Most Cooperative Program money, well over half of it, goes to fund state conventions and their mix of ministry causes and activities. Almost all of the state convention share of CP dollars, 90% or more last time I checked it, stays in sixteen Southern states from Missouri, down to Texas, then east through the gulf states, Florida, and up the east coast to Virginia. With several hundred million dollars to spend, are these states baptizing more people, gaining more members, and increasing the number of their churches? The simple answer is, "no." Measurable statistics are declining … [Read more...] about A look at the records of state conventions: who’s up, who’s down.
MinistrySafe abuse awareness training and ChurchCares ‘Becoming a church that cares well for the abused
Last September I shared my church experience with MinistrySafe child safety system product: Implementing MinistrySafe child safety training in my local church Yesterday I gave a brief review of the SBC, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission's new product, Becoming a Church That Cares Well For The Abused: A brief review of the ERLC's new training - ChurchCares: Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused The churches I served were average-sized SBC churches in the neighborhood of 100 in primary worship. About half of the time I was the single, fulltime clergy staff for the … [Read more...] about MinistrySafe abuse awareness training and ChurchCares ‘Becoming a church that cares well for the abused
A brief review of the ERLC’s new abuse training – Church Cares: Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused
This is free and is available now. This is the new resource on abuse that features, among others, Rachel Denhollender and Diane Landberg. ERLC says: Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused (churchcares.com) is a training experience designed to equip the church on how to respond well to the initial report of abuse. This free resource brings together top experts in the areas of social work, law enforcement, trauma counseling, abuse counseling, legal advisement, and pastoral care. Its purpose is to help pastors and ministry leaders equip their churches to be able to provide excellent … [Read more...] about A brief review of the ERLC’s new abuse training – Church Cares: Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused
Pre-convention Cooperative Program giving is $1.23 million better than last year same period
Baptist Press reports monthly on CP monies received by the Executive Committee. The report made yesterday for eight months of the EC's fiscal year was encouraging: Contributions to Southern Baptist Convention national and international missions and ministries received by the SBC Executive Committee in May were 3.47 percent above the projected budget through eight months of the current fiscal year and 0.93 percent above the amount received during the same period last year, according to a news release from SBC Executive … [Read more...] about Pre-convention Cooperative Program giving is $1.23 million better than last year same period
“Complementarianism” isn’t worth diddly-squat any more
I have read of some who were around when "complementarian" was invented. They would speak reverently and in awe of the term. It certainly was a brilliant move that provided folks with a sophisticated sounding, eight-syllable word to use. Who would argue with a fancy term like that? After that, we could assign ourselves to one of two broad categories: egalitarian or complementarian. Egalitarian was always fairly straightforward but complementarian meant something a lot more fuzzy and not much more than that it was not egalitarian. It's a political reality that issues are won or lost on the … [Read more...] about “Complementarianism” isn’t worth diddly-squat any more
The phoney war on SBC membership statistics
"When will the SBC stop lying about how many members they have?" "The SBC reports 15 million members but no one can find 10 million of these." "SBC membership figures are a total fraud and they should repent." I like a good, indignant gripe as much as any SBC pastor and I haven't been above figuratively slapping my beloved denomination around for the differential between reported membership and average attendance. I'll confess to having said something along the lines of the second quote above: "The SBC reports 15 million members but no one can find 10 million of these." If LifeWay offered a … [Read more...] about The phoney war on SBC membership statistics
The Credentials Committee change is complicated. Here’s an attempt at an explanation and speculation about the future.
Essentially, this is a response to the question: How can the Southern Baptist Convention, at the national level, be more efficient in excluding churches that do not respond properly in regard to sex abuse? We are only a few months removed from what many called a mess, the SBC Executive Committee's handling of the ten churches named by president JD Greear as needing some examination about their handling of sex abuse cases. SBC leaders have spent the time giving more thought and examination to the problem. The resulting proposal is a marked change in procedure for handling churches that may … [Read more...] about The Credentials Committee change is complicated. Here’s an attempt at an explanation and speculation about the future.
The obscure and mysterious SBC Executive Committee
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 as well have been some group of no-name SBCphiles who look, feel, and sound important but do little that affects my local church. The EC is not even a tiny blip on the average SBC member's radar. 'Obscure' wouldn't be the word for it in regard to the many million SBC members. 'Unknown' would be a better … [Read more...] about The obscure and mysterious SBC Executive Committee
A Memorial Day weekend story
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. My father-in-law was only a couple hundred yards from battleship row at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He saw it all but his ship, a destroyer, was not attacked nor hit. He later was only feet from where a Kamikaze hit that same destroyer a few years later. He was wounded but not killed. My … [Read more...] about A Memorial Day weekend story
The annual SBC statistical weepfest now available
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, ATTENDANCE CONTINUE DECLINE. Thank God we have a few more dollars to spend on things, many of which don't positively impact folks being saved and baptized. Ronnie Floyd, in his first chance as SBC Executive Committee CEO to react to the statistical report said, “While … [Read more...] about The annual SBC statistical weepfest now available