SBC Voices

I am glad Bart is on his sabbatical on Mt. Ararat or Disneyworld or wherever, because I may say some things about him I would hate for him to hear. Better to speak behind his back. A few years ago he mentioned needing someone to minister to a UUPG his church had identified next to his UUPG called the Bayot in the Casamance region of Southern Senegal. I was looking for something like this and I said I would go. I hung out with Bart for a week and had a great time. Here's the part I am not sure I have ever told Dr. Barber. I spent much of that week trying to concoct a reasonable excuse … [Read more...] about “You Want Me to Do WHAT?”

I can't think of any topic that will dominate the SBC Annual Meeting in Birmingham moreso than sex abuse. While the SBC is meeting in Birmingham, sex abuse victim advocates and victims will hold a rally. This is the ForSuchATimeAsThisRally. It will be held outside the convention center on Tuesday, June 11, from 5 to 6:45 pm. Stated goals include: Women should be respected and honored within the SBC. The low view of women has contributed to an abuse-empowering church culture. A clergy abuse database must be established documenting confessed, convicted or credibly accused abusers. … [Read more...] about Sex abuse victim advocates and victims will rally in Birmingham #SBC19

We are now just 21 days from the start of 2019 Southern Baptist Convention. You know by now that the theme established by SBC President JD Greear is Gospel Above All from 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. I am looking forward to being in Birmingham for a couple of days as we hear reports, consider recommendations, and celebrate what God is doing in and through our convention of churches. The schedule for this year's annual meeting was released a few weeks ago. You can find it on the annual meeting website or at Baptist Press. The proposed schedule must be approved by the messengers once we arrive in … [Read more...] about 2019 SBC Annual Meeting Schedule

I recently visited my dad and mom at their home in Florida and had a great time sitting and talking with them. I am a bad son. When I get time away from the church I tend to visit my grandkids and I haven't been down to Florida in several years. I was trying to plan a trip to Florida in conjunction with the SBC in Birmingham and my deacons sort of chided me that I needed to get down there sooner and see my parents. As I started planning things, I realized that April 28, the Sunday I was planning to be gone, was also my dad's 90th birthday. The years have been tough on dad. I will not be … [Read more...] about A Stark Reminder of Easter’s Victory

Contributors here at SBC Voices have a couple of articles this week on the SBC and gender. These looked to me to be among the most irenic and amicable approaches possible to an issue that is important to the SBC. Elsewhere, teeth have been set on edge with more vicious and forceful discussions. Brent Hobbs, for whom the title of this article is not written, wrote about Cooperation and Complexity on the Question of Women Preaching. His final paragraph: This is a big, complex question. And it deserves better than the simplistic treatment it’s received recently. As Southern Baptists we are … [Read more...] about Can we avoid an SBC Hobbesian nightmare on gender issues?