Johnny Hunt, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, has added four more members to the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. President Hunt, siting feedback he received from fellow SBC’ers, added people to the Task Force whom he believes will add to the diversification that people were calling for.
The original task force was comprised of:
– Ronnie Floyd (chairperson), pastor, FBC Springdale, Arkansas
– Johnny Hunt, SBC president, pastor, FBC Woodstock, Georgia,
– Jim Richards, executive director, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention
– Frank Page, pastor, FBC, Taylors South Carolina
– David Dockery, president, Union University, Tennessee
– Simon Tsoi, first vice chairman, International Mission Board, Phoenix Arizona
– Donna Gaines, Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova Tennessee
– Al Gilbert, pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Winston-Salem North Carolina
– J.D. Greear, pastor, Summit Church, Durham North Carolina
– Tom Biles, director of missions, Tampa Bay Association, Executive Committee member, Tampa Florida
– Danny Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Wake Forest North Carolina
– R. Albert Mohler Jr. , president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville Kentucky
– John Drummond, St. Andrews Baptist Church, Panama City Florida
– Harry Lewis, North American Mission Board, Alpharetta Georgia
– Mike Orr, pastor, FBC, Chipley Florida
– Roger Spradlin, pastor, Valley Baptist Church, Bakersfield California, Executive Committee member
– Robert White, executive director, Georgia Baptist Convention, Duluth Georgia
– Ken Whitten, pastor, Idlewild Baptist Church, Tampa Florida
– Ted Traylor, Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola Florida
The new members that have been added are:
– Larry Grays, senior pastor, Midtown Bridge Church, Atlanta Georgia
– Ruben Hernandez, associate Spanish pastor, Dallas-area Prestonwood Baptist Church, Plano Texas.
– Kathy Ferguson, womens ministry speaker, Denver Colorado
– John Cope, senior pastor, Keystone Community Fellowship, North Wales Pennsylvania
Read the story to find out more about who was added here: Johnny Hunt Adds 4 to the GCR Task Force
Great to see Dr. Hunt’s humility. He listened to a lot of people ask for more diversity and that is exactly what he did.
Good move Dr. Hunt!
Matt — I was pleased to see that he listened to folks as well!!
.-= Sallie Anderson´s last blog ..Autistics, Music, and Decorating =-.
Still not much westerly (not that I care much for the West Coast, dang hippies). Also curious, does anyone know how many of the members are minority, particularly African-American (I know I could research this myself, but I’m kinda busy packing)?
.-= Todd Burus´s last blog ..Does “Love” Excuse Us from Right Doctrine?- Quick Thoughts on Derek Webb’s Song “What Matters More” =-.
Were any of these small Church Pastors? Over 75% of the SBC is made up of Churches that have less than 200 in attendance on Sunday morning. Thus, shouldnt the task force have a few small Church pastors on it?
David
Todd and David —
I will research both those issues and post an answer next week if I can find the pertinent info.
Thanks for your questions!
Sallie
.-= Sallie´s last blog ..Two Outside Articles =-.
Good enough for me…and I’m a Yankee. 🙂
…and a small church pastor.
.-= Todd Benkert´s last blog ..Two Challenging Sermons from the SBC Pastor’s Conference =-.
Still no small church pastors, David, as far as I know. That needs to be addressed.
.-= Alan Cross´s last blog ..NYC Schools to Celebrate Muslim Holidays =-.
No, Alan, there isn’t.
In my research so far, the pastors of churches have memberships that are at least 3500, and several have multiple church sites. For instance, Ronnie Floyd is head pastor of both FBC Springdale and The Church at Pinnacle Hills. Kathy Ferguson, a new member of the Task Force as listed above, is Director of Women’s Ministries at The Church on Pinnacle Hills.
.-= Sallie´s last blog ..Two Outside Articles =-.
I’m curious as to why we never see Eric Redmond at anything SBC… He is SBC, right?
To me he is an amazing, young leader in the SBC that could really help diversify our convention, which is needed.
Matt — a few different Eric Redmond’s come up in my searches. Is he a pastor, and if so where?
Thanks,
Sallie
.-= Sallie´s last blog ..Mike's Heart Attack Wraps aka Dude Food =-.
I believe he is in Maryland. His blog is “A man from Isaachar” or something like that. He preached at SBTS a couple years ago.
Small church pastors need to be on that committee as the small churches have been the back bone of the SBC and State Conventions since the beginning. Big churches have basically run things due to the American infatuation with bigness. I remember my country pastor telling me as he took me to see Bellevue in the 60s that percentage wise, he baptized just as many as Dr. R. G. Lee did back in the 40s and 50s. Cities have numbers. That is why big churches can grow in those areas, if they have a faithful leadership (altho some just grow ay way). Country churches grow percentage wise like the city churches. What we might be getting ready for now, however, might be utterly overwhelming, namely, a Great Awakening. Think on that. Selah!
.-= Dr. James Willingham´s last blog ..The Climax of the Reformation =-.
Question: Does anyone know if Ms. Kathy Ferguson is a complementarian or an e-gal. Man, I hope she’s a complementarian.
.-= Joe Blackmon´s last blog ..Missing the Point on Missions Part II =-.
I asked Dr. Hunt through twitter why there weren’t any small church pastors (there aren’t per my research so far but I am still looking up info for a few of the guys). He responded and told me one pastor’s a church of 100 and one pastor’s a church with less than 300. I asked for clarification of which members those are because I just want to make sure I fact check them. I hope to get a response soon.
Mrs. Ferguson was the wife of the late Dr. Rick Ferguson. Her engagement to Pastor Ed Litton was announced at the convention in Louisville. I’m not sure what her stance on egal vs comp are but perhaps those facts will help you look her up.
.-= Sallie´s last blog ..Mike's Heart Attack Wraps aka Dude Food =-.
Had a pastor of a large church in Tennessee tell me: “There’s two kinds of churches – big churches that are doing God’s work and small churches that are doing nothing.” Almost word for word quote.
I think that attitude might be more common amongst SBC’s leaders than we would like to think.
.-= Dave Miller´s last blog ..Chapman, Akin Et Al: A Pleasing Dissension in the SBC =-.
I just want everyone to know that the Pastor in TN who said that to Dave was not me.
David lol
Hey folks,
I talked to Johnny Hunt about small church representation and he pointed me to two task force members: Larry Grays and Mike Orr.
Larry Grays is the pastor of The Midtown Bridge Church in Atlanta, GA. According to the 2008 ACP, they have an average worship attendance of 85. They baptized one and had 28 other additions in 2008. This is probably a new church plant as they have only had ACP reports for 2007 & 2008. However, it does qualify as a small church.
Mike Orr is pastor of FBC, Chipley, FL but they average 574 in morning worship according to their 2008 ACP so the best description for them is probably “medium” not small.
So it does look like we have one person representing us on the GCRTF. I will pray for Larry and Mike as well as all members of the GCRTF.
Les
.-= Les Puryear´s last blog ..There Are Two "Great Commission" Task Forces =-.
Thanks for the info, Les. I thought Larry might be one but I wasn’t sure about the other. Have several phone numbers/emails available and was going to email or call on Monday.
I was really surprised at the lack of churches showing up on sbc.net. I’ve found more on google and dogpile than our own church listing 🙁
Have a blessed weekend!
.-= Sallie´s last blog ..Mike's Heart Attack Wraps aka Dude Food =-.
I know Larry from our days as students at SEBTS. He’s an excellent choice and will do a great job.
.-= Quinn Hooks´s last blog ..Is the Sinner’s Prayer Heresy? =-.