William Thornton

And I'm one of them. Hardheaded or stubborn might be the words used by my wonderful wife about her wonderful, retired SBC pastor husband. It was less than a month ago that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Things moved rapidly. Here are a few observations about the past month. Many of these are obvious to all. I have retained a keen grasp of the obvious. Look elsewhere for profundity and meta-analysis. An extended period of church where virtually (did you catch that?) no congregation meets in their dedicated worship building is something unanticipated by all. We … [Read more...] about Change comes hard for Southern Baptists but better come quickly

In the dark days of 1942 one of the United States Navy commanders in the Pacific was reported, twice, to have exclaimed, "My God! What are we going to do about this?" in response to critical communications about the war situation in his command area. Such didn't inspire confidence in his ability to lead and the admiral was soon sacked. This article isn't about national leadership during our current COVID-19 crisis. It is about pastoral leadership and public communications from some segments of Christendom active on social media. There is not a whole lot that the pastor can do other than … [Read more...] about “My God! What are we going to do about this?”

I'm not the best person here to explain or opine on this, since I'm not an active pastor and don't have a payroll to meet. I know that many pastors are considering this. The Payroll Protection Act is a part of the CARES Act, the multi-trillion government response to the COVID-19 crisis. Here's how Baptist Press put it in regard to churches and non-profits: Nonprofits, including churches and other religious ministries, are eligible to receive funds covering up to 2.5 times their average monthly payroll, with a cap of $10 million per loan. Jonathan Whitehead, occasional commenter here and … [Read more...] about Government Paycheck Protection Plan for your church

Hearty credit to GuideStone for their fast action, research, and simple explanation of how the COVID-19 Pandemic Phase III Stimulus Package might affect you and your church or ministry. Great work also by Baptist Press (which carried GuideStone's Q&A Friday and a FB live event yesterday with Jonathan Howe asking questions of  GuideStone Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Harold Loftin, Jr.     We all get checks or deposits, with an income cap. Churches are eligible to obtain small business loans for "payroll protection." Church staff under many … [Read more...] about The government bailout of your church…possibly…but hopefully you won’t need it.

Social distancing? Hey, I got this. I was born for this, brethren and sistren ("Hey doc, back off a bit would you? You're in my space"). Six feet, you say. How about sixty? I DNA tested at four percent Neanderthal. Is it necessary to point out that the socially obtuse Neanderthals died out. This requires some translation but maybe they didn't like each other's company. As a pastor, I spent  a considerable number of years working on likeability. Made some genuine progress, according to my wonderful wife. Although the qualifications for pastor/elder/overseer do not include "must be … [Read more...] about On releasing my inner misanthrope

Been a while since I've been to a drive-in theatre and I've never been to one in the daytime but we had drive-in worship this morning. It was novel. Pretty good. I commend my pastor and staff for setting up this addition to live streaming a sermon. The design of our building is such that several rows of parking spaces face the elevated front entrance to the church. We had music and preaching on an FM station. I don't know how this works. The fire marshall was present to be sure no one rolled down their windows. I guess this was a precondition. I may get churched for rolling mine down. I … [Read more...] about My drive-in church this morning

I gather that some people are hoarding items. My stash of frozen Mrs. Callendar's Chicken Pot Pies is down to just a couple (my wife says they are inedible anyway, so they are mine! All mine! I like the KFC chicken pie, heavy on bread, fat, and salt but I'm not all that keen on their food handling.). Looks to me like the supply chain is working well where I am. It's all anecdotal but I'm seeing churches and others be incredibly generous in these times. To wit: I've heard of at least one megachurch that has recalibrated their budget so that they can help smaller churches that cannot … [Read more...] about In times like these…folks get generous.

My simple opinion: "No." Seems like just last year we were agonizing over the fact that no one wanted to attend the annual meeting any more. Attendance was down. Interest was flagging. God has a sense of humor and the SBC provides plenty of occasions for a good laugh. We've had this covered for 175 years. Everything moves along as needed. Budgets and funding may be approved by other bodies. We still have officers and trustees. The Cooperative Program rocks along as it has. Our system is deliberately designed to preserve the status quo. It's a good and wise system. Absent absolute, … [Read more...] about Does it really matter that the Annual Meeting is put off until 2021?

I know one guy who has an actual survival bunker - underground with a year's supply of food and water. I don't think he has made the transition yet. I know a couple of people who have been big on accumulating guns and ammo, like dozens of guns and thousands of rounds of ammo. If it comes to that, I don't think one old dude and his wife will be able to stave off the Visigoths. Yeah, it's those reckless, licentious, insouciant, and senseless spring breakers partying in big groups at beaches that will move this thing along. Come to think of it, if I could have afforded it, I would have done … [Read more...] about BREAKING USELESS INFO: Hunkered down in my survival domicile…watching stuff.