SBC Voices

I don't think that any member of any church I ever pastored knew what the Executive Committee of the SBC was. The exception to that might have been the guy who pastored SBC churches for some years who paid much closer attention to all the SBC inside baseball talk. Aside from him, the EC might as well have been some group of no-name SBCphiles who look, feel, and sound important but do little that affects my local church. The EC is not even a tiny blip on the average SBC member's radar. 'Obscure' wouldn't be the word for it in regard to the many million SBC members. 'Unknown' would be a better … [Read more...] about The obscure and mysterious SBC Executive Committee

I wrote an article suggesting that the IMB should hire a president with field experience. I wrote an article (maybe more than one) detailing the qualities we needed in an Executive Board president - none of which was heeded. I wrote that the presence of five entity openings was a perfect time for the SBC to break our all-white history. We have long believed that NOBTS was the best chance and most appropriate place for that to happen. Clearly, my writings carried great weight! Literally, NOTHING I wanted, argued or appealed for happened. What should a person like me do? I have … [Read more...] about I Didn’t Get My Way. What Do I Do Now ? Living in the SBC

Dennis Ellingburg is one of the authors at  Smallchurchshepherds, It is devoted to assisting those who serve smaller churches in the SBC. Every year, thousands of men and women from across the country gather in cities from Phoenix, Arizona to Atlanta, Georgia to meet with other members of the Southern Baptist Convention for the Annual Meeting. This year, I am planning on going to Birmingham for the meetings and am excited to give you three reasons why I think you should go to. We need CONNECTION One of the main reasons why I love conventions and conferences is because of the … [Read more...] about Why I’m Going to the 2019 Southern Baptist Convention (Dennis Ellingburg)

I always had an interest in the people in my congregations who served in World War II. I can only recall a single person who was killed while serving and, thus, is one for whom we have this Memorial Day observance and holiday. Numerous relatives served in that war and many of these were wounded. My father-in-law was only a couple hundred yards from battleship row at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He saw it all but his ship, a destroyer, was not attacked nor hit. He later was only feet from where a Kamikaze hit that same destroyer a few years later. He was wounded but not killed. My … [Read more...] about A Memorial Day weekend story

Just prior to each SBC annual meeting LifeWay releases the compiled statistics for the previous year just in time for anyone who was feeling pretty smug about how the sun never sets on the SBC to be jostled back to reality. Here's the positive-spin Facts and Trends article title: GIVING INCREASES IN 2018 FOR SBC, BAPTISMS, ATTENDANCE CONTINUE DECLINE. Thank God we have a few more dollars to spend on things, many of which don't positively impact folks being saved and baptized. Ronnie Floyd, in his first chance as SBC Executive Committee CEO to react to the statistical report said, “While … [Read more...] about The annual SBC statistical weepfest now available

Some things to keep in mind about this study: The study is about "sexual misconduct" a broad category that includes sexual harrassment, abuse, etc. Surveys did not ask respondents if they were victims "of child sexual abuse or sex assault because of mandatory reporting requirements." While the survey was of Protestant churchgoers, there are more Southern Baptist respondents than random sampling would yield. When weighted, the responses are sufficient (LR says) to be accurate in regard to Southern Baptists.   Some interesting results: High percentages of churchgoers say … [Read more...] about LifeWay researches sexual misconduct