A few hours ago, Baptist Press reported that the Resolutions Committee for #SBC19 has been named by SBC President, J.D. Greear. Last week it was reported that the chair of that committee would be Curtis Woods of Kentucky. Now, the rest of the committee has been named.
It will not go unnoticed that this resolutions committee is one of the most diverse committees we’ve seen and includes members from a wide spectrum of SBC life. It also should not go unnoticed that the people selected for this committee are of the highest caliber and are well qualified for the task. President Greear has chosen a “blue ribbon” team that will do excellent work in crafting statements for the messengers to approve that speak prophetically to the issues of the day.
These are the kind of committee appointments that we’ve been calling for at SBC Voices and which I believe the Convention messengers want to see. Greear has been very deliberate in his appointments to include persons of color. Further, the caliber of this list of names should help to destroy the myth that being intentional about including minorities in leadership somehow means choosing something less than the best people for the job. I believe Greear has done an outstanding job in moving us closer to a denomination where all of its members are not only welcome, but valued for what they can bring to the leadership table. I look forward to meeting in Birmingham to see the results of the work of this committee.
I pray that the Trustees of our entities will prayerfully consider following Dr. Greear’s lead and be purposeful and intentional about seeking and considering minority candidates in their selection processes. I hope and pray that those trustees who have been given the responsibility of selecting our next leaders will see the extreme value and importance of sharing the leadership of our great Convention in all its diversity and demonstrating to the world how to live as one people of God.
You can read the full Baptist Press story at http://www.bpnews.net/52308/committee-on-resolutions-named-for-2019-sbc
The full list of committee appointments is as follows:
- Curtis Woods, Chairman, co-interim executive director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and a member of Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, Ky
- Tremayne Manson, associate pastor for community development and outreach, The Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
- Adron Robinson, pastor, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Country Club Hills, Ill.
- Walter Strickland, associate vice president for diversity, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C.; member of Imago Dei Church, Raleigh, N.C.
- Angela Suh Um, founder and chief consultant, Boston Academic Consulting Group, Cambridge, Mass.; member of Antioch Baptist Church, Cambridge.
- Trevin Wax, Bible and reference publisher, B&H Academic Group, LifeWay Christian Resources, Nashville; teaching pastor, Third Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
- Jared Wellman, pastor Tate Springs Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas.
- Rick Wheeler, lead missional strategist, Jacksonville Baptist Association, Jacksonville, Fla.; member of Mandarin Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla.
- Keith Whitfield, vice chair; vice president for academic administration, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, N.C.; member of First Baptist Church, Youngsville, N.C.
- Alicia Wong, director of women’s program, Gateway Seminary, Ontario, Calif.; member of Rosena Church, San Bernardino, Calif.
Who on earth is that Wax fellow?
Having only one layperson seems to disenfranchise a significant portion of our Convention.
Roger that.
I am not sure what your definition of layperson is – only three of the members are pastors. There are several who are involved in academia and other denominational positions.
However, this committee will be dealing with theological and other issues brought up in resolutions and is traditionally constructed with pastors and theological-minded folks.
I’d be interested who you saw as the one layperson?
Angela Suh Um looks to be the only “layperson”. I don’t know what an academic consulting group does, but it sounds like a really smart person would run one of those. It looks like a qualified bunch of individuals to me.
I am just wondering at the definition of layperson
I think the classic definition of “layperson” has been “not-a-pastor,” and that we tend to agree that the definition should expand to “not-a-ministry-staff-person-at-a-church.”
But some would argue that denominational workers and seminary employees are part of the “clergy structure” of the SBC and should not count as laypeople either. Even though they aren’t really pastors…
There’s probably a discussion to be had about how that term, “layperson,” should be defined. Because functionally, I don’t think we see it as “not-ordained-as-a-pastor” anymore.
You’re probably right. I think the concept of being ordained clergy and being “in ministry” are merging in people’s minds and thus their vocabulary. Off the top of my head, I’m thinking there are two forces at work here.
1. People in positions at religious organizations using elevated language to describe their vocation.
2. People not understanding (or not accepting) the biblical status of Elder/Pastor/Bishop
I’m not employed by a religious organization so #1 one doesn’t apply to me, but I know my tendency to think of the pastor not as God’s ordained leader, but as an employee of MY church is real.
I’m more surprised about the heavy SEBTS bent. Two admins of the seminary, plus Wax who is a recent Ph.D. graduate, and staffer at Greear’s church which has many SEBTS students as members.
Alicia Wong was also at Southeastern prior to moving to Gateway.
It is good that there is some racial diversity.
However, I am concerned that there is way too much influence from Southeastern Seminary on this committee.
I would also prefer 50 percent or so lay representation on a committee like this.
It would have been nice to have some small church representation.