William Thornton

It's a Southern Baptist cliche: "We are a convention of small churches." We are indeed. The median SBC church will have 70 souls in average weekly worship attendance  this coming Sunday which means that around 25,000 SBC churches have a pastor who looks out when he preaches at a few dozen hearers. The pastor almost certainly is the only clergy staff member in the church although he may have a part time paid or volunteer music leader, student or children leader. This would be the place where there is a church of people who all know each other. This would be the place where there is a … [Read more...] about The stalwart, invisible hero of the SBC: The single staff pastor

You can decide which is which for yourself. I give Mike Leake high marks for his post calling the Sunday worship service a "weekly cataclysm,"  a very nicely turned phrase. I confess that there was an occasional worship service I presided over that was a weekly calamity because of various things. Thank God that another Sunday arrives in seven days. Ummm, is there a way to understand "Watch out for the guy who is an expert on what used to work" in a way other than a boastful slam against people who supposedly don't have a clue about church life in the 21st century? Here's a mixture of … [Read more...] about Some pretty good Baptist talk; some not so much

I had not planned to attend this year even though the site is fairly close to me but I had forgotten that my wife was scheduled to sing in the big, statewide chorus. I rearranged my plans. As a seasoned observer of such meetings, I offer a few vignettes of the meeting: Our convention is in pretty good shape. The mood was happy. No rancor afoot that I know of. Folks look like they enjoy being there. It helps that attendees can get their daily calories in personal size candy bars by hitting the exhibits. Ah, Baby Ruths. Good choice. Old school. I didn't bother to get a messenger card … [Read more...] about Hitting the state convention annual meeting

That's what is being reported by numerous sources - here, here, here. Excerpt from WaPo: The Republicans’ bill would make it legal for ministers and other religious leaders to endorse candidates from the pulpit but stops short of allowing other political participation such as financial contributions from churches to campaigns. The bill stipulates that a religious institution wouldn’t be found to have violated the law “solely because of the content of any homily, sermon, teaching, dialectic, or other presentation made during religious services or gatherings.” That’s the protection that … [Read more...] about Tax bill would allow churches to endorse candidates?

Suppose, beloved pastor, you wanted to know how much money your church had on hand today. How would you find out? You could ask the financial secretary and she would give you a number but how do you know this is accurate? (Hint: You don't). You could find the latest financial report given to the church but this might not be current and, besides, the figure might not be correct. You could call the bank if you are an authorized church person and they would tell you. While this would answer the question, you might not on the bank's list of approved persons to whom they may release … [Read more...] about How much money does your church have in the bank? Today.

In sorting out some of my material I ran across a folder with the April 26, 1912, local paper, The Athens Banner. The Titanic had just sunk. My parents had not been born. The last member of my family who served in the Civil War had died three years earlier and numerous other CSA veterans had died a decade or two earlier. Almost all of these veterans' children and grandchildren were alive, including my two grandfathers. Their grandparents (and in one case, a parent) were the CSA veterans. The issue of the Banner was a special Confederate Memorial Day edition which contained a number of articles … [Read more...] about A bit of the Lost Cause and monuments

Doesn't take much to stir me up these days. Consider these. Who will be the first brave pastor who bans service dogs from his church service? I see these dogs around and read about them being everywhere - airplanes, businesses, schools - you name it. Now, I'm seeing one at church for worship. The cute mutt isn't a problem so far as I know, and I'm sympathetic to the human handler. I don't know if the dog is in training or is for the emotional well being of the handler. I do know that I really don't care to worship with dogs. Perhaps someone will enlighten me. There are people who have pet … [Read more...] about Pent up irascibility

So the NAMB announcement was reported by SBC This Week. NAMB President Kevin Ezell announced today that this year's AAEO was the highest on record at a whopping $59.6 million. This total eclipses the previous record of $59,463,281 given in 2007 as well as the 2016 amount of $58,860,553. This is one thing happening around the SBC. I would have predicted a slight decline. All SBC entities have their critics but this offering is a measure of support for NAMB's work. Glad to see it. _____ (not to distract from other topics here) … [Read more...] about Record Annie Armstrong offering