SBC Issues

You figure it was coming - some guidance, explanation, advice about how to count attendance during this time of cancelled physical services. My church's last in-the-building service was March 15th. Since then we have had some variety of online services each Sunday and two drive-in services. Our plan is to have drive-in services each Sunday this month, except for on Memorial Day weekend, and then have inside services starting in June, the latter if nothing changes with the current situation and governmental orders. Southern Baptists are gonna count. Around three-fourths of them are gonna … [Read more...] about Counting attendance in the age of COVID-19

Baptist press reports that a National Day of Prayer gathering will be taking place tomorrow, May 7, at 2:30 Eastern. J.D. Greear, SBC Vice President Marshall Ausberry, SBC Second Vice President Noe Garcia, as well as other SBC pastors and leaders will be leading the prayer time. Would you join tomorrow? Would you ask your church to join? It's hard to think of a better time for us to come together in prayer. Join me, @MAusberry, @_Matt_Carter, @plattdavid, church planters, missionaries, & others as we fast and pray together Thursday, May 7 at 2:30pm EST on Facebook @pastorgreear. … [Read more...] about National Day of Prayer Livestream with SBC Leaders Tomorrow, 2:30pm

I wouldn't expect all to admit to it, frankly. This is the strangest of strange occurrences: government guaranteed loans paying the salaries of pastors and other church and church related workers. If you're applying or have received the loan and want to explain your church's thinking, feel free. I doubt that there will be a question on the ACP about it. I've seen some SBCers weigh in against it as a general principle. The only serious warning I've seen on this was this. Let’s assume that 100,000 religious organizations receive federal funding through the CARES Act and that 5,000 of … [Read more...] about So, who’s getting Uncle Sam to pay your clergy salaries?

I have been posting about our church’s efforts to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, and I thought I would bring you up to date. We ended public worship on March 22nd. We’ve webcast our worship services now for six weeks, and more people have viewed our services online than came to public worship. We observed the Lord’s Supper online, and we held a business meeting by asking people to vote by email. In the last three weeks, we’ve used ZOOM for some of our adult Sunday school classes, and that has gone well. We never closed the church office. Except for the first week of shut down, our offerings … [Read more...] about When Shall We Resume Public Worship?

This is the final in my series of three posts about politics. I am not endorsing a candidate or telling anyone else for whom they should or shouldn't vote. My purpose is to attempt to define biblical principles for political engagement. Part 1 Part 2 Here's part 3, in which I put the final nails in my coffin - oops, my theses. 21. America is not the new Israel, chosen by God. I believe the American political system is exceptional in many ways – there’s not a system of government I’d like to switch it for – but the idea that our nation holds a special place in God’s heart is … [Read more...] about The Final Nails in My Coff…er..Theses

The last couple of weeks have been momentous in the life of our beloved convention. Southwestern Seminary is still dealing with financial issues, exacerbated by the COVID-19 shutdown. Departments were reorganized and we understand there were some personnel reductions. Of course, the biggest news was their dealings with the fraudulent Dead Sea Scrolls scraps purchased by the Pattersons. Southern Seminary also made some significant budget cuts. Of course, what created the stir was that they laid off three professors due to the financial crisis and possibly a fourth is heading in that … [Read more...] about A Pandemic of SBC Controversy

Our flagship conference center, Ridgecrest, is for sale trustees have decided. Just 21 months ago I wrote on this site What's the reason for the Ridgecrest renaissance?  I've always been relatively close to Ridgecrest while living and serving in South Carolina and Georgia. I would estimate I've stayed there a couple of dozen times. My kids always enjoyed going there ("Indian Day Camp" back then; wonder if they got all politically correct and changed the name?). Ridgecrest saw more attendees that year, 2018, than in a generation. Things were looking up. From the LifeWay Q&A: Unlike … [Read more...] about Let’s have a conversation about Ridgecrest being sold

One might think that our six seminaries are the safest and most secure of all SBC entities. The combined revenue streams of tuition, Cooperative Program, private gifts and other income sources would insulate the schools from disaster. After all, no hurricane would reach Louisville. Now, the pandemic has shut off tuition revenue. Southern seminary announced a staggering $16 million budget reduction - from $53.2 million to $37.2 million. Tuition accounted for close to one-half of Southern's income. The Cooperative Program, around 19 percent. Southeastern has announced that they plan to apply … [Read more...] about Our little SBC world – upside down now.

The first set of ten was more background and these get a little more specific, and possibly more offensive to some. I am not hopeful anyone will follow this, but we've had a couple of posts recently where we discussed political things. I would love it if we stuck to these points for our discussion. Again, I realize that is a bit of a lost-cause request, but miracles happen. Again, my comparison of what I am doing to Luther's 95 theses is tongue-in-cheek. His confrontation of the Church instigated a reformation. Mine is more likely just to irritate some folks. Part 1 of this series can be … [Read more...] about The SBC, Pastors, and Politics: Nailing My Theses – Part II

In my part of Georgia we've been locked down for weeks. The last in-person church service I attended was March 15th. Here are a few things I've noticed. You can add yours in a comment. If you think about it, it's absolutely amazing that the populace has responded quickly and cooperatively to the crisis. Almost all churches immediately stopped having physical gatherings. I don't know of an SBC church in my area who blithely continued with in-person services. I don't know how typical my 12 year-old church is but the congregation is doing well while not congregating. Giving for the five … [Read more...] about Some COVID-19 vignettes from the hinterlands