William Thornton

I don’t think that any member of any church I ever pastored knew what the Executive Committee of the SBC was. The exception to that might have been the guy who pastored SBC churches for some years who paid much closer attention to all the SBC inside baseball talk. Aside from him, the EC might […]

I always had an interest in the people in my congregations who served in World War II. I can only recall a single person who was killed while serving and, thus, is one for whom we have this Memorial Day observance and holiday. Numerous relatives served in that war and many of these were wounded. […]

Just prior to each SBC annual meeting LifeWay releases the compiled statistics for the previous year just in time for anyone who was feeling pretty smug about how the sun never sets on the SBC to be jostled back to reality. Here’s the positive-spin Facts and Trends article title: GIVING INCREASES IN 2018 FOR SBC, BAPTISMS, […]

Some things to keep in mind about this study: The study is about “sexual misconduct” a broad category that includes sexual harrassment, abuse, etc. Surveys did not ask respondents if they were victims “of child sexual abuse or sex assault because of mandatory reporting requirements.” While the survey was of Protestant churchgoers, there are more […]

I can’t think of any topic that will dominate the SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham moreso than sex abuse. While the SBC is meeting in Birmingham, sex abuse victim advocates and victims will hold a rally. This is the ForSuchATimeAsThisRally. It will be held outside the convention center on Tuesday, June 11, from 5 to […]

Contributors here at SBC Voices have a couple of articles this week on the SBC and gender. These looked to me to be among the most irenic and amicable approaches possible to an issue that is important to the SBC. Elsewhere, teeth have been set on edge with more vicious and forceful discussions. Brent Hobbs, […]

STORE CLOSING! EVERYTHING ON SALE! EVERYTHING MUST GO! I hate the street-walking placard-bearers but they must work because even my LifeWay store uses some. When I first moved back to Georgia in 1997, the closest LifeWay was inside the Atlanta perimeter. If I wanted to visit the store I’d have to have a plan for […]

It’s less than a month to the convention in Birmingham. Southern Baptists will show up by the thousands and mix and mingle with all the construction crews tearing up downtown. One hopes that there is no reverend road rage. These guys are just working stiffs, doing their job. Here’s a list of SBC meetings for […]

A small church down the road from me had a tent revival (they called it a “crusade”) this week. I intended to go but, well, missed it. The church that hosted it is a very small SBC church. I think the tent evangelist was an independent Baptist. The tent is bright yellow and screams ‘Waffle […]

Savvy Southern Baptists, and that includes all who read, comment, or post here at Voices, know about Great Commission Giving, the new metric created by the Great Commission Resurgence group nine years ago. GCG is supposed to be giving by a church “to any Baptist association, state convention, and to the causes of the Southern […]

I think all major state conventions have a foundation that does estate planning, manages funds, makes church loans and offers investment options. The Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma would be happy to have your money even if you are not in Oklahoma. They’ve even launched a new brand, WatersEdge Ministry Services to be more appealing to […]