William Thornton

I'm at Ridgecrest Conference Center for the night. I'm not attending a conference but it is close to where I went today so I reserved a night. In earlier years some group from my church would go every year, mostly students in the summer, but I haven't been here in a decade or so. Hmmm, it used to be Ridgecrest Baptist Conference Center I think, but I'm OK for broader marketing if that's what is needed to keep our sole national conference center going. Glorieta, the other one, is alive only in the form of a Hail Mary lawsuit. It was closed years ago. My state convention gave away one of our … [Read more...] about Ridgecrest…one more time

Is it my own limited observation or is the old SBC stand-by, Cooperative Program guilting or shaming on the wane? I don't know who coined the phrase but I'd guess that most SBC pastors know what is meant by Cooperative Program shaming or guilting. Many have experienced it. I've seen it for decades. Here's my informal definition: Cooperative Program shaming is the implied or stated criticism of a church and/or its pastor and members for giving too little to the Cooperative Program. It is often measured either by an arbitrary percentage (commonly 10 percent often labeled the … [Read more...] about Waning Cooperative Program shaming

Our Southern Baptist pastor colleague Eric Hankins is the primary author of the kitchen table theological statement commonly known among us as the "Traditional Statement." I call it "kitchen table" because it is a private product, mostly by Hankins but with consultation with a few others. As of this writing, the TS has to my knowledge not been adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention in annual session, by any of the 42 Southern Baptist state conventions, by any of the 1,139 Southern Baptist associations, nor by any individual church (although I suspect there may be some who have done so, in … [Read more...] about “Loyal opposition” and/or the opening shots of a new SBC war?

The Cooperative Program is the SBC's primary giving plan, described by the Great Commission Task Force Final Report as "the central and preferred conduit of Great Commission funding." It may still be described as "central" although for a number of years designated gifts to the Executive Committee have been greater than Cooperative Program giving. It is still the "preferred conduit" although slightly less preferred on average by local churches than last year. A few things relative to the Cooperative Program from the Annual Meeting: 1. The benchmark figure for assessing Cooperative … [Read more...] about #SBC17 and the Cooperative Program

We're done for another year. Let's try some winners and losers for the week. Winners Steve Gaines. He did a very good job presiding and conveyed confidence and humility in the job. The Pastor's Conference. Dave Miller and team conducted the first genuinely grassroots, average church and pastor driven event in my memory. Some said it would be a bomb but they pulled it off with aplomb. Frank Page. Our CEO comes across well and the Executive Committee report was as painless as could be. Southeastern seminary. The two SBC Vice Presidents (Walter Strickland and Jose Abella) and the first … [Read more...] about Winners and losers, #SBC2017

I'm a little early, big mistake, since eager exhibit workers have pent up ferocity to inflict on unsuspecting browsers. One church growth type ministry has smiling workers in lab coats, very clinical. "Are you a pastor?" I'm asked. "Sorry," I reply while putting some distance between us, "I'm not dealing with anyone in a lab coat because nothing good can come out of it and a lot of things not so good like needles, pain, bad news, and straight jackets." They weren't giving anything away anyhow. Look, there's a former SBC entity head without an entourage. My how the mighty have … [Read more...] about Fear and loathing, fun and freebies at the exhibit hall