Mark Terry

We often declare that all Southern Baptist churches strive to be true New Testament churches. I don’t disagree with that aspiration, but I wonder if we give sufficient thought to what that means. It seems to me that we often idealize the New Testament church. That is, when we speak of the “New Testament Church,” […]

Last week I posted an essay on Baptist church autonomy. As I did the research for that essay, I found some interesting material in Howard Forshee’s Broadman Church Manual. This manual is quite helpful, and I’ve given copies to several new pastors. In his book Forshee quotes from Lee McCoy’s book, Understanding Baptist Polity, sharing […]

In the past months, writers and commenters here at Voices have used the word autonomy often. The word basically means “self-ruled.” For example, some nations have regions that are semi-autonomous, meaning the region has a measure of independence. What does this word mean in the context of the Southern Baptist Convention and its churches? To […]

In recent weeks we’ve commented extensively on the need to revoke the ordination of pastors who have been convicted of child/sexual abuse. I’m confident our Voices writers and readers agree on that. We have not discussed how that can be done. That thought prompted me to do some research on revoking ordination. I checked the […]

I appreciate that Tony Jones has shared lots of missionary prayer requests with us. As an emeritus IMB missionary (Latin for “has been”), let me share some suggestions about how to pray for missionaries. Missionary prayer requests are not new; in fact, they go back to the Apostle Paul. Here is his: Continue steadfastly in […]

About twenty years ago, Dr. Ed Stetzer and I worked on a church plant on the east side of Louisville, Kentucky. As the planning progressed, Ed asked me what we should name the church. I suggested Eastside Baptist Tabernacle. He rejected that immediately, and I believe he settled on River Oaks Community Church. The church […]

Last month my dear wife and I went on a cruise to Alaska with Dr. David Jeremiah. He preached great sermons, and the music was wonderful. The natural beauty of Alaska prompted us to praise the Creator and admire His handiwork. During one of his sermons, David Jeremiah said something that gave me pause: “At […]

I believe all of us who serve in ministry feel inadequate from time to time. I surely do. Sometimes I reflect on the Apostle Paul’s statement in 2 Corinthians 2:16b—“And who is sufficient for these things?” Clearly, Paul felt a sense of inadequacy in regard to the responsibilities he bore. We would all join Paul […]

I’m sure some readers will assume that I’m trying to launch a feminist campaign. I intend nothing of the sort. I fully affirm the Baptist Statement of Faith and Message article that specifies that the office of pastor is for males only. Still, I find the question of deaconesses (female deacons) an interesting exegetical question. […]

Over the years I’ve served one church as pastor and ten churches as interim pastor. Besides that, I’ve served as a supply preacher or missionary speaker at countless churches. At many churches after the service, the preacher stands at the main exit and speaks to the folks as they leave. Many feel compelled to say […]