William

In the recent incident in which a female reporter was slapped on the derriere (and arrested and charged with sexual battery, a misdemeanor), reports labeled the guy a "youth pastor," "youth minister," "youth group leader," along with other various non-church related titles. The church says he is a volunteer worker. So, how do we get to "pastor" for one of the many people in every church who volunteer and work with adults, children, students, or preschoolers? I have no idea. Was the man ordained? Was he a paid staffer at the church? Did the church formall install him in a position of … [Read more...] about “Pastor” ain’t what it used to be

Watched or listened to the whole Founders movie, almost two hours. I'm retired and free to waste time as I see fit. There's no grass growing right now that needs watching and, not being all that energetic, there's no drying paint to gaze upon. There are some interesting things in this and some points that I would join but the film is mostly a lot of old white guys talking mostly about matters of race; long-in-the-tooth white men talking about what women should do,movies we've seen for a long time. And someone tally up the minutes of the film that puts African-Americans front and center as … [Read more...] about Maybe they can get a dead cat bounce out of the movie

When I took my first pastorate almost forty years ago, one noticeable aspect of it was that when there was ministry to be done for those who were near death, it almost always occurred in an insitution, primarily hospitals. I made countless visits to intensive care units to pray for church members who were near death. It was common in those days for the member to be connected to all manner of monitors, tubes, and other medical equipment. One family member, perhaps two, might be in the room with their loved one while others sat in the waiting room and maybe rotated in and out of the ICU … [Read more...] about More Americans are dying at home. Notice the change pastor?

Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express story on sex abuse. The SAE must have lost a coin flip over who gets top billing. A compilation of stories of sex abuse in SBC churches over the past two decades, the series has dominated news in the SBC for the year. Credit to Rob Downen and John Tedesco (and others) for an enormous amount of reporting on this. Credit also for getting SBC polity right in most cases. This SBC pastor (retired) finds little to complain about in the series. We could have and should have done better. Ronnie Floyd elected Executive Committee CEO. A much higher profile … [Read more...] about Top SBC News of 2019, Part One

I can easily top the headlines that Baptist Press uses. Use any headline you like but it's good news that the venerable Cooperative Program is off to its best start in a decade. CP giving off to best start in a decade sayeth Baptist Press. The numbers are up over a million dollars over the same period (two months) last year. The amount given, though, is a bit under what is budgeted. Designated giving, mostly Lottie and Annie, is up over 27%. Not sure what accounts for that but it's good news. It would be good to set a Lottie Moon record this year. _________________ Mark … [Read more...] about Cooperative Program off to best start since Mark Sanford fake-hiked the Appalachian Trail

Baptist Press reported yesterday about the SBC Credentials Committee's establishment of an "online submission portal for reports of a church's alleged departure from Southern Baptist polity, doctrine or practice." I want to be optimistic and supportive of the effort. It's a difficult task. Good people are involved with the best motives and highest concern for these things. My observations are not criticisms. I'm reading the stuff for the first time and relaying what strikes me about it. A few observations: It should be remembered that this is about CHURCHES, not INDIVIDUALS. The … [Read more...] about The enhanced Credentials Committee: observations and questions

The gang would be the Founders group but there's always an unhappy segment of our beloved Southern Baptist Convention and the dolorous brethren always justify their feelings. When you have a moderately large tent, some folks will always be dissatisfied with the flow of convention politics. I'm a fairly happy guy in the SBC, imperfect though it may be and I don't see anything happening that is worthy of another Resurgence. We had the Traditionalists who created their own statement of belief. The call went out from that group for quotas (er, 'parity') in entity head theological persuasion. … [Read more...] about Can the gang that can’t shoot straight save the SBC?

We hear, about seven and a half months before the event, that Albert Mohler is willing to be nominated for SBC president. It's a little early for this but here we are. May I guess that it's not Calvinism that will define his candidacy nor the discussion before, during, and if he's elected, after the convention. It will be that most prickly matter in Southern Baptist life these days, complementarianism. 'Ask Al anything' is my shorthand of the title of the tour by our leading intellectual and flagship seminary president. I appreciate that he does this. I also appreciate that some … [Read more...] about Ask Mohler anything…but don’t expect him to give a short or simple answer

It is doing well in my view. Caring Well is the abuse resource and effort that resulted from the joint work of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the ad hoc Sex Abuse Advisory Group appointed by SBC president J. D. Greear. The Caring Well initiative was presented at the SBC Convention this past June with considerable fanfare and strong attendance. The ERLC's conference last month was on the subject of abuse and was very well attended by SBC pastors and others. This week a new Caring Well guide (free, downloadable pdf) was released. I've downloaded it and looked it … [Read more...] about Is Caring Well doing well in our autonomous churches?