I. INTRODUCTION
From the beginning, human beings were created social beings with the inclination to adapt to the environment they find themselves. But nature has so made it that every social group, be it religious or secular has got its distinctions. These distinctions have to be protected or they are lost. Different Christian denominations have either come up with laid down policies guiding them or are in the process of doing so. The Nigerian Baptist Convention needs to come up with her own policies to guide our people in setting the pace. The Nigerian Baptist Convention has observed with dismay the abuse of some policies and practices by our members that have consequently impacted negatively on our Christian witness. The argument has always been that they do not know the position of the Convention on these issues. This has made it necessary for us to express our belief system in clear and unambiguous terms. Our hope is to capture in the most practical way how we as Baptists should express our faith within the context of our diverse cultural backgrounds that many times differ from the Christian standards in substance and applications. Ceremonies and cultural practices done by Baptists are expected to be modest in all ways. By modest we mean not being extravagant, not pretentious in appearance, manner, and conduct. The first edition of the booklet was published in 2005 when the Rev. Dr. C. A. Amadi was the Assistant General Secretary (Ministerial). Between 2005 and 2014 , many more decisions have been reached by the Ministerial Board of the Nigerian Baptist Convention which are in tandem with the policies and practices of the Baptist faith vis-à-vis the policies and practices of the Nigerian Baptist Convention. Such beliefs and practices have been added hereto as part of our practices. We want to reiterate here that modesty is our watchword. Every Baptist man or woman should know that when Christ and culture clash, Christ is given the upper hand. May the Holy Spirit lead us to know what is modest and practice same in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Gold O. Anie
Vice President (Ministerial)
Nigerian Baptist Convention,
(2007 – 2014).