in creative tension, and trying to do that in a prayerful spirit. I hope that makes sense!

Brother Elias

12/2/2025 04:21:10 pm

Interesting post, Nick. What is a name? A label? A boundary? A tether to the past? Or is it a door, a threshold through which we step into the unknown?

You sat in that stone chapel and the voices rose like incense, wrapping you in something older than memory. You spoke words that did not quite fit, that spilled over the edges of theology and tradition. You named yourself into being: a Roman Baptist, a Baptist Catholic. And in the speaking, you created something new.

This is the way of the Spirit. He moves like wind, filling the spaces between our words, dissolving the lines we draw in the sand. If we would only let go of our need to define, to categorize, to fit - perhaps we would simply be.

God is not confined to our names for Him or each other. Neither are you.

13/2/2025 10:45:13 am

Wow, Brother Elias. I love how you expressed that. So deep and so inspiring. Thank you.

Mike Dawson

12/2/2025 04:28:00 pm

Nick. "Roman Baptist"? That’s a new one. Next, we’ll have "Presby-Lutheran" or "Pentecostal Quaker." Why stop there? Let’s throw in some Zen Buddhism and call it "Bapto-Catho-Zen"! I get it. People want spirituality without the baggage. But isn’t this just another way of avoiding the tougher questions? You enjoyed the chanting, the peace, the "heavenly harmonies." But those walls have also housed centuries of dogma, repression and power struggles. Religion isn’t just an aesthetic experience; it’s an institution with consequences. If labels are so troublesome, why cling to them at all? Why not simply be "a person" rather than "a follower of Jesus" with add-ons? The moment you say you’re anything at all, you’re bound by history, whether you like it or not.

13/2/2025 11:10:16 am

Hi Mike. 'Bapto-Catho-Zen' certainly has a ring to it! You made me smile. :)

On a serious note, though, Kenneth Gergen would agree with you, I think, when you say, 'The moment you say you’re anything at all, you’re bound by history, whether you like it or not.' - in that, identities and associations with them are socially (and thereby, to some meaningful degree, historically) constructed.

I agree that 'Religion isn’t just an aesthetic experience; it’s an institution with consequences.' The church has been a source of great light in history and a source, at times, of great darkness. As part of the Christian community, I share responsibility for both and see both in myself too. I hope my life adds more to the light in this world than to the darkness...

...but sometimes I'm not sure.

Sarah-Joy Matthews

12/2/2025 04:29:25 pm

Hey Nick. This blog really resonated with me! Isn’t it incredible how God leads us into new spaces and new understandings of who He is? I love that you’re willing to step outside the walls of one tradition and embrace the fullness of Christ across denominations. That’s exactly what Jesus prayed for in John 17, that we would be one, just as He and the Father are one!

I’ve struggled with labels too. Raised in a Pentecostal church, I later found myself deeply moved by Anglican liturgy. The rhythms of prayer, the depth of tradition, it spoke to a hunger in my soul. But at the same time, I could never let go of the fire of the Holy Spirit and the call to evangelism. So where do I fit? Maybe nowhere. Maybe everywhere. Maybe just at the feet of Jesus.

Let’s keep walking together across traditions and lifting up His name. The world doesn’t need more denominational debates; it needs people who will be the hands and feet of Christ.

13/2/2025 11:12:44 am

Hi Sarah-Joy and thank you for such an encouraging and personal response. 'So where do I fit? Maybe nowhere. Maybe everywhere. Maybe just at the feet of Jesus.' I love that.

Reverend Thomas L. Whitmore

12/2/2025 04:39:39 pm

Ah, the timeless struggle: what to call oneself in an ecclesiastical world obsessed with labels. I must say, 'Roman Baptist' is one I haven’t encountered before. It has a certain charm, rather like a theological cocktail, blending strong Baptist convictions with the lingering aftertaste of incense and Latin chant.

Your experience at the monastery sounds positively delightful. Benedictine hospitality is, after all, legendary. And I quite sympathize with your hesitation over denominational categories. The Church of England has long served as a home for those of us who like to keep our theological options open: Catholic, yet Reformed; liturgical, yet Protestant; traditional, yet accommodating of modern sensibilities (well, on a good day).

Ultimately, I suspect we all wrestle with this question: what does it mean to belong? If faith is, at its core, a journey toward God, perhaps we should worry less about the signposts and more about the road itself.

In any case, welcome to the club of ecclesiastical misfits. You’ll find the tea is excellent.

13/2/2025 11:19:44 am

Hi Thomas. Thank you for such a wise and humble response - with such great use of language and a sense of humour too!

'Blending strong Baptist convictions with the lingering aftertaste of incense and Latin chant.' That made me smile - and yet so true. I genuinely found the symbolism and fragrance of the incense and the mysterious sound of Latin chant moving and inspiring. I liked the action-symbolism of the priests kneeling before the cross too. It felt deeply meaningful and important.

'Perhaps we should worry less about the signposts and more about the road itself.' Beautifully put. 'Welcome to the club of ecclesiastical misfits. You’ll find the tea is excellent.' That made me laugh and made my day! :)