Cooperative Program escrowing is rare, but evidently highly leveraged. Earlier in the year a prominent megapastor and megachurch announced that they were escrowing CP gifts over statements coming out of the ERLC. This was resolved but while the Executive Committee’s attention was on the matter, they voted to do a study. It was implied that numerous churches escrow their cooperative gifts, leading me to think that the problem may be more widespread than a few disgruntled megas. The study was completed and a report given. BP’s headine was, CP witholding found to be lower than anticipated. Seems that less than two in a thousand SBC churches escrowed CP monies last year. In fact, the committee could only confirm that fourteen churches (out of our 50k or so total churches) did so. The EC is going to receive regular reports on this stuff. Maybe we shouldn’t jump so high every time a megapastor says, “boo.”
Seminary history prof says ” the vast majority of Confederate monuments to be simply taken down…” as reported here. I don’t want to open this back up but there are over 1,500 of these. His reasoning relies on the argument, made previously by others, that the timing of the erection leads to this conclusion.
He said it is no accident that the most prolific period of the erection of Confederate monuments was the two decades from the 1890s to about World War I, a “low point in American race relations” marked by segregation, disenfranchisement and lynching of blacks across the South.” I think that is a weak argument (though I don’t question that it was a low point) and I’d challenge the point about monuments established in the 1950s. Perhaps the naming of schools and streets but not monuments. The monument period prior to WWI was close to the establishment of the revived Klan of 1915 but something else was happening then as well – CSA veterans were dying. My direct CSA ancestors uttered their last rebel yell in 1899, 1902, 1903, 1905, 1907, and 1908. To impute the deplorable lynchings and racism to those is, well, not well established. Perhaps if the prof is to jump into this area with assertions he could be more solid on his arguments. My previously stated view is that these monuments should undergo a community review and some would be better placed elsewhere. I’m not angry about it but would like to see a more cogent argument.
The February IMB trustee meeting will get a lot of attention, I suspect. For reasons previously discussed here. We need some long term stability at our flagship institution.
The national Cooperative Program finishes its year slightly UP. I’m prognosticating the Executive Committee’s year end fiscal report which will be put out early next week. That will be good news.
SBC Disaster Relief and Puerto Rico. One can see why some crises demand a vigorous government response. We can’t get our feeding units on the island. Perhaps this has been updated and we have…terrible situation.
I’m not preaching this Sunday but if I were I hope I would have better sense than to work Hef into my sermon.
Have a splendid Lord’s Day.
