There he or she stands, waving their arms at a bunch of people holding books and singing. Maybe they are all dressed alike. Maybe there's a solo part. Maybe there are musicians. Maybe the music is piped in. The congregation watches. Maybe they are thrilled. Maybe they are bored. Question for the ecclesiastical expoits: Is not having a choir a thing these days? The churches I pastored all had choirs. If I had attempted to replace the choir with any kind of alternative band, praise team, permanent ensemble, barbershop quartet or whatever, that would have gotten me a quick ticket to … [Read more...] about The death of the church choir
CP quiz answers, with predictable commentary
For the record, I've always supported and given to the CP in my churches. More than average in some, less in some. The SBC would be unrecognizable without it and it is here to stay. All churches in friendly cooperation with the SBC should support it. Didn't ask, but everyone knows CP giving is not required to be SBC, right? (Exceptions are those churches who are NAMB or state convention supported plants). ____________________ The Cooperative Program is our oldest giving program. FALSE. Both mission boards had their offerings well before the CP was established in 1925 and I'm sure there … [Read more...] about CP quiz answers, with predictable commentary
Take the CP quiz, if you’re up to it.
True/False questions, so that you have a 50/50 chance of getting in right. Use a coin if necessary: The Cooperative Program is our oldest giving program. The CP is our largest and wealthiest SBC giving program. Most CP receipts go to the mission boards and seminaries. SBC churches give around 10% of their undesignated offerings to the CP. The CP is as old as the ages of Bart Barber and Adam Greenway combined. The SBC portion of the CP was actually less than the two big mission offerings, Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong. Generally, churches are giving less to CP and more … [Read more...] about Take the CP quiz, if you’re up to it.
We’re embarking on implementation of the SATF. Questions for the ARITF
The job of the Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force seems difficult. SBC President Bart Barber appointed nine people, seven men and two women, to the group. In what looks like a wisely and carefully crafted statement, Barber said: “The purpose of this task force is to assist the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention in our efforts to shut the doors of our churches to those who would act as sexual predators and to wrap our arms around survivors and those who love them,” Barber said. Note the word "assist" in describing the job of this task force. No task force, no SBC entity, no SBC … [Read more...] about We’re embarking on implementation of the SATF. Questions for the ARITF
The strange journey of our venerable CP and mission offerings
Just the facts, brethren. These measures are up, considerably up. CP giving above budget by $10.4 million through July As of July 31, gifts received by the EC for distribution through the CP Allocation Budget total $168,760,690.32. This is $6,714,403.20 or 4.14 percent more than last year’s budget contribution of $162,046,287.12. The amount given is ahead of the $158,333,333.40 year-to-date budgeted projection to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America by $10,427,356.92 or 6.59 percent. The rump takeover group is officially supportive of the CP. It would be … [Read more...] about The strange journey of our venerable CP and mission offerings
Interview with a pirate about the SBC and women pastors
William: "You there with the ear ring, the cutlass, and your hair on fire; you've got problem with women pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention? Pirate: "Aaaargh! Dadgum straight I've got a problem with it. It's a big problem." W: "Yeah, a big problem? How many women are there in the SBC who lead churches as pastor?" P: "I don't know of any who are senior or lead pastors, but..." W: "Hold on right there, swashbuckler. There aren't any women senior pastors in the SBC?" P: "Well, no, but..." W: "Hold the 'but' Blackbeard. I want to be sure I'm hearing you right. There are … [Read more...] about Interview with a pirate about the SBC and women pastors
Can these average sized and below SBC churches survive?
Dave Miller's insightful article about his and his church's recent travails was excellent. It was also paradigmatic of thousands of SBC churches. Dave's church was not a small or average-sized church and I'm thinking here of the average-sized SBC church, somewhere around 125, and the median sized SBC churches, somewhere around 70. Generally, these are churches that can support a full-time pastor and most of the opportunities for being THE pastor (senior pastor, lead pastor, etc.) are in churches of this size. There are tens of thousands of SBC churches in this range and below. Many of them … [Read more...] about Can these average sized and below SBC churches survive?
I am liberating myself from my redneck pick-up truck
Here in Georgia there are pick-up trucks and there are redneck pick-up trucks. I have driven one of the latter for a decade or so. You can drive a sparkling new Ford King Ranch, maybe $80-90,000 truck and turn it into a redneck truck if you fly a Confederate Flag. If you spend that much on a truck just to cruise around, you could fly an "I'm an idiot with too much money" flag. If you have a gun rack and a bunch of deer stickers on the back window, you got yourself a redneck truck no matter what kind or how new it is. Your humble hacker and plodder blogger came by his redneck pick-up … [Read more...] about I am liberating myself from my redneck pick-up truck
SCOTUS decision
Baptist Press general article ERLC: How to talk to your church about the SC decision ERCL explainers: Here, here, here Faith leaders divided... (includes quotes from Brent Leatherwood, ERLC) __________________ … [Read more...] about SCOTUS decision
Are SBC state conventions doomed and just surviving is the goal?
Well, I suppose I voted for the thing a couple of decades ago. The "thing" is the last remaining monument to the foolhardy faith of SBCers in an endlessly upward trend line; that is, we just expected more churches to give more money to the Cooperative Program year-after-year. Millions of new people were moving to my state, Georgia, and surely our several thousand churches would grow along with the influx of population. Our Georgia Baptist leaders sold our old headquarters building and built this new one: It's … [Read more...] about Are SBC state conventions doomed and just surviving is the goal?