This post was originally posted at hiswordhisglory.wordpress.com
I am a proud Southern Baptist and have spent the last 3 days at our annual meeting. There’s been plenty of negativity surrounding our annual meeting, but I’m going to stick those aspects of the annual meeting for which I am thankful. Here are my top ten reasons to be thankful for SBC2018
- We continue our belief in the inerrancy of scripture–There was no debate over Biblical interpretation, and there was nothing done that moved us towards a more liberal theology. while other denominations continue their liberal slide, we stand firmly rooted in the Word of God.
- We saw a generational leadership change–I believe we saw the beginnings of a generational leadership change which was overwhelmingly supported by the messengers. The election of JD Grear as our president, the restoration of Mr. Anderson to the board of the Ethics and Religious Liberties Commission, and the refusal to dismiss the executive committee of the board of trustees of SWBTS were all votes that fell along generational lines. What I mean by generational lines is that votes to dismiss Mr. Anderson, and dismiss the executive committee of the SWBTS trustees seem to come from older messengers. I am thankful there were plenty of older messengers who restored Mr. Anderson and defeated the SWBTS trustees motion. I do believe this was the beginning of a generational leadership change.
- My parents and in-laws kept our children–I am grateful that our parents, all four of them, kept our children, giving my wife and I some needed time to ourselves.
- I’m thankful for Mike Pence–No, I did not hear his speech, and I do not think he should have been allowed to address
our meeting, but what’s done is done, and I am thankful we have a man of faith in his position. - I’m thankful for JD Greear–I believe JD Greear will be a great president for our convention. I have nothing but respect for Ken Hemphill, and the work he has done on behalf of Southern Baptists, but I’m thankful JD Greear was elected by an overwhelming majority.
- I’m thankful I got to spend time with my wife–My wife and I are annual meeting geeks. We go every year and plan to continue going as long as we can. I love spending time alone with my wife. We saw an old friend of mine at the convention and he said we should rethink our definition of vacation, but we love Southern Baptists and we love spending time together. The annual meeting is our definition of a vacation. The only request I have is that we have a convention on the beach sometime in the future.
- I’m thankful for the works MBTS is doing–We went to the “For the Church” luncheon and the “Midwestern Seminary Friends and Alumni” luncheon. In both luncheons we heard about the incredible work Midwestern is doing, and we also heard men of character stand strong in their beliefs. I’m sure the other seminaries are excellent, but if I had to recommend a seminary, MBTS would be at the top of my list. They are strengthening our local churches.
- I’m thankful for Bart Barber–I didn’t think anyone could steal MVP of the convention from the red-haired boy who made the motion Tuesday afternoon, but Bart Barber showed everyone why we call the governing bodies of our institutions trustees. It may be early, but can you say Bart Barber for SBC President in 2020? We need to make this happen. Integrity and character matter in our leaders and Bart showed himself to be a man of immense integrity and sterling character and gave us an appropriate ending to the business proceedings of our convention.
- I’m thankful the drama was at a minimum–There were some tense moments, but social media overhyped everything prior to the meeting. I am thankful the drama was kept to a minimum and the spirit of unity pervaded our deliberations. There will always be grown men who act foolish both behind the scenes and at the microphones, but thankfully, those instances, at least at the microphones, were kept to a minimum.
- I got to meet William Thornton–I’m thankful I got to meet one of my favorite blog writers, and Voices realist on all things SBC, William Thornton. I really was in awe of the man, the myth, the legend. In all seriousness, I am thankful for Dave Miller, Brent Hobbs, Jay Adkins, Scott Gordon and others who made this new contributor feel welcome.
There’s much work to be done, but I encourage all of us to step back and thank God for our blessings. god has lavished His grace on our convention, and we move forward in a spirit of humility and thankfulness. To God be the glory.
You are very kind. I will consider giving you my autograph at a future convention.
My wife and I, like many pastors, ‘vacationed’ around the SBCAM for many years, more often than not with kids in tow. There’s always interesting things for the family on the host city.
I thought there was more drama at this one than in the last twenty combined.
Glad you came. It looked to me on Monday like there was a much younger crowd. I’m optimistic about the SBC future on you guy’s account.
It sounds like you guys really enjoyed Dallas. It is a great city. I wasn’t able to attend this year’s convention, but from following it online I was left with a bad taste in my mouth. I understand that the fellowship is often more important than what happens inside the meeting hall, but other than J.D. being elected, from the outside it seemed to be business as usual.
I had hoped for a spirit of repentance and shame over the abuse of women, but I got the sense from the speakers, and from your first point, that it was more about defending “complementarianism.” The defense of a cultural preference being called a defense of inerrancy feels a lot like the defense of slavery being called biblical. Was there anyone that spoke up and genuinely addressed the problem other than by making a resolution? Were there more demonstrations of repentance or at least awareness outside of the meeting?
BTW, who booked Dave Ramsey? It seemed like a distraction and a waste of valuable time.
Speaking of questionable decision making, bowing to Pence has been defended by some as “we have had political speakers in the past.” I can’t think of the words that would adequately express how stupid that sounds. It was an embarrassing and tone deaf decision. Hopefully, it will result in a total ban on all political speakers.
Bart’s confession admittedly was a good way to end the meeting, but I would have hoped that it could have been dealt with at the beginning and then more attention could have been focused on Patterson’s fighting against an audit and his disgraceful treatment of the victims. The trustees don’t need to be helping leadership, they need to be holding them accountable.
I do genuinely hope that shining a light on the political treatment of the ERLC trustee will be the greatest lesson learned. We need trustees that represent all of us, not one faction. Patterson/Pressler turned the convention into a political game and we need to begin to draw attention to their true legacy of attacking anyone who disagree with them and renew our focus on becoming like Christ. The world won’t listen to the gospel if we yell at them.
Rob: The Pence speech was definitely something that bummed me out and for the reasons you mentioned. The tone Tuesday was so great, then Pence interrupted that I felt and instead of it being a thank you speech, was a campaign speech I think. I hated that he was coming but nothing could be done as you saw it was attempted and shot down….twice. Your post portrays my feelings and thoughts perfectly so I won’t expound more . But I am elated at what happened in our voting…..never thought I would see it in my lifetime, so that kind of takes precedence in my memory. I couldn’t be happier despite some of the things you mentioned.
I don’t believe I heard anyone speak to our past treatment of women except Dr. Allen’s resolution which is a powerful message. Don’t discount resolutions. They are what the media picks up on. We have a long road to navigate when it comes to our treatment of women. That road should be paved with thoughtful actions that encourage women to speak and participate in denominational life. A weepy session or two of an annual meeting may be nice, but I’d rather see us promoting women.
Dave Ramsey is never a waste of time. Anyone who wants to encourage pastors and laypeople to Biblically steward their money is worth more than the time he was allotted. I think of our pastors and our churches learned how to Biblically steward their money, then we wouldn’t need Misssion Dignity..
I’m not sure the ERLC trustee had anything to do with Patterson or Pressler. I’m convinced he made someone mad, and the chairman of the nominating committee really didn’t want to defend their actions. It seemed like he knew what was coming when he gave the response to the ERLC trustee chairman.
Good points Tony, except for Dave Ramsey, but that is an agree to disagree. I think you are wrong on the ERLC, I think it was an attempt to change the trustee board and fire or get rid of Dr. Moore and Dan Anderson was just the beginning, which thankfully backfired. I do agree with your assessment of the ERLC firing in your OP, take issue with some in your comment.
What made me think that Mr. Anderson just merely made the wrong person mad is that the delegation from each state on the nominating committee is responsible for the nominees from their state, i.e. he made someone mad from the Kansas delegation. You could be right though. Maybe those who want Moore fired were just testing the waters. I’ve been known to be wrong once or twice a year..
Exactly.
I’m glad I got to meet William Thornton too. He’s such a great guy as are the rest of the Voices staff. It was so good to meet the people of Voices. It was one of the most memorable parts of my husband’s and my trip to Dallas. Thank you all for the great time. My husband so enjoyed it.
The whole trip was memorable. My husband was proud he was able to navigate Dallas traffic as we went to and from the Convention center. I am telling you that man is a human GPS. It always amazes me even after 34 years of marriage.
It was so good to see people that we have just known online. We left with a sprint in our step, and tears in my eyes due to the Convention process itself.
Pleasure to meet you and your husband, Debbie, after all these years
William: I wish you guys lived closer so we could converse deeper. The welcome my husband and I received from the writers of Voices was great, the conversation and laughing good. My husband remarked he loved sitting there and taking it all in, everyone was so kind to him. So glad he was with me. Thank all of you from the bottom of my heart. This has been a very emotional Convention for me and still is.
I was in Dallas two months ago for a friend’s wedding and did most of the driving. Navigating Dallas was rough on our first day there – and we are from/used to driving in Atlanta.
Matt M,
Just curious, ive never been to dallas, and just drove through Atlanta on the way to Florida, what made dallas so much harder? On Google maps they look about the same as far as freeways go,though Atlanta had a few more.
I was in the room when Dan Anderson was replaced by Rich Bott. Russell Moore’s name was never mentioned by the lady and gentman from Kansas/Nebraska. A gentleman from Texas criticized Russell Moore in the early stages of the meeting. His criticism was stinging. He was told immediately we were not there to discuss entity heads but to name trustees. The man from Texas was rebuked.
A clarification must be made, the chairman of the ERLC speaking on the floor of the convention made it seem that the Committee on Nomination members from Kansas/Nebraska said Dan A was unwillingly to serve when he in fact wanted to serve. That is not the case. The members from Kansas/Nebraska made it clear Dan A. was willing to serve but they desired to replace him. As a matter of fact, there was a discussion in the room about the seriousness of not allowing a second term.
I can say with certainty there was no orchestrated move by the CON to replace ERLC trustees with anti-Moore guys.
Dean, are you saying that the committee as a whole made no such orchestrated move, but that there may have been such a move by the Kansas/Nebraska members, who just didn’t explain that was their reasoning to the rest of the committee?
Brent, I wouldn’t say it that way. I publically challenged the committee members from Kansas/Neb about not giving a second term to Dan A. Second terms are usually more productive.
The members from K/N said Rich Bott was their man. Knowing Bott Radio’s position on matters and how great a church Lenexa Baptist is I accepted their nominee. Their focus publically was on Rich Bott. If they had a Russ Moore ax to grind they didn’t share it with us. I will not speculate on what their motives might have been.
I will say with certainty the CON had no political agenda as a whole.
Dean, this paragraph from BP is why it was stated Dan A was unwilling to serve while he was actually willing. It’s my understanding that no correction was offered until the annual meeting itself.
http://www.bpnews.net/50780/sbc-executive-committee-boards-commission-seminaries-committee-nominees-announced
Mike, the comment from the floor of the convention made it seem that the CON members from K/N lied to the full committee saying Dan didn’t want to serve when they in fact made it very clear this was their decision and that Dan wanted to serve. From my perspective, a simple “Dan is here and wants to serve” comment would have been suffice. The comments painted the CON in an unfair way. No one tried any trickery to get Dan A replaced.
Dean your comment goes to my original supposition that Mr. Anderson made someone mad, and particularly, someone from the Kansas/Nebraska delegation.
FWIW, i assumed you were not part of whatever went on.
My suspicion was that it was a more local thing,
Also, I will say this. We confirmed the story with 3 credible and authoritative sources before we ran with it. I contacted the chairman and offered to share the information I had but he was disinterested.
FWIW? It’s worth much.
BTW, anyone who has spent any time with me at all knows I am a small church pastor guy. I never want a brother to feel slighted because his church is small than others. I pray Dan A serves well and feels great that his state convention president and the SBC stood for him.
I just wanted to defend the CON from unfair criticism.