Our SBC seminaries as a whole have increased in their student enrollment by 8-10% in the past 10 years! SBC Seminaries FULL TIME Student Enrollment 2017-18 vs. 2007-08 SBTS: 1,702 vs. 1,411 = 21% Increase SWBTS: 1,393 vs. 1,847 SEBTS: 1,602 vs. 863 = 86% Increase MBTS: 1,120 vs. 398 = 181% Increase NOBTS: 909 vs. 1,579 Gateway Seminary: 634 vs. 699 TOTAL = 7,360 vs. 6,797 = 8% increase! SBC Seminaries TOTAL Student Enrollment 2017-18 vs. 2007-08 SBTS: 3,157 vs. 2,562 = 23% increase SWBTS: 2,767 vs. 2,693 = 3% increase SEBTS: 2,187 vs. 1,542 = 42% … [Read more...] about The Demise of the SBC? Not According to our Seminaries
A Few Words about the Patterson Saga
A good friend suggested that my surgery and hospitalization was suspiciously well-timed to avoid having to take any kind of position on the Patterson brouhaha that has raged this week. While that is not true, I can admit that I appreciated the excuse not to opine. I am waiting on the final orders to be released from the hospital and am feeling much better, so I thought I would commit the utter folly of entering that fray. I have friends who are supporters of Dr. Patterson and friends who are not and anything I say risks offending someone...or everyone. My first word would build on something … [Read more...] about A Few Words about the Patterson Saga
How IMB’s overseas workers could double in number
David Platt, who has announced his resignation but is still CEO of the IMB, had a plan to greatly expand the Board's overseas workforce. The plan was to meld unpaid overseas secular workers into the IMB's work. Not a few questions were raised about this but it was a plan to get IMB's numbers back up. I know of no SBC entity or institution that is planning for significant expansion based on projected increases in Cooperative Program revenues. IMB receives less than one-third of their budget from CP revenues, much more from Lottie Moon offering and direct gifts. I don't see much going on in … [Read more...] about How IMB’s overseas workers could double in number
GoFundMe Available for SWBTS Student Fired for Tweet
Nathan Montgomery is the SWBTS seminary student & former employee who was fired this week for tweeting Ed Stetzer's article critical of Paige Patterson. According to media reports, Montgomery will lose $40,000 in salary and $7,000 in tuition benefits per year as a result of not longer being employed as catering manager. Sarah Pulliam Bailey at the Washington Post has the background and latest. One of the points of Stetzer's article was that the slightest expression of criticism of Patterson brings a huge backlash. Irony noted. Montgomery says he he plans to appeal his termination to … [Read more...] about GoFundMe Available for SWBTS Student Fired for Tweet
It’s lost in all the acrimony but the Cooperative Program is UP
National CP 4.45% ahead of projection As of April 30, gifts received by the Executive Committee for distribution through the CP Allocation Budget through the first seven months of the convention's fiscal year totaled $116,986,524.22. This total is $4,986,524.22 above the $112 million year-to-date budgeted amount to support SBC ministries globally and across North America and is $2,123,411.63 more than the $114,863,112.59 received through the end of April 2017. Over two million ahead of actual gifts for the same period last fiscal year is pretty good. We are on track to show an overall … [Read more...] about It’s lost in all the acrimony but the Cooperative Program is UP
Some Articles to Consider
Like you, I've been reading a lot about the current situation with Paige Patterson, the SBC annual meeting, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. It's a mess that doesn't appear to be headed for any kind of resolution before we arrive in Dallas for the annual meeting. While Patterson's original comments and recent response are deeply disturbing, there have been a few articles written since this all blew up that I have found very helpful and encouraging. I thought I would share them here in an effort to draw more attention to them. The first is an article by Beth Moore. She calls it … [Read more...] about Some Articles to Consider
From the Voice that Matters Most: Ephesians 2:1-5 – But God!
We share our opinions and insights at SBC Voices, but we believe that the Voice that matters most is the one that comes from God’s Word. We present these daily expositional devotions, beginning with a tour of Ephesians called, “Walk Worthy,” in hopes of encouraging our readers to remember to listen to the Voice above every voice. Passage: And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the … [Read more...] about From the Voice that Matters Most: Ephesians 2:1-5 – But God!
Our beloved, beleaguered denomination
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after conflict and controversy, for in the Southern Baptist Convention they will eventually be satisfied. - SBC Beatitude "Yet forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown" wrote Jonah and our SBC Annual Meeting is forty days hence. While the magnitude of the meeting doesn't look biblical it has the potential be catastrophic. In fact, it looks certain that there will be no shortage of rancor and acrimony. All in Good Christian Spirit as we Southern Baptists do rancor, one hopes. Last year the alt-right mess was unexpectedly upon us and, although … [Read more...] about Our beloved, beleaguered denomination
Harboring Conflicting Emotions Regarding Paige Patterson’s Counsel on Spousal Abuse and the Resulting Implications
The most loved and loathed personality in SBC history is, without a doubt, Dr. Paige Patterson, current President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX. Dr. Patterson remains a figure held in the highest esteem by many SBC pastors, who find no fault with his controversial and now well-known remarks, spoken on the subject of spousal abuse in 2000 at The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Patterson is loathed by many in the SBC, not only for the spousal abuse comments, but for many miscues, missteps, mistakes and positions taken, that many find unacceptable. [Wade … [Read more...] about Harboring Conflicting Emotions Regarding Paige Patterson’s Counsel on Spousal Abuse and the Resulting Implications
From the Voice that Matters Most: Ephesians 1:15-19 – Praise and Prayer
We share our opinions and insights at SBC Voices, but we believe that the Voice that matters most is the one that comes from God's Word. We present these daily expositional devotions, beginning with a tour of Ephesians called, "Walk Worthy," in hopes of encouraging our readers to remember to Voice above every voice. Passage: Ephesians 1:15-19 This is why, since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I never stop giving thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,[g] would … [Read more...] about From the Voice that Matters Most: Ephesians 1:15-19 – Praise and Prayer