William Thornton

It's a Southern Baptist cliche: "We are a convention of small churches." We are indeed. The median SBC church will have 70 souls in average weekly worship attendance  this coming Sunday which means that around 25,000 SBC churches have a pastor who looks out when he preaches at no more than a few dozen hearers. The pastor almost certainly is the only clergy staff member in the church although he may have a part time paid or volunteer music leader, student or children leader. This would be the place where there is a church of people who all know each other. This would be the place where … [Read more...] about The unsung heroes of the SBC: Single staff pastors

I suppose I'm known as a state convention critic, with good reason. All that is for another time. I can recall three times my state convention helped me and my church. Here they are. Volunteer mission trip. Way back when state conventions had formal partnerships with various countries around the world, through IMB and their personnel of course, my state had a partnership with Kenya. Trips were scheduled. State staff led trips. Those who could put together a team led trips, probably with their trip leader expenses paid. I was an average sized church pastor. Neither me nor my church had the … [Read more...] about Three times my state convention helped me greatly

Although I am retired and not serving as senior pastor of any church now, I was saddened to hear of a family leaving one of my former pastorates for another church nearby. Both the family and the current pastor (my successor in the position in my former church) are my friends. I have had casual conversations with both. It is a situation not precipitated by pastoral failure, divorce or crisis in the lay family, or any other particular cause other than it was felt that a change was needed. Happens. All. The. Time. Any senior pastor who has served any length of time has had that sad … [Read more...] about When your best members leave the church

...and concluding that my day may indeed be past. Clergy temp staffing agencies. The idea that the person who fills the pulpit or who leads worship of Almighty God, or who teaches students or other church staff can be interchangeable, that is, it doesn't really matter who the person is, is foreign to me. Filling the pulpit in the pastor's absence, interim ministry positions, temporary worship leaders all are a serious business. The church and/or pastor prays, talks, seeks, checks and arrives at a person who is called by God to the task needed, for the church needed. How do we legitimately … [Read more...] about Five current church practices that have me scratching my head…

Democratic turnout was on fire and it looks like both Republican candidates lost here in my home state. Baptist minister Warnock has a lead of over 50k votes. Jewish candidate Ossoff (dude is 33 years old) around 15k. My punditry is not so hot. I thought both Dems would lose. My post-election analysis is on target, though: Republicans blew these every which way and Trump's feuds hurt the two candidates. But, who knows what might happen? Easy to predict some finger pointing here. There aren't enough old white guys (like me) in this state. Demographics have changed. Republicans in this … [Read more...] about Are you ready for the Dem agenda?

...and more has been spent on the two Georgia U.S. Senate seats than is received for the SBC Cooperative Program (national allocation) and both major mission offerings combined. What I have to show for it is a stack of about 70 pieces for slick mail, all but a couple from Republican and Republican friendly PACS like the NRA, Realtors, Chamber, etc. etc. This stack goes to... ...my wood stove in the basement. William the Plodder will get some BTUs out of American white-hot politics, if nothing else. Call me a recycler and give me credit for further warming the earth. About 3 million … [Read more...] about Unique Georgia election today

SBC Voices published 265 articles in 2020, about one per weekday. We are a Southern Baptist site so SBC stuff dominates what appears here. COVID-19, politics, and CRT/I sucked almost all the air out of this place last year. While one hopes that the pandemic will recede and that in a non-election year discussions will focus on subjects more positive in our Grand Convention, I'm not at all optimistic that they will. Executive Committee leader, Ronnie Floyd, announced a grand vision statement early in 2020. It was swamped. Our IMB announced a plan to add 500 missionaries over the next few … [Read more...] about What shall we talk about in 2021?

Double Trouble for the IMB, Mark Terry. The former IMB missionary and seminary professor wrote of our IMB personnel being evacuated from many parts of the  world due to COVID-19. This and the financial impact of the virus made for the "double trouble." Fortunately, IMB was and is in a solid financial position. Reports for the latest Lottie Moon offering are encouraging. This was the top post by a considerable margin, mainly due to connections through social media. It was many times our usual daily figure. How the Conservative Baptist Network Took Control of the Executive Committee. Jared … [Read more...] about What you read most on Voices in 2020

These are not prioritized: Boy Scouts bankruptcy could leave churches liable in future sex abuse claims. This Baptist Press article from October advised SBC churches "who chartered or have ever hosted a Boy Scouts of America (BSA) troop should seek legal counsel now in case they are named in future sex abuse claims against the BSA, a Southern Baptist legal representative told Baptist Press." The gist of the article was that churches which hosted or did host a BSA troop might have legal exposure as a result of the BSA declaring bankruptcy. BSA has no assets victims can access, they may come … [Read more...] about Some under noticed SBC news stories from 2020