SBC Voices

What we need is a little more optimism, a lot less doomsday

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Here is the press release of the SATF: Today, the members of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention voted to fully fund the third-party independent investigation by Guidepost Solutions as requested by the Sexual Abuse Task Force. It also encouraged the Executive Committee officers and Task Force to work toward a solution within 7 days regarding the waiving of attorney-client privilege as directed by the Messengers in their motion. While we are glad that the investigation can begin, we are disappointed that so far, the Executive Committee has not followed the … [Read more...] about What we need is a little more optimism, a lot less doomsday

Observations from a Task Force Member

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If you are a Southern Baptist, you need to understand what has just happened in your Executive Committee.  They have flagrantly defied the overwhelming will of the Messengers. A few dozen folks in Nashville decided they know better than the 17,000 Messengers appointed by the churches. Waiver of privilege was not something the Messengers delegated to the EC to consider in their discretion; waiver was a direct and specific command from the Messengers, and it was flouted. Please understand the implications of this. They have just opened up the SBC to MASSIVE liability. In every lawsuit against … [Read more...] about Observations from a Task Force Member

Of Unlearned Fishermen and Simple, Spirit-Filled Christians

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I will not give the churches over into the hands of the lawyers, the academicians, the risk analysts, the CEOs, or the politicians. Christ put the church into the hands of simple, Spirit-filled Christians. While we must neither lie nor steal, we are not beholden in the operations of local churches to academic rules about footnotes or attribution of sources. This is not to excuse Ed Litton (yesterday on Twitter I said what he did was wrong in my opinion), but rather this is to throw off the yoke of Turabian in the context of a local church. Sunday, Michael Linton used in a sermon of his own … [Read more...] about Of Unlearned Fishermen and Simple, Spirit-Filled Christians

The Authority of the SBC Executive Committee: Where does it come from and how far does it go?

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As the trustees of the Executive Committee prepare to meet this week, discussion has elevated about the responsibility of the trustees to the convention, with words flying around like attorney-client privilege, best practices, executive session, and the fiduciary duties of the Executive Committee. What follows is some research into the historical role of the SBC, how they spend the money of the convention, and the authority that has been given to them by the messengers.       Over the history of the EC as an SBC entity, the Convention has been clear that … [Read more...] about The Authority of the SBC Executive Committee: Where does it come from and how far does it go?

When will Rhetoric become Reality? (Southern Baptist Convention, we’re talking to you) – by Dave Pittman

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Delegates at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting this summer voted overwhelmingly to create a task force to oversee an independent investigation into the denomination’s handling of sexual abuse. The resolution calls for the newly elected SBC president, Alabama pastor Ed Litton, to appoint the task force, which will head up a review of allegations that the denomination’s Executive Committee mishandled abuse cases, intimidated victims and advocates and resisted reforms. And from the floor of the Convention, something happened I never believed would have. Someone, other than his … [Read more...] about When will Rhetoric become Reality? (Southern Baptist Convention, we’re talking to you) – by Dave Pittman

ERLC Trustees Initiate an Assessment of Sexual Abuse in the SBC

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While all eyes seem fixed on the EC meeting next week, a significant step in addressing sexual abuse in the SBC took place this morning at the ERLC trustee meeting. In June, a motion was made at the SBC annual meeting calling for an “audit and assessment of sexual abuse within the SBC.” That motion was referred to the ERLC whose trustees met in Nashville this week. The executive committee of the ERLC (not to be confused with the SBC Executive Committee) recommended to the full board both a statement of support in response to the motion and initial funding and first steps in implementing the … [Read more...] about ERLC Trustees Initiate an Assessment of Sexual Abuse in the SBC

The Minutes of the First Meeting of the Intergenerational Heroes of Freedom

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I received a secret transcript of a meeting that took place in the other realm, a meeting of the Intergenerational Heroes of Freedom. They met to tell their stories of heroism during their often too brief stays here on earth. There were freedom fighters and those who resisted tyrants from all over the globe and throughout time. Many of them still bore the marks of their torture. The first to speak was a Polish woman who described how she fought to the death in the Warsaw ghetto during World War II. Refusing to flee to safety, she stood with her compatriots against the German army and … [Read more...] about The Minutes of the First Meeting of the Intergenerational Heroes of Freedom

Twenty Years Since THE Day

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My parents hadn't met when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. I was in first grade when the teacher gathered us around in our reading circle to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot and did not grasp the historical import of the moment. I was watching when Reagan was shot and went outside my Florida home to peruse the weird cloud in the sky caused by the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle.  All of these were major moments in our modern history. None of them compare to the shock and awe that gripped us the day America came under attack - September 11, 2001. It is hard to … [Read more...] about Twenty Years Since THE Day

In the name of God by OS Hawkins

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History is written by the victors, or so I'm told. But it's not always easy to tell who won.  That's one of the lessons from the from the outstanding new book "In the Name of God: The Colliding Lives, Legends, and Legacies of J. Frank Norris and George W. Truett" by Dr. OS Hawkins.  The book does just what it describes, examining the entangled lives and legacies of these two legendary pastors. As pastors of FBC Ft Worth and FBC Dallas, respectively, both men had an outsized influence on their community, the SBC, and even evangelicalism as a whole.  I cannot recommend the book enough for any … [Read more...] about In the name of God by OS Hawkins