One feature of the annual meeting of our beloved Southern Baptist Convention is a time for reports from entity heads. These leaders usually leave a short time for questions from the floor. While I’m not planning to be in muggy St. Louis next month, if I were and could stake out one of the floor mics here’s a question or two that I’d like to ask:
For David Platt, International Mission Board leader:
The locations of our overseas personnel has shifted over the past years to a greater proportion being in World A locations. I presume that these are more difficult and stressful places and would like to know some things about attrition rates:
- What is the attrition rate for our career personnel after 5 years, 10 years?
- Is there a difference in rates in World A countries and other locations?
- What is the IMB doing to reduce these rates?
- Has the IMB found that certain measures or methods of support from the home churches of personnel have reduced attrition rates.
What is the average cost of a career missions couple (single) from initial contact with IMB through appointment and the end of the first full term?
For Kevin Ezell, North American Mission Board leader:
NAMB uses “Strategic Cooperative Agreements” and “Strategic Cooperative Budgets” with state conventions to spell out joint work and funding for such work. Given that all of NAMB’s funding comes from the churches and individuals, what is the reasoning behind the policy that these agreements not public information to Southern Baptists?
NAMB has been criticized for being heavy-handed in it’s relationship with some of the non-southern states where NAMB provides much or most funding for many personnel. Why would it not be preferable to distribute funds to these state conventions as grants not tied to specific positions or goals and let local staff utilize them as they think best?
For Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary:
SBC presidential candidate Steve Gaines is quoted as saying, “Calvinism does not need to be taught as the exclusive, optimal theological viewpoint in our seminaries. Non-Calvinist students should not be subjected to Calvinistic professors who proactively seek to convert them to Calvinism. None of our seminaries should have a faculty of professors who are exclusively Calvinistic. Non-Calvinistic professors should be an integral part of each one of our seminary faculties because most Southern Baptists are not Calvinists, and they are the ones that fund our seminaries and pay the salaries of our professors.”
Although Gaines did not name SBTS and SEBTS, others have made accusations about your two seminaries doing that to which Gaines objects. Are non-Calvinist students subjected to proactive conversion efforts by professors in your seminaries and does your faculty include non-Calvinistic professors?
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On the questions for Platt, I don’t know the answers and don’t know that I’ve ever seen material published by IMB or by missiologists in our seminaries who have been given IMB data on which they have done research. This is perhaps the most critical personnel issue for IMB and I’d like to see these rates.
On the questions for Ezell, he has an article that generally explains the agreements and the reason they are not public. While I have an idea about the second question, being the troublemaker that I am, I’d just like to see how much explanation he would give.
On the questions for Al Mohler and Danny Akin, Gaines has laid down a marker by raising the questions and making specific demands. I don’t disagree with him at all. He didn’t name names but others have and have named SBTS and SEBTS. I’d like to seen Mohler and Akin have a chance to respond. Akin has responded specifically to such things in the past.
Of course, no one will ask these questions and there’s not enough time to fully treat the subjects anyway. But, when Southern Baptists have questions, it’s always good for our leaders to give answers. If this convention is like any of the couple of dozen I’ve attended, a lot of floor time will be expended on subjects much more trivial than these.
I trust that my SBC convention-going colleagues will have a grand time in St. Louis.
Not sure about Southeastern, but the founding Abstract of Principles at Southern seems to require a Calvinistic faculty. As to conversion pressure at Southern, I have not witnessed such in the first 39 hours of my Advanced MDiv.
I’ve had friends go to Southern. They felt the pressure to convert, or else be looked down upon as sub-Christians, who are not intellectual or spiritual enough to actually accept Calvinism. I’ve had friends tell me that some of the Profs they had came down pretty hard on it, while others influenced the class just by being the dominant theology of the school. You know, they’re the Profs. They must be right…especially if ALL the Profs are Calvinists.
David
As a graduate of SBTS, the only classes I heard much talk of Calvinism were the 1 of 3 systematic theologies that covered the topic, and church/Baptist history. And with the, most of my theology profs were 4-pointers, tops, not usually down with limited atonement. As a student, I felt zero pressure from any faculty member to be a Calvinist. There were students who were Calvinist-or-bust, and who couldn’t believe that an Arminian like Russ Moore was allowed to teach there (and that’s not a joke, I knew some guys who said that since Moore rejects limited). But I never… Read more »
I’ve not witnessed anything even approaching what you are reporting, David. After a full year at SBTS, I would be quite surprised if such is actually happening.
David – would you be willing to contact your friends and have them comment on their experience here at voices?
I think that this is an excellent article that demonstrates the right approach when offering questions. I have watched the life stream of questions of past conventions, and most of the time the questions seem more like an interrogation. Further, I think the way you articulated your last question was very even handed and helpful.
Good questions here. I will say this about the seminaries… I went to Boyce College/Southern and had never even heard of calvinism. I did not have one professor in my time there ever push calvinism, at all. It is the students who do the pushing. My professors always presented multiple view points very fairly and explained where they stood. Genuinely, no professor was ever heavy handed or even tried to be very persuasive. They did their jobs very professionally and fairly. Seminary presidents can’t control the students who get overly excited about the wrong things (of which I once was).… Read more »
That’s very interesting. One of my closest friends went to SBTS for his MDiv and then SWBTS for his ThM. He said that he heard more about Calvinism at SWBTS than he did at SBTS.
Kenneth Keathley, a Systematic Prof at SEBTS, is a Molinist. SEBTS does not have exclusively Calvinists.
Likewise, it works both ways. We should not have exclusivly Non-Calvinist profs at our seminaries. I would love to know the ratio of Non Calvinist profs to Calvinist Profs in SBTS and compare that to the ratio of Non Calvinist Profs to Calvinist Profs in NOBTS or SWBTS. ,
William, I have no issue with your questions – they are pretty good. Tyler that is exactly what I was thinking as I read this post and the comments. I, too think we should ask Chuck Kelly and Piage Patterson the same questions. Gaines has done exactly what I hoped would not be done. That is to unnecessary throw down red meat and the gauntlet making this a Cal vs. non cal. election. There is no good end to that. If the “non cal win” with Gaines they will read too much into it and take it too far. If… Read more »
Meant to say the *rabid anti cals will read into it and take it too far.
Shouldn’t the other side of the equation be asked? Do non-Calvinist professors at all of our SBC seminaries present both sides dispassionately and fairly? Or do they build the straw man about Calvinism and then slay it? Money from Calvinistic churches goes to the other seminaries as well. My experience has been a passionate attack to slay a view of Calvinism that is not held by most Calvinists.