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Yes you do want to stir things up again, so don't fib :)

The local church body typically will have some sort of constitution/statement of faith. Rarely does this include a secondary set of doctrines like Calvinism. Others will just go with the Baptist Faith and Message which was put out by the Southern Baptist Convention. It isn't a binding creed or anything like that, but a very basic statement about the essentials of the faith and some non-essentials. I don't recall it getting into Calvinism that much either.

I have taught Calvistic doctrines in my Sunday School class, and am able to do so in a way that those who disagree can still remain very good friends (though when I was done, I'm not sure that anyone really disagreed with the doctrines). When I was at Seminary, there were frequently secondary issues that we disagreed on with one another. IT was one of the BEST aspects of Seminary. We could sit down and discuss issues that we disagreed with, see what biblical foundation we had for our doctrines and still remain the best of friends. Sometimes we might even say "hey, that has some merit!"

You see, D-fendr, the Body of Christ is NOT all about everyone being robotic and believing exactly the same thing about everything. About the essentials of who God is and what salvation is all about ,there should be unity for sure. But there are many parts of Scripture that are a little vague in their wording and people can go away from it with different opinions. For example, whether or not you believe Peter was the Rock or not to me, a Protestant, is a secondary issue that I care far less about than whether you know Christ as your Savior.

The Bible talks about Iron sharpening Iron. That's what happens when we debate some of these lesser issues and even some of the greater ones. It is like the strong meat of Scripture that isn't for babes who still need the milk of the word but is meat to chew on to help us to grow strong.

So, I know that was a long answer but there are different types of Baptists too. I'm not sure how the American Baptist work in their churches. I know that the Southern split from the American Baptist not over a doctrinal issue but over slavery. Today, the American Baptist denomination is more liberal than Southern (particular with the exit of folks like Carter and Clinton).

Typically our pastors are seminary educated, though it is not required; but typically, they are. And typically, they are congregational in church government. My Pastor was well aware of what I was teaching and was fine with it. I had some borderline Arminians in my class as well but part of that was because they had been exposed to some extreme Hypercalvinists which I believe is a perversion of the doctrines.