SBC Voices

Like many of you, I will be in New Orleans next week for the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. This will be my 10th SBC annual meeting. I haven’t missed an annual meeting since my first one in 2013 in Houston. My feelings about our upcoming annual meeting are about the same as they always are. I am excited to see friends I haven’t seen since we left Anaheim. I am certainly a little nervous about how everything will turn out once all the votes are counted. I am also hopeful that Southern Baptists will be able to come together, do the business of our convention of churches, … [Read more...] about The Big Votes at #SBC23

A note from Dave: i neglected to change this from my name to guest blogger before I left on my trip to New Orleans. My Apologies. It seems like there has been a lot of discussion recently, especially within the Southern Baptist community, regarding pastoral ministry and the role of women. This is largely due to the actions taken by Rick Warren and Saddleback Church. In May 2021, the southern California megachurch made denominational headlines when it ordained three women as pastors. Since then, it has also recognized Stacie Wood, wife of current pastor Andy Wood who succeeded Warren in 2022, … [Read more...] about On the Spiritual Gift of Pastoral Ministry

Scatter shooting while wondering what happened to all the old wooden pulpits. Where did they go to die? Speaking of old, do you remember the term “sugar-stick”? In the old days, every preacher had one or more “sugar-sticks.” This was your best sermon that never failed to prompt lots of amens. You could preach it when you preached in view of a call or when you preached a revival. I read that Tim Keller died after a struggle with cancer. I did not know him personally, but he was a great model for urban church planting and ministry. Rest in peace, faithful servant. Here’s a question for … [Read more...] about Scatter-Shooting, Part 5

The SBC Annual Meeting is just a few days away, and sex abuse reform remains central to the SBC and its future. All sides agree abuse is wrong, abusers should be held accountable, and the SBC must do better. Yet, the divide over the future of the SBC is deep, and the sides disagree with fierce conviction. Enter Trinity Community Church, formerly Trinity Baptist Church, Ashburn, Ga. Trinity has a confessed child sex abuser serving with their worship team. He confessed to me in 2019 he had sexually assaulted 5 boys and could not remember if there were others. Trinity terminated him at the time, … [Read more...] about Sex Abuse, Credibly Accused, and an SBC Campaign Story—Why Trinity Matters [by Troy Bush]

Last week I posted an essay on women pastors, and I want to share some additional thoughts and information. I believe many critics of the complementarian position on women pastors miss a key point. Those of us who oppose women pastors are not claiming that women are incapable of serving as pastors. No, obviously women could (and do) serve as pastors. Women work in all the professions—law, medicine, counseling, etc. They serve wonderfully well. In my life, I’ve had two female family physicians, and they were both great. I followed their instructions and was the better for doing that. We’re also … [Read more...] about More Thoughts on Women Pastors [Mark Terry]

Mike Stone has launched a second campaign for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he is focusing on the SBC ‘s handling of sex abuse. On a recent podcast interview, he spoke about one of the SBC’s most painful instances of sex abuse and its mishandling by a Georgia Baptist church, a Georgia Baptist association, the Georgia Baptist Convention, and the Executive Committee of the SBC. Instead of pointing to the failures and bitter lessons learned, Mike took credit for keeping Trinity Baptist Church, Ashburn, Ga, from leaving the SBC and for having an abuser terminated who … [Read more...] about Mike Stone’s Campaign Story—An SBC Case Study Not to Be Repeated (Troy Bush)