SBC This Week is a great site. It is described as “a weekly news roundup from around the Southern Baptist Convention” and has “guest interviews from today’s top church leaders.” The podcast is hosted by Amy Whitfield, Director of Communications for SEBTS, and Jonathan Howe, Director of Strategic Initiatives for LifeWay which, I suppose, makes it […]
SBC Voices welcomes comments and discussion
SBC Voices is a leading source for information, opinions, and discussion of matters of concern for the Southern Baptist Convention. We appreciate the position and popularity that we have here and consider it both a privilege and responsibility to be able to have such a forum. In doing so, we welcome discussions, we value both […]
Will Georgia Baptists be rescued by our 19th Century Calvinist predecessors?
See if you recognize any of these quotes or have read similar ones: …a book that seeks to recover the Gospel heritage that has been vastly lost since the last century. …look back at the first generation of Georgia Baptists, filtered through the biblical Gospel… …our labors in this book have been to show the […]
Ridgecrest…one more time
I’m at Ridgecrest Conference Center for the night. I’m not attending a conference but it is close to where I went today so I reserved a night. In earlier years some group from my church would go every year, mostly students in the summer, but I haven’t been here in a decade or so. Hmmm, […]
Waning Cooperative Program shaming
Is it my own limited observation or is the old SBC stand-by, Cooperative Program guilting or shaming on the wane? I don’t know who coined the phrase but I’d guess that most SBC pastors know what is meant by Cooperative Program shaming or guilting. Many have experienced it. I’ve seen it for decades. Here’s my […]
“Loyal opposition” and/or the opening shots of a new SBC war?
Our Southern Baptist pastor colleague Eric Hankins is the primary author of the kitchen table theological statement commonly known among us as the “Traditional Statement.” I call it “kitchen table” because it is a private product, mostly by Hankins but with consultation with a few others. As of this writing, the TS has to my […]
SBC Seminary enrollment wars and other interesting data points
Think being the biggest, richest, hottest, coolest SBC seminary doesn’t matter? It does to a lot of people although I wouldn’t have any hesitation in recommending any of the SBC’s six plus that outstanding Seventh, Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. No numbers on the latter in the SBC Book of Reports but plenty of the six. […]
Underpaid SBC seminary faculty and other interesting data points
Ten years ago, Bart Barber made a motion for an ad hoc committee to study SBC seminary salaries. The motion was ruled out of order. There was a discussion of it on SBC Voices but I cannot find it. My view was that the seminaries should structure their compensation on market factors, supply and demand. […]
#SBC17 and the Cooperative Program
The Cooperative Program is the SBC’s primary giving plan, described by the Great Commission Task Force Final Report as “the central and preferred conduit of Great Commission funding.” It may still be described as “central” although for a number of years designated gifts to the Executive Committee have been greater than Cooperative Program giving. It […]
Hidden gem of #SBC17: New Messenger Orientation
Messenger Orientation Monday, June 12 4:30–5:30p Phoenix Convention Center, North 228B There will be a free orientation regarding messenger participation in the annual meeting for anyone wishing to attend. The session will include an explanation of “high interest” times, program personalities and processes, how and when messengers may use the floor microphones, how to use […]
Winners and losers, #SBC2017
We’re done for another year. Let’s try some winners and losers for the week. Winners Steve Gaines. He did a very good job presiding and conveyed confidence and humility in the job. The Pastor’s Conference. Dave Miller and team conducted the first genuinely grassroots, average church and pastor driven event in my memory. Some said […]
Fear and loathing, fun and freebies at the exhibit hall
I’m a little early, big mistake, since eager exhibit workers have pent up ferocity to inflict on unsuspecting browsers. One church growth type ministry has smiling workers in lab coats, very clinical. “Are you a pastor?” I’m asked. “Sorry,” I reply while putting some distance between us, “I’m not dealing with anyone in a lab […]