My apologies to Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, from whose 1992 speech I borrowed the Latin phrase. The royal family had a number of personal difficulties that year...and Windsor Castle caught fire. Sometimes royalty, even in the SBC, has difficulty. In the Grand Old Southern Baptist Convention we'd like to catch a different kind of fire but it looks like we will have to deal with extensive damage first. To Americanize annus horribilis, try Judith Viorst's 1972 children's book, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. All of those descriptors work well. Some of the … [Read more...] about 2018 may be the SBC’s annus horribilis
Some pre-convention voices
Twenty-four days to our Grand Confab, the Annual Meeting in Dallas. Here are some things rumbling around: On B21, megapastor, former SBC president James Merritt endorses J. D. Greear and offers a withering criticism of loud, loutish critics: All of this to say this to that I believe this is the most pivotal SBC presidential election since the conservative resurgence. Make no mistake—we will make a loud and clear statement of just who we are and where we want to go. Will we give in to those who want us to always be “battling Baptists,” who show more passion for what they want to “stop” than … [Read more...] about Some pre-convention voices
So you want to get a resolution passed? Here’s the process…
There's a presumption rolling around among SBCers that the Resolutions Committee has what they want to do in mind before the convention and sloughs off or dismisses all resolutions that get submitted from individual SBCers. Not so. Those individuals who properly submit a resolution according to the provisions of By-Law 20 will be properly considered. Here's what the By-Law says is necessary for a properly submitted resolution: Be submitted to the Committee no earlier than April 15th and no later than 15 days prior to the annual meeting. Be addressed to the Committee on Resolutions … [Read more...] about So you want to get a resolution passed? Here’s the process…
Someone must say about the avuncular Dave Miller…
...that he is the wittiest person in the SBC. To wit: He also relayed a bit of humor amid the ordeal: May 1: "Had a Christian nurse, a mainline Christian nurse and a Syrian doctor. It was an interesting conversation." May 1: "Going home [after the biopsy]. Trying to convince Jenni the doctor ordered stop at Mr Stirfry but she ain't buying it." May 3: "The hospital turned down my request to live-tweet the surgery today. Some nonsense about general anesthesia making that a bad choice." May 4: "Based on the pain I am experiencing, I have made the decision to never have my spleen and … [Read more...] about Someone must say about the avuncular Dave Miller…
SBC FAQs answers your questions
The First Question asked and answered is: What is the Southern Baptist Convention? I suspect that many Southern Baptists would be unable to give a good answer. But Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary answer this and others in their new book "SBC FAQs, A Ready Reference." It's $13.99 at LifeWay. I'm guessing you can pick one up at the Annual Meeting if you dare sneak out of one of the contentious sessions and visit the bookstore. In several decades of talking inside baseball SBC stuff and attending annual meetings the lack of understanding about the … [Read more...] about SBC FAQs answers your questions
How IMB’s overseas workers could double in number
David Platt, who has announced his resignation but is still CEO of the IMB, had a plan to greatly expand the Board's overseas workforce. The plan was to meld unpaid overseas secular workers into the IMB's work. Not a few questions were raised about this but it was a plan to get IMB's numbers back up. I know of no SBC entity or institution that is planning for significant expansion based on projected increases in Cooperative Program revenues. IMB receives less than one-third of their budget from CP revenues, much more from Lottie Moon offering and direct gifts. I don't see much going on in … [Read more...] about How IMB’s overseas workers could double in number
It’s lost in all the acrimony but the Cooperative Program is UP
National CP 4.45% ahead of projection As of April 30, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the CP Allocation Budget through the first seven months of the convention's fiscal year totaled $116,986,524.22. This total is $4,986,524.22 above the $112 million year-to-date budgeted amount to support SBC ministries globally and across North America and is $2,123,411.63 more than the $114,863,112.59 received through the end of April 2017. Over two million ahead of actual gifts for the same period last fiscal year is pretty good. We are on track to show an overall … [Read more...] about It’s lost in all the acrimony but the Cooperative Program is UP
Our beloved, beleaguered denomination
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after conflict and controversy, for in the Southern Baptist Convention they will eventually be satisfied. - SBC Beatitude "Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown" wrote Jonah and our SBC Annual Meeting is forty days hence. While the magnitude of the meeting doesn't look biblical it has the potential be catastrophic. In fact, it looks certain that there will be no shortage of rancor and acrimony. All in Good Christian Spirit as we Southern Baptists do rancor, one hopes. Last year the alt-right mess was unexpectedly upon us and, although … [Read more...] about Our beloved, beleaguered denomination
Brother, prepare to relinquish thy housing allowance
This advice is not from Your Humble Hacker and Plodding Semi-retired Pastor but from LifeWay leader Thom Ranier. In a recent podcast (Will the Minister's Housing Allowance Go Away?) he states his belief that " it is going to go away" and advises pastors to rearrange their finances now to prepare for the loss. The part of the tax law that provides for the housing allowance on parsonages is not the issue. So, if you live in the humble parson's domicile on the site of your church then there's no need to worry. If instead you own your home and receive a cash payment from your church as "housing … [Read more...] about Brother, prepare to relinquish thy housing allowance
Magical thinking on Cooperative Program percentages
The most bewailed SBC statistic is the average percentage of undesignated receipts given by churches to the Cooperative Program. The figure stands at 5.16% having declined from over 10% back in the days prior to the Conservative Resurgence. The decline has been incremental, steady, and relentless although during Frank Page's tenure as SBC Executive Committee CEO the percentage has stopped declining and is more or less flat. SBC leaders and others regularly speak of raising the percentage and returning to the earlier times when churches were happy to devote a tenth of their budgets to the … [Read more...] about Magical thinking on Cooperative Program percentages