Buried among the Baptist Press headlines last night, was a hint of trouble on the horizon for the Southern Baptist Convention.
No, it wasn’t some blogger mocking a famous preacher. No, it wasn’t a scuffle over missions policy or female preachers. The trouble was much closer to the heart of the SBC.
Cooperative Program receipts for the year were down .65 percent and combined giving for the year was down .87 percent . . . This is the first time in 15 years that both Cooperative Program and combined giving have not surpassed the previous year.
You can read more on Baptist Press, but I want to start a conversation about why this is happening and how the SBC will respond.
Why Is The Cooperative Program Down?
The drop 15 years ago is widely attributed to the loss of money from more moderate congregations. This year’s soft giving is attributed to the economy. That should be a no-brainer, and I think everyone can agree with Dr. Morris Chapman’s statements:
“I think it reflects the impact of the recent economic crunch that has hurt so many American families. But it is remarkable that, given the severe economic strain the country has experienced, gifts to national efforts through the Cooperative Program still topped the $200-million mark for the third year in a row and overall giving to national causes surpassed the $400-million benchmark for a second straight year.”
But is there something more organic happening here than just the economy? Here are some other factors that we should not miss.
- What about the harsh demographic trends and the graying of the SBC?
- What about the cultural move away from Southern Baptist style religion?
- What about all those shrinking churches that Dr. Frank Page said will close their doors by 2030?
- What about churches doing missions outside the Cooperative Program?
You can sort these issues out in the comment section, but I think there is a convergence of threats that will put the CP on the defensive for many years to come. The economy is certainly a factor, but there may be more mischief at work.
How Will The Executive Committee Respond
I appreciate the mild wording of this initial news release. This is a small drop, and possibly much better than denomination insiders were expecting. However, as the factors listed above continue to pressure the program, you should expect a more forceful response. Here are some steps I expect we’ll be seeing over the next few years:
- A new push for loyalty to the Cooperative Program
- Renewed calls for state conventions to pass on a higher percentage of their CP receipts
- More urgency surrounding our special offerings (i.e. Lottie & Annie)
- More aggressive fund raising by all denominational entities, especially Seminaries
- We will be forced to admit the diminished ability of the IMB to advance the Gospel due to funding constraints
What Do You Think?
Obviously, this is a conversation that is just getting started. But I would like to hear your feedback. Leave a comment below to join the conversation.
What Other SBC Voices Are Saying
Well its that time of year again when the Southern Baptist Convention (or more specifically one of its agencies) has made it into the national news. Now you may be saying to yourself; surely its for the phenomenal disaster relief efforts by the SBC in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. No. Perhaps the equally impressive relief efforts of the destruction caused by Hurricane Ike. No. Perhaps our continued work in highlighting abuses of Religious Freedom in China and other dark areas of the world. No.
This time our denomination has hit the national press because of a magazine cover. Here is the story. I want to focus particularly on the comments of Roland S. Martin in his editorial at CNN.com. Here is the article. The short version of the story is that this months issue of Gospel Today magazine has a feature cover on the most influential female pastors in America. Because of this, Lifeway has decided to pull the magazine from the shelves and place them behind the counter. The magazine adminsitration got wind of the decision and felt obliged to inform the national media.
Here are a few highlights from Mr. Martin’s commentary (bold print mine):
But what is a greater issue is that Lifeway clearly has no respect for freedom of the press. Here is arguably the top Christian bookstore in the country making a decision based on their teachings and applying it to a magazine. A spokesman for Lifeway Resources, which runs the stores, was quoted in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last week as saying of female pastors, “It is contrary to what we believe.”
Let me make something clear for those of you (like it seems the author of the commentary) who fell asleep during their 10th grade civics class. Freedom of the press does not imply that everything that is printed must be available everywhere. Freedom of the Press is a restriction on the government, not on private businesses. While Mr. Martin seems to ridicule the reasoning, anyone that has bothered to read the Bill of Rights knows that Lifeway’s reason is a perfectly valid reason not to sell the magazines.
So does Lifeway and, by extension, the Southern Baptist Convention, fight vigorously for freedom of religion, but it doesn’t give a hoot about the other freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution?
Again, here is the central problem with Mr. Martin’s (and other editorials and blogs I have read) argument and where it falls flat. The Bill of Rights puts limits on the federal government. If a local, state, or federal government agency banned the magazine because “It is contrary to what we believe” then there would be a violation of the US Constitution.
This is the kind of nonsense that drives more people away from religion. I suppose it’s fitting that this story would come out the same time as Bill Maher releases his religious documentary, “Religulous,” which skewers all the major religions for their dogma. I’m sure he feasted on positions of the Southern Baptist Convention.
This is really where I get grumpy. Making a decision based upon our Biblical conventions is not what drives people away from church. Its sin. And last time I checked we should not base our beliefs and actions on what Bill Maher may make fun of in a movie.
This is where common sense and the free markets can encourage freedom. Lifeway has the freedom to sell and not sell what they wish. This particular decision was based on the Biblical values of the organization. If the customer does not agree with the decision of Lifeway, then don’t shop at Lifeway. Buy the magazine from Wal-Mart. The freedom of Lifeway to sell what they wish is part of their broader freedom to be able to sell Bibles, Systematic Theologies, and books on gender roles in ministry. The freedom of a consumer to have choice in where they buy things allows them the freedom to buy the above mentioned materials without great cost or persecution.
Lifeway made the right decision. Lifeway has the freedom to make the decision. Gospel Today magazine is wrong in their interpretation of gender roles in ministry. Gospel Today has the freedom to print what they wish. You have the freedom to buy the magazine or not buy the magazine. This is how Free Speech, Freedom of Religion, and Free Markets are linked and can not function properly without one another.
Peace be with you,
Joe Garner III from uberconservative.wordpress.com/
At the end of each post on SBC Voices, we suggest related posts from other Southern Baptist websites and blogs. These will often include contrary points of view and should not be understood as endorsements.
What Other SBC Voices Are Saying
Not many would disagree in saying that the SBC is quite diverse. We are diverse in every area of church life. We are diverse in our style of worship; fundamentalist, traditional, contemporary, blended, modern, and this list could go on forever… With 16 million Baptists on record we have 160 million ways of doing things. I do not want to spend much time talking about diversity in our style of worship, but more importantly our diversity in our philosophies of ministry.
One would have to be ignorant not to see all of the diverse opinions within the SBC. We are all trying to figure out what the best way to ‘make disciples’ is. Not only from the way we approach the music in our church, but more importantly the way we approach the people in our church and in our community…aka our philosophy of ministry.
Let me give you a little background of myself. I was raised Catholic, very catholic, pre-Vatican II catholic, my grandparents have stopped speaking to me catholic. I think you get the point. My parents divorced and my mother, two brothers, and I decided to try the ‘Big Baptist Church’ down the street. Four months later God saved my soul in this church. He saved me, grew me, and called me into the ministry in this church. This is a seeker-sensitive church. Everything this church did was because either Saddleback or Willow Creek was doing it. God used this church greatly in my life. It is because of God’s work in my life that I am more sympathetic to the seeker-sensitive movement than most.
The seeker sensitive movement is only one face of the SBC. We have many faces. We have seeker-sensitive churches, house churches, traditional churches, fundamentalist churches, emerging churches, blended churches, and everything else that can be thought of. The question is this: is this diversity healthy? Does all of this diversity help the SBC or is it destructive?
I once heard a Christian say that, ‘we would be better off if we just kicked out churches like Saddleback.’ Is this true? Would the SBC be better off if we kicked out every church that a certain group of people believed practiced an unbiblical philosophy of ministry? There is definitely a hint of arrogance in this type of attitude. First and foremost, we ought to approach this topic with humility and grace.
I cannot bring myself to believe that the SBC would be better off without the diversity that we have. God used a seeker-sensitive church to save me, some of you, and many more. He has used very traditional churches to save others, modern churches, emerging churches, etc… In our humility, we ought to thank God for using churches that aren’t perfect, like yours and mine. This does not mean that we should condone and approve of all philosophies of ministry. I do not believe that the seeker-sensitive movement has a biblical philosophy of ministry and yet God saved me through it. We do need to have courage in standing and preaching what we believe the Bible says about ministry! But, let us also remember this, everything that any church does needs to be covered by the blood of Jesus because nothing any church does is perfect and pure.
I am not saying that this is a topic that we should all just turn our heads away from the ‘other guys.’ We ought to have healthy dialogue. Do we not all want to be as biblical as we can as we fulfill the Great Commission? Of course we do, so lets talk about what that looks like. Let’s open the Word and see what Scripture says! Let’s stand and be strong in our biblical convictions; while at the same time being humble and gracious to those who do not agree. As I said before, I do not at all believe in the philosophy of ministry that the ’seeker-sensitive’ movement holds. Yet, I am very grateful for the work that God does through them.
Rather than be decisive and harsh, we ought to celebrate our diversity as we all try to ‘make disciple of all nations.’ I thank God for the diversity in the SBC. He is using us, in all of our broken ways, to make His name great!
At the end of each post on SBC Voices, we suggest related posts from other Southern Baptist websites and blogs. These will often include contrary points of view and should not be understood as endorsements.
What Other SBC Voices Are Saying
On Monday 9 September 2008, I’m going to release the writers of SBC Voices upon the world. That sounds a little more dramatic than it should, but I am really excited about where this website is going.
You’ve all known about our listing of SBC blogs. This has been and will continue to be the heart of this website. But I think it’s time to expand into more on site conversation too. The net result should be more interation across the entire SBC blogosphere. Here is what you can expect.
1. Sending Traffic
The best way to grow a blog is to send people elsewhere. It’s ironic but true. The DNA of social media is collaborative, I want our site (and all SBC bloggers) to embrace it.
2. Creating Conversations
The most powerful feature any blog is the feedback loop. The more commentators challenge and contribute to the blog the better it becomes. I’ve built this philosophy into the new design and expect comment counts to grow as we move forward.
3. Higher Standards
As the blogs editor, I’ll delete and/or edit stupid comments. I’m also working with our writers to improve every post before it goes public.
4. Openess To Different Views
This site is independent of bias by being squarely biased in every direction at once. In our aggregator, blog content and comment streams, I want to include as many points of view as possible. Free thinking and even debate is asset of our Baptist traditions. I want to explore what it means to be a baptist blogger.
5. More Writers And More Content
Next week, we’ll aim for 5 posts each week. Of course my ideal would be several posts each day. I’m not sure when we’ll get there, but that’s the direction.
If you are a Southern Baptist, maintain a blog, and would like to get listed on SBC Voices - please do the following:
- Email Tony@SBCvoices.com your name, blog URL, state, and any other details.
- Consider linking SBC Voices using the banners below.
- Wait … most sites will be listed within 48 hours.
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If you’re interested in the direction of the SBC, then these downloads should be a priority. In my opinion, Dr. Akin and the SEBTS will be setting the direction of the convention more than any other group in the coming years.
Doug Baker, of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, interviewed the Between The Times writers for the Insight podcast. The interview is broken down into three parts. The audio (MP3) are:
Part I – The Recipients of the Great Commission; The Use of Means and a Great Commission Effort; The Great Commission – a Continuation, Commencement, or Culmination of God’s Biblical Narrative?; Missiological Challenges – Context Over Content?
Part II – A Pull-Back by Younger Southern Baptists?; Structural Skepticism of the SBC; Future Missionaries – From Where Will They Come?; Orality, Doctrine, and the Purity of the Gospel; The Camel Method; The Use of the Koran and Evangelism.
Part III – The Cooperative Program – In Jeopardy?; SBC Church Planting- Will It Be Changed?; SBC Church Planting – An Evaluation; 20,000 Churches by 2030?; Landmarkism and Its Influence; Baptocentrism
HT: Timmy Brister
I was browsing feeds and notice that all that sbcoutpost.com has now been redirected to www.sbcimpact.net
I didn’t hear the offical word that the site was going offline. Does anyone know the story?
SBC Voices is just under one year old, and up to this point we’ve posted very little content of our own. The emphasis was to create one site to listen to all the different voices in SBC life. To date, we have 394 feeds and news sources listed by state and other factors.
Moving forward I’ll be finding writers to create original posts here on SBC Voices. We’ll be joining the conversation started by so many other SBC bloggers. Here are the volunteers I’m need:
Help Wanted
Our content editor will be experienced with WordPress and control the flow of posts on the blog. This person will be fair-minded, even when dealing with the issues hotly debated in the convention. SBC Voices wants to include diverse perspectives in SBC life, so our editors will need to be somewhat neutral.
Our general contributors will submit 2 posts each month dealing with issues that interest Southern Baptists. They will write, edit and format their content direcly into WordPress and allow the editor to make small revisions and post when appropriate. Contributors don’t need to be nenutral, but they should write with charity when disagreeing.
Our baptist buzz editor will write a weekly roundup linking to other SBC blogs and highlgihting their best content.
Why You Will Want To Help
- Open information and dialog is good for the SBC.
- This site already has steady traffic and will grow rapidly once the blog is consistant.
- I’m updating the design over the month to make it even more user friendly.
- If you’re an aspiring blogger or writer, then regular exposure on SBC Voices will be good for you.
If you are interested, email TonyKummer@gmail.com
- explain what role you’re interested in
- why you’re qualified
- if you already blog, what is your URL
- a phone number where I can call you
Because our SBC blogs are tagged by state, you can follow bloggers from the areas affected by Hurricane Gustav. Here are the states to watch.
I’m writing this morning to ask for your help.
I’ve been building a new website called Sunday School Wiki. The vision behind this project is simple: empower Sunday School teachers to create a world-class 100% free Bible teaching curriculum
“Wiki” refers to a any website where readers can edit pages. This is a powerful tool for collaboration over the web. Imagine bringing hundreds of passionate Bible teachers together to create free ministry resources. Sunday School Wiki allows teachers to work together like never before.
Here are 3 ways you can make a difference:
- Pray that God will bless this project and call out many volunteers
- Donate your original lesson plans, email TonyKummer@gmail.com and attach them as Word documents (please specify if you want your name attached to the lesson plans)
- Become a volunteer editor (more info on the website)
- Link the new site from your blog
Thanks in advance for your encouragement. You can find the new site here
http://sundayschoolwiki.com/
Your Servant In Christ,
Tony Kummer
