OK, so I wished we could have had all winners and no losers for #SBC18 but, alas, didn't happen. There were many winners though. Here they are: J.D. Greear: The election wasn't close. The Convention coalesced around a next-generation candidate with a stellar church growth and mission support record. OK, so he talks so fast I have to try and understand what he's saying while catching only every third or fourth word. I'll manage. Ken Hemphill: Quality and integrity from crown to cowboy boots. Women in general and not just in the context of abuse. SWBTS trustees. The … [Read more...] about #SBC18 Winners
#SBC18 Losers
Don't take it personally, but... The AC system. The messengers from the North Pole were quite comfortable. Wise pastors know you can never win the thermostat wars. Just shut up and suffer whether it's too hot or too cold. Paige Patterson. We didn't have to go through all this. I suspect it's not over. Committee on Order of Business. Sure, I get that they were put in an impossible position by Steve Gaines shuffling the VP's self-invitation off to them but when a motion was made that might have uninvited him, the chair had to belt out a sermonette on why it was biblical for the SBC to … [Read more...] about #SBC18 Losers
SBC18 news you’ll only find on SBC Voices
Hard news about the SBC annual meeting doesn't exhaust the things coming out of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center this week. To wit... We are in the heart of Texas, there are about 10,000 registered messengers and I've seen only four or five cowboy hats. Probably a couple of ringers among those few. What's this state coming to? I was at the bar today, twice, a record for me. It was because restaurants were crowded. I asked one bartender if the alcohol was flowing freely. "Only one or two," he replied. I baptist-splained the situation to him. Great guy. A highly placed source … [Read more...] about SBC18 news you’ll only find on SBC Voices
Well, here we go…
...Dallas wasn't on my June 2018 agenda but my wife and daughter wanted to come, so here we are. I'm resigned to being bossed around a bit this week. Good to have a millennial along for Ubering, and tech stuff anyway. The only thing I wanted to do outside of SBC18 is stroll around Dealy Plaza. I was in eighth grade back then. School let out early. Zapruder, sixth floor, grassy knoll...seems like the two crude "X" marks in the roadway don't quite fit the event but I suppose if there were permanent markers they would be stolen. Even 911 didn't have the somber gravity of Kennedy's … [Read more...] about Well, here we go…
An evaluation of Randy Adams’ SBC Recovery Program
Randy Adams is the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention, an area covering Oregon, Washington, and northern Idaho. He is a supporter of Ken Hemphill and a critic of J.D. Greear or at least of the type of Southern Baptist that JDG represents. Adams classified most SBC churches as "not fully cooperative" about which I had an earlier piece, Who fully supports the Cooperative Program? In that Adams wrote, "Southern Baptists are at a critical crossroad. One road leads to the continuation of decline in CP missions giving and the continuation of the decline of the SBC (that is a … [Read more...] about An evaluation of Randy Adams’ SBC Recovery Program
Try Something Different at #SBC18: 10 Suggestions for Dallas
Go to the Messenger Orientation. It's Monday, June 11 in the Convention Center - Level 2 , Room D221, 4:30-5:30 p.m. Augie Boto, SBC Executive Committee Interim President, led it last year and it was helpful and informative. Since he has additional responsibilities as interim leader of the EC, I don't know if he will do so this year. I have a report on it in which I mislabeled the event as "New" messenger orientation. Even seasoned old salts who have been to a couple of dozen annual meetings will learn something. Don't greet folks this way...with a firm handshake, a 'great to see you … [Read more...] about Try Something Different at #SBC18: 10 Suggestions for Dallas
The Annual SBC Statistical Release Weepfest
Just prior to each year's annual meeting LifeWay releases the previous year's Annual Church Profile statistical summary. Baptist Press reported on it yesterday, ACP: Worship attendance rises, baptisms decline. Last year I had an article on the previous year's data: ACP 2016 Stats: Add a chapter to Lamentations. There's a pattern here and I have the freedom to be more creative in my titles than BP. Here are some highlights and lowlights from the 2017 data: 1. Baptisms are down, and by almost 10 percent. We in the SBC are highly spiritual and prefer not to talk about money. Baptisms are … [Read more...] about The Annual SBC Statistical Release Weepfest
What Does Al Mohler Mean by “Independent, Third-Party Investigation”?
A church, denomination, or Christian ministry must look outside of itself when confronted with a pattern of mishandling such responsibilities, or merely of being charged with such a pattern. We cannot vindicate ourselves. I believe that any public accusation concerning such a pattern requires an independent, third-party investigation. This was Al Mohler, our leading denominational spokesman and SBTS president, in his May 23rd commentary, The Wrath of God Poured Out - The Humiliation of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mohler covers a lot of ground in that piece about clergy abuse … [Read more...] about What Does Al Mohler Mean by “Independent, Third-Party Investigation”?
Can you jettison “DOM” for “AMS” in our Baptist lingo?
Our annual sweatfest, the SBC Annual Meeting, is only a couple of weeks off. With the Greear/Hemphill presidential contest and the Patterson messes having consumed all the pre-convention publicity, you could be forgiven for forgetting that other things will take place. One of these is the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL) which meets in Dallas a couple of days prior to the annual meeting. This year the SBCAL, as a part of their year-long study A fresh look at the time-honored work of associations within SBC life, will recommend a name change for what most of us … [Read more...] about Can you jettison “DOM” for “AMS” in our Baptist lingo?
The Role of SBC President: Does This Year Matter More?
This is the most highly contested SBC presidential contest since the end of the Conservative Resurgence. I think the 1990 election in New Orleans where Morris Chapman defeated Dan Vestal by 15 percentage points was the last white hot election. We've had contested elections since but none like this year's. One group casts this election as one to turn the convention around, reclaim the convention, etc. Steve Gaines and others call it "pivotal" but doesn't explain how it is so. Maybe it's supposed to be self-evident. Is the SBC president that big of a deal? In the light of current events, … [Read more...] about The Role of SBC President: Does This Year Matter More?