I really enjoyed my time in Columbus this year at the SBC Annual Meeting. Here are six factors that made this the best convention I’ve attended.
Ronnie Floyd’s Leadership
Last year (2014), I voted for Dennis Kim for SBC president. That wasn’t necessarily anything against Ronnie Floyd—I wanted to see us continue to celebrate our non-white Southern Baptists after electing Fred Luter the two conventions previous. All that to say I didn’t have much of an opinion of Ronnie Floyd one way or the other, positive or negative, before this year’s convention.
Alan Cross’ article a few weeks ago alerted me to the fact that Floyd has been working hard toward racially diverse representation on the committee he was responsible for appointing, and possibly also keeping the issue in front of other committees and boards to ensure the issue was made a priority.
There was also a constant emphasis on prayer and unity as I heard Ronnie speak in his interview in the SBC This Week podcast about two weeks before the convention. So for me there were positive indications before the annual meeting.
Those good signs proved to be only the beginning. Floyd gave a very good convention sermon and conducted the business of the convention well (even when he told me to stop speaking, another post soon on that incident). This convention was probably the most encouraging and enjoyable I’ve been to from a programming/schedule standpoint, and I think that was in large part due to the rearranged schedule Ronnie Floyd worked to put in place. The prayer time on Tuesday night was amazing. More on that below.
Schedule Adjustment
This year we consolidated similar types of reports and business together in the same session. I was skeptical this would make much of a difference in the actual convention experience. I was wrong about that. The activities of the day seemed to flow and make sense. The continuity was a welcome adjustment. The previously prevalent random “let’s stand up and sing a song now to kill a few minutes” wasn’t missed at all. Judging by the number of people still in the convention hall even at the end of some of the sessions, I’d say the change was a huge success with those attending.
I think my only complaint with the schedule was that the seminary report time (all 6 back-to-back) seemed to drag on longer than my attention span was able to stay focused. But then the rather uncomfortable convention center chairs might have been to blame as much as the actual duration. Maybe a 3+3 format with something in the middle to break up the length of the report section, or something similar, could be considered next year.
Prayer Segment
The highlight of the convention schedule was the call to prayer segment on Tuesday night. I’ve heard good messages preached at the convention before, but this was the most powerful, extended worship element I’ve ever seen in the 5 conventions I’ve been to personally (and watched several online in that same time). And I mean by far. No competition. Dave Miller said he remembered a pretty powerful time back in the mid 80’s (about the time I was in kindergarten 🙂 sorry Dave) when Bellevue organized some banners to march in during a worship time, but that had only lasted a couple minutes. This was an extended time of worship and calling out to God. The time of prayer for racial reconciliation was amazing, as well as powerful times of prayer for the persecuted church and several other areas.
Send NA Lunch
Another highlight of the convention, for me, was the Send North America/IMB lunch on Monday. Kevin Ezell and David Platt shared the stage and talked for something like 30-45 minutes. There was good information presented. The contrast between the two, with Ezell’s tendency to crack a joke about every other word, then Platt’s intensity (which he left only briefly to give a courtesy laugh to Kevin’s jokes) was classic. I think more than half the convention showed up for this lunch and I’m glad I wasn’t one of the few who missed it.
People
What would a SBC Annual Meeting be without getting to catch up with friends and meet new ones? I talked to so many people with such obvious love and joy in their lives because of Christ. I sat down at the Southern Lunch with a table full of people, most of whom I had never met, and within minutes we were talking like we had known each other for years and rejoicing in the work God is doing in each others’ lives and ministries.
I met some people whose names you’d know from the stage. Each one impressed me (as much as you can tell in a 5 minute conversation or so) as being real and authentic, not walking around with an inflated sense of importance like some might expect. I got to have conversations with Steve Gaines, Clint Pressley, Ronnie Floyd (briefly), and Kevin Smith (if I could name drop a little bit) and thoroughly enjoyed meeting each of them. In the exhibit hall, Steve Gaines called us over to pray with him for a young man who’s going with his family to Alaska to plant a church. It’s little stuff like that where I’m reminded that the pastors whose faces we see on stage and whose voices we’ve heard mpreach are real men who love God, people, and the work of ministry. They can be easy objects for criticism because of prominent roles (no one’s saying they’re perfect) but I believe each of them, as well as many others I didn’t meet are striving to serve Christ and I want to rejoice that God has blessed their ministries so tremendously.
But it’s not mainly the stage personalities that encourage me about our convention. It’s the people I know from blogging & twitter, people I’ve met at previous conventions, people I’ve gone to church with in the past. Hanging out with the SBC Voices guys was awesome. I got to spend a lot of time with Gentry Hill, one of my former youth who’s now graduated from seminary and is now looking for a church to pastor, and who was an absolute lifesaver several times this week. (What a joy to see a former student ready to take on a full time ministry role?! Wow.) I want to go on but this section’s too long already. Too many great people to list and God greatly encouraged me this week through them.
Encouraging Work of Entities
The reason we all get together every year is because of the cooperative work we do through our mission boards, seminaries, LifeWay, ERLC, and others. I said it on twitter during the week and I’ll say it again here, we have tremendous leadership in each of these entities and they are doing amazing work— work that deserves to be supported with prayer, CP giving, and our encouragement for these organizations. NAMB and LifeWay are doing the best work they’ve done in years. Our IMB has always done excellent work and Platt is leading them to even greater effectiveness and focus on partnering with local churches. I can’t think of a better spokesman for us on public policy and ethics issues today than Russell Moore and his team at the ERLC. The seminaries continue to do well. And hey, GuideStone has good insurance & retirement too.
My first annual meeting was in 2005. Back then there were some bright spots but there were also some things that frustrated me with the state of the SBC. Since that time, my support of the CP has moved from feeling almost obligatory to enthusiastic as I see the direction we’re going and the unity with which we’re traveling there. Attendance has ticked up the past two years, and recent reports showed a slight increase in current year CP giving. Both indicators could mean nothing, but they could also show a slightly renewed interest in our cooperative work as a convention. I pray that’s what we’re seeing because I think it would reward well the hard work that’s been put in to get our convention moving in its current, encouraging direction.
Great meeting, Columbus 2015. Maybe St. Louis can be even better.
For me, the general spirit of the convention was as good as I’ve seen it.
I’ve been blessed by the past several Conventions, but this one seemed pleasantly free from the division and disagreements we’ve seen in years past. There was a real sense of unity and desire to partner together for Christ and His gospel.
Except when Brent Hobbs tried to replace the man from 1st Katy.
David
That wasn’t really a divisive moment either. Brent was quickly shot down and business moved on as usual.
Also, disagree or not, and despite implications made by several posters here, Brent’s intent and tone was clear in his nomination – he felt and articulated that Dr. Floyd’s call for visible unity would be better served by a nominee who might be less divisive.
Todd, I wasn’t there so I am only relying on your observation. However, I do have a concern. This concern has not hidden implications or nefarious intentions.
This will probably sound crazy (it even sounds a bit crazy in my own head), but can we automatically assume that the lack of controversy and debate is a sign of “unity?”
Could it not also be a sign of “apathy?” From what I read on blogs and such, the supposed unity at the convention does not seem to be reflected in the SBC populace at large.
I certainly hope that the unity displayed was true unity and not a reflection that SB people have become less passionate about matters.
I often tell my people that one the best groomed, best organized and most peaceful place on earth is a grave yard.
I am reluctant to post this because I can envision the accusation that I am simply stirring up the pot because I like controversy. Only somebody that does not know me would make that accusation, however.
If I saw this kind of unity in the blogs, or even in my own Association, I’d be more thrilled about it.
Again, I hope this is the sign of a new day in SBC life and not just a “memorial service” for a once great denomination.
For my money, I believe that the unity of the Convention is more representative of grass roots Southern Baptists than what we see on the blogosphere. I’ve seen the same unity at association, state, and regional meetings recently. Granted, my perspective is limited and if I’m wrong then I’m at least thankful for a Covention of messengers that will model unity for the larger constituency and pray that it catches on. “How good it is when brothers dwell together in unity!”
I agree with Todd’s assessment. I’ve seen apathy and it can be described as unity at times – no one cares enough to have a disagreement. But that’s not what I saw at the convention. People were engaged and excited about what’s going on.
Brent, you sort of make my point.
What you witnessed if you view the Convention was unity–I have no reason to doubt that.
What does it say that nearly 5 million Southern Baptists were not at that meeting?
I hope Todd is right that there is a new wave of unity blowing across the SB landscape.
I am not seeing it at the local level. I see more and more “independence.” I realize that my perspective is very small and could easily be wrong.
What I would like to see is more of an emphasis on the local church and less on the personalities and perspectives of the Convention folks.
My church is one of the top-giving churches in our State and I’ve never had as much as a phone call from anyone in the State for the last six years, let alone ever from someone at NAMB or the IMB.
In the old days the participation flowed rather distinctly from the church to the association to the state and to the convention–and the same path returning.
Now, each of these levels are much more autonomous and almost compete with one another for power and control.
The local church has become more and more of an appendage to the Convention than the driving force.
At least, that’s my impression of the state of the matter over the last few years.
As an example, consider the time of the CR. My church regularly received communication from the State and National Convention–both pro and con at times. Associations rallied their constituents to attend meetings.
It seems Baptists need a “cause” and something they feel passionate about. Is that what is at the foundation of this new “unity” at the Convention? If it is, then bright days are ahead for us.
If not, well . . .
Jack,
I think you have really hit on something here. The attendees at this year’s SBC convention only represent a fraction of those connected to the convention. The question you have raised is what group represents the heart and soul of Southern Baptists, those in attendance or those who for whatever reason stayed home. Was it apathy, ambivalence or alienation? Unfortunately there is no way to determine the answer. I suspect that the convention is more fragmented than anyone wants to admit and it is only by the Grace of God that we are still somewhat unified by the BFM and with a desire to tolerate each other’s opinions for the sake of the common goal of the Gospel. If ( and this is a big if) we can keep the Gospel central we will stay together but if secondary or peripheral social issues consume our focus then we will lose our unity not to mention our effectiveness.
Christ our Lord never lost his focus, he continued to the cross to accomplish the work His Father gave him to do.
The only way we can stay together and be effective is to keep our focus.
wilbur
I’ve mentioned my concerns elsewhere, so there’s no need to review them here.
I was especially blessed by Ronnie Floyd’s sermon. I enjoyed Russell Moore’s ERLC Report. In fact, I enjoyed Moore’s report last year as well. Props to Ronnie Floyd for his ethnically diverse appointments. The prayer meeting turned out much better than I had imagined. I enjoyed the screening of “Woodlawn.”
Want to hear something cool that nobody is talking about? Southwestern Seminary will soon construct a Roy Fish Missions and Evangelism Building. And what will be displayed? Lottie Moon’s house! They actually found Lottie Moon’s house and it will reside at Southwestern, inspiring students and telling her story for generations.
Rick,
Great news about SWBTS. I look forward to seeing it.
David R. Brumbelow
Is that her house from China or Virginia or another place she lived? Is the actual house being moved or are they building a replica? Sounds interesting.
This is from a 2009 BP article:
“Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary unveiled a shipment from China Dec. 16 containing remnants from the Chinese home and belongings of Lottie Moon.
The seminary plans to display the items in order to preserve Moon’s legacy and edify Southern Baptists, who have collected a Christmas missions offering in the name of the devoted missionary since 1918…”
Complete story:
http://www.bpnews.net/31935/lottie-moon-belongings-unveiled
David R. Brumbelow
Cool
Yes, that does sound indeed really cool!
Maybe when the convention takes place in Dallas a in ’17? We can see it?
That is really cool.
Glad it went well. Glad we are having good reports from different directions. Glad to be a Southern Baptist. Now, if they would just have it in Dallas one Year and Nashville the next and alternate back and forth I’d get to go more often.
Throw in Atlanta if the Braves are in town….3 year cycle 🙂
Actually, might be worth advocating a permanent habitation in Nashville. Worth considering if we think about this: Executive Committee employees live in the Nashville area; Lifeway employees live in Nashville area…seminary employees, NAMB, and IMB have to travel to be wherever it is except the occasional time it is in their home city.
Might reduce the logistical cost behind the scenes. I know that Church of God in Christ had their annual convocation in Memphis for quite a few years running, and it was good for the tourism folks in town as well as enabling attendees to get used to the area. Just a thought.
Regarding Nashville for conventions: I’m on one of Frank Page’s advisory committees. At our May meeting he mentioned that the cost of hotel rooms in Nashville for a future SBC meeting was excessively higher than for other cities. So the EC would look elsewhere. And I thought the room prices were already high!
Now that’s worth knowing—hard data helps.
Of course, if you’re a recurring event every year, and have a good monetary value to businesses, you have better negotiating power. The difficulty is that there’s no real way to test the idea without doing it–would it help attendance? No way to know without doing it for 3 years. If it did, then you’d increase your clout. If it didn’t, you’d go down….
More on the Lottie Moon house:
“The new building [at SWBTS] will be located on the immediate west side of Pecan Manor. In addition to housing the college and the school of evangelism and missions, [Paige] Patterson says the building will contain up-to-date classroom facilities and a memorial to Lottie Moon, a Southern Baptist missionary who spent nearly 40 years teaching and evangelizing in China. The memorial will contain some of Moon’s belongings as well as her Chinese home. Patterson says ground could be broken on the new building as early as the spring of 2015.”
http://swbts.edu/campus-news/news-releases/southwestern-receives-12-million-lead-gift-for-construction-project/
David R. Brumbelow
Thanks David.