The SBC Executive Committee met this week and did a few things. Here’s a secondhand report of the highlights. Quotes are from BP:
Declined a request to study further the feasibility of remote participation in the SBC annual meeting.
Among the reasons cited: “Diverting missions’ offerings to pioneer the use of such technology (there being no known model for web-based constituent participation in any similarly-sized, deliberative body, nor even in any state Baptist convention) would be an inappropriate prioritization” and “The simplicity of conducting business at a single site is preferable to the complexity of doing so via innumerable off-site computer configurations.”
Those who promote the idea think it to be a panacea for their complaints about the SBC. That is, they believe more people think like them who, if they could, would show up at their associational office and strike a blow for whatever the cure du jour happens to be. It’s the best terrible idea around. Learn more about it here so you can at least discuss it intelligently. Good job making short work of this, Executive Committee.
Agreed to allow up to a quarter million dollars to the “SBC president’s initiative to study ways to address sexual abuse and related issues in a church or ministry context.” J. D. Greear’s proposal on this matter was timely, astute, and needed. The ERLC will jointly do this with some group (yet to be named) appointed to do the work. I assume most of the money is for meetings, travel, and expenses. They have until February of 2020 to make a report. I would have thought that the group could have something for next year’s SBC Annual Meeting.
Agreed to put a “Baptism Day” on the SBC calendar. I’m all for that. No reason a church couldn’t delay some baptisms so that this could be a big day and encourage the convention. There are 33 special Sundays (or longer periods) already on our SBC calendar. As a pastor, I’d use three or four of these. Oh, last Sunday was “Anti-Gambling Sunday.” Did your church observe that? Here in Georgia, SBCers love the lottery because it sends their kids to college for free and mom and dad and use their savings to buy them a condo near campus. I don’t know of a single Georgia Baptist church that observes anti-gambling Sunday but I, personally, am not in favor of the lottery tax on the poor and uneducated Georgians.
Learned that some of the seminaries are requiring students to undergo sex abuse training. SWBTS and SBTS use MinistrySafe online training courses. Maybe all six do, I couldn’t find out with a quick search. This is the easiest and fastest measure that SBC entities can take to address this matter. Too bad churches cannot be required to have at least one person so trained as well. My church is implementing it, at my suggestion and because I said I would handle it and not make any of the church staff take the responsibility (and I will give a report here on the experience before too long).
Agreed that from henceforth and forevermore, unless requested otherwise, DOMs and AMs will be called Associational Mission Strategists, proving, once again, that what we do best is to rename and attempt to rebrand moribund offices, positions, and concepts. Maybe this will accomplish something. Maybe not. Can’t hurt.
Heard some good old-fashioned bragging. Seminary heads gave reports to the EC and Danny Akin reported that “Southeastern has experienced 10 consecutive years of record enrollment and is committed to being a “Great Commission seminary,” he said. The seminary’s commitment to the Great Commission was evidenced by an International Mission Board report indicating five of the 10 top missionary-sending churches in the SBC are geographically near SEBTS. I’d brag about this too (but to be fair, I’ll acknowledge that Akin was rejoicing, not bragging which SBCers would never admit to). I’m looking for the list and haven’t found it yet but other reports say that these five churches are all within 15 miles of the seminary. SEBTS is clearly a powerhouse of missionary sending for our convention. Other seminaries take note. Jason Allen of MWBTS touted increasing enrollment. SWBTS interim president asked for prayer and for members to “move forward” with the beleaguered school.
You could have gotten the live blog of the SBC Executive Committee meeting if you didn’t have anything better to do yesterday and Monday. I was extremely busy watching some paint dry but I was pleased to be able to get the reports.
The EC held an open forum and interim CEO Augie Boto fielded questions. A few, with comments from your humble hacker and plodder:
- One member wanted to question the SWBTS Trustee Executive Committee action of firing the president. The EC asked for a formal report on the matter from SWBTS trustees but otherwise will not interfere, nor can they.
- One member tried to skewer Russell Moore but was cut off by the EC chairman. Good job.
- A pastor from Utah/Idaho complained that associations were “falling apart” in his area” due to funds being cut off. Yeah, NAMB no longer shovels money to a lot of places for job creation but has prioritized their funding for planting churches where most of the lost people are located. U/I has one EC rep for their 134 churches. My state has one per 675 churches…so our western colleagues have that going for them.
- One member suggested the SBC annual meeting be held in the north. Looks like Indianapolis is as far north as we have scheduled, and that doesn’t do much for me. How about Toronto, or is it required that the meeting be held in the US? We were in Detroit some years ago but no thanks on going back there. How about Minneapolis?
According to @sbcthisweek Minneapolis/St Paul will be considered. With the growth in church plants I am surprised that Boston is not being considered for a spot. I have asked for the IMB list and saw a tweet that listed the 5 RDU area churches in the Top 10 but I can’t find it. If my memory is correct the 5 close to SEBTS are: 1- Summit- multiple locations 2- North Wake- Wake Forest 3- Open Door- Raleigh 4- Imago Dei- Raleigh 5- Providence- Raleigh I saw Wake Crossroads and Bay Leaf, both in Raleigh, mentioned on Twitter but I do.… Read more »
The IMB recently went 141 workers to the nations and over a quarter were from SEBTS.
Another 50 plus are being commissioned at month’s end. The ceremony will be live-streamed. It is always worth watching these men, women, couples and families following the call.
Boston. The SBC has never had one in Boston. That would be a change.
Also, this is fun to look at, if accurate. http://www.johnstonsarchive.net/baptist/sbcconvlist.html
My son lives in Boston and it is a fascinating city, in spite of the fact that their sports teams are the embodiment of evil.
Seriously, how can such a great city have three teams as depraved as the Patriots, Red Sux, and Celtics? A convention in Boston would be poorly attended and horrendously expensive but I’d be there.
We could have a bloggers get together in the pub that the Revolutionary War was devised in.
Oh, you’re right. It can be a tough convention city.
I’m willing to try…especially if the Yankees happen to be in town
Minneapolis would be okay, but it is so close to Sioux City it would hardly be a trip!
I’m sure there are valid reasons for delaying baptisms, but a promotional stunt like this one can’t possibly be among them.
“You want to publicly profess your faith and allegiance to Jesus? Great! Now, you wouldn’t mind if we hold off on that for a few weeks so we can post a big number, would you?”
Bizarre.
Delaying wasn’t the EC’s idea but mine, so blame me. Churches bunch up baptisms all the time, and without harming the baptizee. Before indoor and heated baptisteries, churches would wait until spring.
William, I refuse to blame you. Obviously, I don’t think there’s any ill intent here on anyone’s part. Just a bad idea. Seems as though your instinct is correct, though, that unnecessary delays will be the inevitable effect.
I probably wouldn’t fight anybody over delaying until warmer weather. Our Russian brethren might. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTRiid5ERd0) But then, we might argue that’s not a full immersion…
I’m simply saying we don’t need to be incentivizing delays as a convention. Autonomous churches will do what autonomous churches do. (But you knew that!)
Ha! In the city where we were sent, they only baptized once per year. It was in July. The water would still take your breath away.
Seems there is no public top ten list. There are questions about definitions that make IMB reluctant to put it out publicly. I respect their view. Seems safe to say that SEBTS is a magnet for mssy candidates and churches nearby benefit, as does a seminary in close proximity to a church that has a burden for the nations.
Great report. Substantive and well written.
Why don’t you apply for leading the executive committee to replace Dr. Page?
Good decisions all.
I am anxious about the sex abuse thing.
Thanks. I never pastored a megachurch and thus am not qualified.
Why are you anxious about the sex abuse thing?
C’mon, man.
We know you were a mega and just won’t admit it.
I don’t usually comment on blogs, but the questioning from the Idaho pastor about the Utah-Idaho SBC concerned me, as I currently serve as associate pastor in a church in SE Idaho. While it’s true that NAMB no longer funds DOMs, our state convention as a whole is actually experiencing amazing growth and blessing through a focus on church planting. The number of churches in our UISBC is now closer to 185, with around 51 new church plants in the last 5 years. We now have representation on 9 university/college campuses. My own local association is flourishing, with reports at… Read more »
Great news. Thanks for sharing.
William:
I am concerned that they will succumb to the demand to start an ineffective and dangerous database.
Bro. William, Thanks for the info but a few questions/points: 1) The motivation for remote SBC voting includes a vision for greater participation from the small church, the isolated church, the minority church, the international (?) church and so on who (apart from sponsorship) cannot afford to send messengers to a convention site. I don’t think anyone is against that. 2) With respect to assessing cost, it would seem that the EC would need to do so against the cost of a central convention – renting a convention center, hotels. meals, transportation – all of that could be spent on… Read more »
1. It certainly “includes” that motivation but also others. 2-4. The EC made short work of this because they have studied it before, even hiring experts to assess it, and nothing has changed since then. No need to spend money on it again. As for the overall savings to messengers, we will have, and must have, a central convention regardless. Not to discuss the entire business again, but the main objection is that remote voting is unwise and an unproved (even untried) system for corporate governance. There are reasons corporations don’t do this but instead have a tedious, slow proxy… Read more »
Bro William, The reasons given in the OP simply ring hollow sans quantitative analysis. The EC should simply show the numbers (with their groundrules/assumptions) – that is, what is the number the “experts” we hired estimate the cost to be versus the costs of the last ten (or so) conventions. If not that, what are they comparing cost against? Maybe we need to hire some better experts? “Folks who want to vote will find a way to attend one of the annual meetings.” Why only one? Don’t we vote every year? And is the statement true regardless of location? I… Read more »
No large org does this, for good reasons. Go back and read my links. If you want to vote, show up.
I graduated from Boyce College this past May. In January I had to take MinistrySafe training in order to graduate, and it was phenomenal. There were so many things I had never heard of or known about regarding how abusers infiltrate any setting and gatekeepers. Nothing I learned in classes or for ordination touched on these issues, so I was thankful SBTS provided this training.