Last night my heart was grieved yet again as I read (yet again) another essay from an older SBC statesman lamenting that things “ain’t what they used to be.” With more straw men and mischaracterizations and a healthy dose of fear mongering, I was grieved not because of how the Convention is portrayed or how its trajectory […]
What is Worship? Marrying Corporate and Individual Worship (Eric Reeves)
In every aspect of our corporate worship, music has become synonymous with worship. At our Baptist colleges and seminaries, getting a worship degree means being a music major and not a theology major. I will not attempt to explore why we have conflated music and worship. Instead, I would like to explore what worship actually […]
Sacrificing at the Altar of Love One Another (Melissa Edgington)
Jesus was no people pleaser. He wasn’t predictable or palatable or pandering or polite. Yet, He consistently and completely carried out His mission to bring ultimate glory to His Father. Sometimes He did that through speaking. Sometimes by remaining quiet. Sometimes He delivered harsh truths to people. Yes, He taught people their worth. But, He also taught […]
SBC & Politics: Why I Made a Motion to Exclude Politicians from the Annual Meeting (Dr. Marshal L. Ausberry, Sr.)
At the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention, I made a motion that beginning in 2019 the SBC would refrain from allowing elected officials to speak at the Convention. The exception was for the host Mayor or appropriate official to give a welcome greeting and to receive thanks from the Convention for hosting the Convention. The reason […]
Understanding Diversity and Its Denominational Implications: Unmasking Marginalization as Southern Baptists (Vinh T. Nguyen)
Many memories have been etched into my mind in both the years I’ve spent as a minister and an academic, but one memory stands out in particular. I had just finished my third semester as a bible student at Ouachita Baptist University and was visiting the church I grew up in where my father-in-law was […]
The Mountain and the Mundane (Ann Hibbard)
Those who have been Christians for any length of time have probably heard the term “mountaintop experience.” Scripturally, we usually think back to the experience of Peter, James, and John during the Transfiguration. We talk about our modern-day comparisons: intense spiritual encounters that tend to come through wonderful conference experiences, peaceful private retreats, or even […]
Life, Liberty, and Happiness (Jimmy Meek)
As I observe, and reflect on all the 4th of July posts, it seems the “go to” quote is that our Creator guarantees Americans life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I suppose our constitutional framers may have been trying to guarantee this, but unless we get away from the commonly accepted definitions of these […]
What Women Really Want (Melissa Edgington)
In “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” Chaucer creates a king who, as punishment for an evil deed, is sent on a quest to find out what it is that women really want. He travels the entire land, asking women everywhere, and much to his discouragement, every answer is different. He is beginning to believe he […]
Locked Compartments (Ann Hibbard)
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ann, and I am a compartmentalized woman. I have a variety of titles, jobs, responsibilities, all of which I often need to keep individualized and separate. Even if some of my responsibilities overlap, typically each job must hold its own space on the schedule. The lines between […]
SBC Women: Where Do We Go from Here? (Kathy Litton)
Ironically, we find ourselves in the midst of two pivotal, transforming moments in the life of our denomination in regard to women. The first is the significant centennial anniversary of the SBC Constitution being amended in 1918 by the necessary two-thirds majority to seat the first ever female messengers at the annual meeting. This event occurred two years […]
#SBC18 Annual Meeting Recap (Karen Swallow Prior)
Last week’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention garnered more attention than others in recent memory. Controversies mounting over recent weeks and months for Southern Baptists and evangelicals—from presidential politics to #ChurchToo—led to intense media coverage in the days leading up to and surrounding the meeting. Countless news outlets reported on the issues that […]
SBC Women: Next Steps (Melissa Edgington)
I am a Southern Baptist woman. As a baby I toddled up and down the aisle of my parents’ little SBC church in central Texas, squealing with laughter as one church member after another held my chubby hands to steady me. I grew up there. I knew all of the best hide and seek spots […]