After ten months of this fiscal year the CP is looking like there will be a slight increase for the year. Last year the Florida Baptist Convention sold their building and made a $3.1 million gift to the CP allocation budget. Because of that the yearly total may be slightly under last year. National CP […]
Georgia Baptists have a nominee for our state convention CEO
The Georgia Baptist Mission Board is one of the largest state conventions ranking second or third by several measures. The GBMB will likely be the second largest contributor to the SBC Cooperative Program allocation budget this year. Our CEO is retiring after 25 years and a new one has been nominated. Thomas Hammond to be […]
The SBC needs vigorous Traditionalist voices
So, what’s up with the Trads these days? The loose SBC political sub-group generally labeled “Traditionalists” has manifestly been in disarray since the late May SBC Today meltdown and severe losses at the mid-June SBC. Please, don’t throw any hymnals at me for saying it. The Facebook discussion page was jettisoned and has been replaced […]
Evangelism or Compassion?
I’m excited about the recent upswing in public words of affirmation for local baptist associations. I love hearing about the good things happening all around our convention related to the very important (I’d even say pivotal) role that the association can play in permeating the larger local area with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. My […]
Should entity trustees consider younger CEO retirement ages?
Perhaps some of our entities already have this but I think a good case could be made for not having leaders continue well into their 70s before leaving. It would force planned transitions, avoid messy situations, and help retain talented, younger leaders. I recognize that we have a general distaste for an arbitrary age at […]
From the ERLC: A note about a recent video
Concern has been expressed across social media about a video published yesterday on the ERLC website. The ERLC has clarified that the video was published by mistake. Please take note of the just released statement below: Yesterday, the team I lead at the ERLC posted a video on our website about the way humans should […]
Signs of a Healthy Church? Lessons from Multiplying Churches in Asia (Don Dent)
In the summer of 2018, I joined five other Southern Baptist theological educators visiting IMB work in a specific segment of Asia. For 9 days we studied and assessed networks of reproducing churches organized in networks – 20,000 new churches in 8 years. One motivation for this assessment was to see whether such movements are producing healthy churches. […]
A Plea to Our Predecessors (Scott M. Douglas)
Last night my heart was grieved yet again as I read (yet again) another essay from an older SBC statesman lamenting that things “ain’t what they used to be.” With more straw men and mischaracterizations and a healthy dose of fear mongering, I was grieved not because of how the Convention is portrayed or how its trajectory […]
The Best of Enemies
Do you know the names Ann Atwater, CP Ellis, and Howard Fuller? I didn’t until I read the book “The Best of Enemies,” by Osha Gray Davidson. The book chronicles racial relations in Durham, North Carolina in the 1960’s. I heard about the story of CP Ellis and Ann Atwater during this year’s pastors’ conference […]
Will new tax on churches force thousands of congregations to file tax returns?
How about my putting the probably answer at the first here? “NO.” But scare headlines are always with us these days. Here’s a couple of articles I’ve run across on the subject: New tax levied in GOP overhaul draws laments from churches, other nonprofits Churches and other nonprofit groups are struggling to make sense of […]
We Can Do Something – Thoughts on Protecting our Churches from Sexual Predators
When I was 16 years old, our church hired a new pastor. I was excited and intrigued because this was the first time I could remember our church hiring a new pastor. (Turns out there was a good reason for that, as the previous pastor had been there for 19 years.) The new pastor was […]
Be On Guard: Thoughts on Electing a Woman as SBC President
A few years ago I went to a panel discussion at a large SBC missions conference. It was supposed to be about setting women free to be whatever they can be in the church. I know that the hosts of this discussion had noble intentions from the outset. They could see that women are sadly […]