That would be the moment in our annual session when messenger and trustee of Southwestern Seminary, Bart Barber, said the following:
I am an old-time Baptist congregationalist. My church has business meetings every month because I want us to have business meetings every month. I believe in our polity. And it is a part of our polity that our entity heads do not get to remove trustees when they become an inconvenience to them, that entity heads have to answer to their boards both when they want to do so and when they don’t want to do so, that seminary employees have to abide by board decisions.
Paige Patterson is a human being made in the image of God. He is a man who has promoted some of the finest women scholars in our convention. He is a master exegete and the consummate preacher. Even today I’d vote for him for any of those things, and I’m thankful for the Conservative Resurgence and all that it accomplished. I was not out to get him; I was out to help him. But I cannot vote for him to occupy any monarchy. We are Baptists. We have no popes. We are all accountable to someone. Whatever divides us, I hope that we are all in agreement about that.
For my part, I’m accountable to you. I’m a tell-the-people-and-trust-the-Lord Baptist. Whatever you decide, I will abide by it. It has been a great honor to serve you in this way. Thank you for the trust you have placed in me. I have tried to defend your rights at SWBTS. I would urge you as you vote to consider this: Please do not rob the trustees throughout our convention of their spine. They keep our entities accountable to you. Think of the precedent this will set if we start voting out trustees every time they face a difficult decision. Will any board have the courage to hold entity heads accountable again? And if they are unaccountable to their trustees, they are unaccountable to you. If you rob the trustees of their spine, you rob the messengers of their voice.
We Southern Baptists have “moments” and we have “movements.” Sometimes a “moment” becomes a “movement.” Barber’s short time at the mic in Dallas qualifies as an authentic “moment,” easily excelling beyond other important statements, votes, and actions around the SBC during 2018. Here are a few reasons why I think this to be so:
- If not spontaneous, it was not one of those planned and plotted grandstand moments. Any SBCer who has been around for a while learns to recognize these. Some celeb or celeb-wannabe rises for his moment in the sun. He may or may not have prayed about it but he certainly planned it, discussed it with others, and rehearsed it. He gets all the backslaps, atta boys, and maybe gets some visibility and a greater entree into the SBC oligarchy. Bart Barber’s moment was, best I can understand and best I could see from across the cavernous convention hall, an occasion that wasn’t hatched in a back room and carefully orchestrated. While as a SWBTS trustee he certainly would have had more information than the rest of us, it looked to me like one Baptist having his say and saying it well.
- We Southern Baptists say we don’t have popes but until we show it, the saying doesn’t count. Paige Patterson and a few others in the CR curia had been given enormous power in the SBC and accomplished great things with them. Had this gotten out of hand? Looks like it from a distance. Ordinary messengers finally acted (the vote looked like something in the 95/5 percent range) to deny Hatley and Patterson and in doing so affirm Barber and the pastors and others who scraped up enough shekels to make it to Dallas for the meeting.
- The trustee system is both our salvation and our weakest point. How and why Barber ended up addressing this and not others, I don’t know. There is no more spineless group in SBC life than trustees who have declared fealty to a Southern Baptist Lord and find some satisfaction in the role of sychophant. I’ve heard all the excuses over the years (“We handle things in private…just trust us,” etc.) but trustee failures are regular though thankfully infrequent in SBC life.
- We all can repeat the mantra “tell the people and trust the Lord” Baptist. Finally, though, someone who shows it.
- So, here we are with the SBC having dramatically, decisively declared that they will not rob the trustees of their spine. So, how about trustees not giving their spine away. No need to go through all this again but I’m hopeful that we will if we need to. If this moment continued as a movement, that would be great for all of us.
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It would be a millenial stretch to say that Bart Barber and I are friends. We have met, just for a brief few seconds, although we have swapped some comments here for a few years. I haven’t liked all of his stuff but almost all of it. I’d guess that he is not that thrilled about this article but, I’m a free agent in SBC life…so here it is, like it or not.
The link above is to an SBC Voices piece by Dave Miller. I think it is a transcription of a text of prepared remarks. It may vary a word or so from his actual statement from the floor. Emphases are mine.
I like Bart’s new, smiling photo. In the old one he was using I thought he looked like Luca Brasi. Check it out.
I did not attend the convention so I was not in the room when Dr. Barber spoke. But I was glued to the live stream feed sitting right here in my computer room / office / radio shack listening to what was going to happen relative to the leadership of Southwestern. Dr. Barber’s remarks will be remembered in SBC circles as one of the most pivotal two minute events to happen at an SBC annual meeting since the emergence of the conservative resurgence many decades ago.
Yes. That was a true picture of servant leadership by the esteemed Bart Barber.
His graceful eloquence was undoubtedly Spirit led and we are all better for witnessing it. The quotableness of his remarks will live long, imo.
Good article, William. Bart is humble guy so you’re right he probably doesn’t like that you did this – but truly sometimes we see the glory of God in the actions of His faithful servants – this was one of those times.
Hope you had a good Christmas, Dave. Good to hear from you.
Thanks William. Yes, we had a good Christmas.
I’ve turned into more of a selective reader and sporadic commenter these days…
Still get the emails when a new post goes up and I always read yours….I tend to enjoy your informative, witty and thought provoking posts.
One thing I know, the “star” of the convention takes little joy in his celebrity status. Some would relish such a moment. He did what he believed he needed to do, but i think all our adulation made him a bit uncomfortable.
For me, it wasn’t adulation, but a deep respect because I have been engaging online with Bart for many years, and met him at Dwight McKissic’s church where a conference was held about 10 or so years ago. We maybe agreed on a couple of things in all that time. I know this speech was the hardest thing he had to do. Probably still is.
I looked for a word other than adulation but it was before 9am and my internal thesaurus wasn’t working.
First of all William, excellent article. Your writing ability is amazing. Bart Barber’s speech was both articulate and compelling. To me there is nothing more healthy and refreshing than trustees doing what they were intrusted to do.
I will be forever grateful as a SWBTS alum (MDiv with Biblical Languages 2001) for Dr Barber protecting and preserving our beloved institution. I agree with you William, Dr Barber’s moment was a seminal moment for the SBC in 2018. May the Lord richly bless him and his family.
You’ve heard the expression–“rise to the occasion.” That is what Bart Barber did at the SBC annual meeting. He rose to the occasion. I’m troubled about the false narrative that has circulated in the SBC over the past seven months. It goes like this: The Southwestern Seminary trustees were out to get Dr. Patterson, and the “me too” movement gave them the opportunity they had been seeking. The reality is that most (or all) of the SWBTS trustees were friendly and supportive of Dr. Patterson. They remained so until the accounts of young women emerged, and Dr. Patterson refused to… Read more »
I am not directly commenting on Dr Barber’s speech or comments, but I still find it deplorable the way Dr Patterson was terminated while on a speaking engagement in a foreign country such that he did not even have phone or computer access while out of the country?? What a classy way for an institution to act concerning its president, whether that president was Patterson or any other. I think terminating an employee who is out of the country by such means is a very demeaning method, unless said employee is engaged in something illegal or immoral. I may be… Read more »
In the face of all evidence, your blind loyalty is admirable, i suppose.
But enough with the Patterson argumentation, okay. He is gone. Move on.
Feel free to delete any comments that you find inappropriate. My comment, while certainly inclusive of Dr Patterson as he was the acting President, was not limited to him. It could have been any president at SWBTS. I do not believe that my comments were inaccurate. While I find your willingness to host such discussions admirable, I suppose, the lack of allowance for any meaningful dissent would not be. I do not necessarily understand the distinction between going back in history to give a commendation to Dr Barber without also going back to the same period to address a Trustee… Read more »
Dissent is fine. I wrote this. It’s personal opinion. PP being in Europe when fired isn’t notable IMO. You differ. Fine.
Mr Thornton – Mr Miller redacted his original comment in which he told me that my moving on “was not a suggestion.” From that comment, it appears that my dissent was not welcome. I would suggest that if the firing occurred with a close family friend of yours, or maybe even a relative, and that person were older(mid 70s), you might feel a little differently as to your reaction. The action by the trustees was very poorly handled in my estimation. On another note, in days gone by, I used to attend the church you now attend. Nothing but great… Read more »
It is time to move on.
It is not that dissent is not welcome, it is that you ignore facts and make statements which have been made 10,000 times.
Patterson made his own bed.
If you could briefly remind me of the specific “blatantly ridiculous statement” which I penned, I would be grateful.
Kevin, I appreciated your initial comment. No need to drag out a discussion out about it. Your opinion on PP is fine by me even if I don’t agree with you.
Those redactions seem to be occurring with increasing frequency…but I do agree with them…
Kevin, what you seem to want is capitulation to your opinion, not the space to disagree with most everyone else here. That’s my home church. I attend occasionally but am involved with another in various volunteer capacities.
I’d be interested in your contacting me. My email is easily found.
If by capitulation, you mean that I have a viewpoint to which I would aspire that other people would concur because of the logic, reason, and evidence behind my opinion, then yes, I desire capitulation 🙂
If you go back and listen to the details of Bart’s speech, you may realize that the timing of their decision was made necessary by Dr. Patterson’s defiance. And it’s highly doubtful the trustee meeting was planned in accordance with Dr. Patterson’s travel schedule. The decision needed to be made, needed to be made effective immediately, and they couldn’t help it that he was out of the country. A million things could have been done differently throughout this saga, and almost all were under the control of Dr. Patterson to allow this a better outcome. He chose to bow up… Read more »
While I certainly am not privy to all of the details, I find it hard to believe that the Trustees had to act with such immediacy because they were concerned for state secrets being leaked to the Communists via his phone and email while he was out of the country on a speaking engagement. If the host here wants to validate that this particular decision by the Trustees, that is certainly your prerogative. Again, unless there was a great suspicion for him committing an immoral or illegal act while at the speaking engagement(which was attended by some other SBC notable… Read more »
Kevin: In my opinion and knowing a lot of the facts, you are wrong. Very wrong. Move on. It’s over. The people have spoken.
I am not sure as to the reason for which I have been exhorted to “move on”? The original post was about the commendation of a specific trustee for his bravery in taking a stand against the “popery.” I have equal concerns for the egregious manner in which said despot was removed from office. Unless someone can convince me that Patterson was in some way acting immorally or illegally while out of the country, I am of the firm opinion that his dismissal could have waited a few days until His return into the country. If, for the sake of… Read more »
What is your “bar” for immorality? Isn’t that the basis of your complaint? For context, remember that they had a contentious day long meeting where deals were extracted most probably to the detriment of the institution.
That didn’t happen in a vacuum.
Bart has always demonstrated brilliance, loyalty to the Conservative Resurgence and occasional streaks of independence. It so happened that the perfect storm was brewing at the SBC ‘18 that somewhat forced Bart into displaying all three personality/character traits.
I know Bart to be an person of excellent character, and believe him to be a humble person. I do not know all of the facts related to the Patterson dismissal. I am sure there are some that are not public. I am not sure I even heard, or remember, all of the public facts. At the time I thought it was strange that the full Board offered Dr. Patterson a deal, and Dr. Patterson accepted, but then the Executive Committee took the further action. That procedure seemed strange to me, but knowing Bart and others on the Board, and… Read more »
I’m embarrassed by the attention, dismayed that it comes attached to my least favorite moment of the year, and still overwhelmed with emotions attached to it all, such that you might wonder whether I can think straight about it all. But I think what I’m about to say is as straight a thought as I have ever had. The most important and best moment in 2018 in the SBC is the moment that you shared the gospel with a lost person. The moments when I did that in 2018 are more important than the moment that you have highlighted. The… Read more »
Bart: My respect for you has always been but this year it has deepened. And your comment is just an example of why that is.
SBC This Week’s Amy Whitfield puts Barber first in her list of the 10 Most Fascinating Southern Baptists of 2018.
https://sbcthisweek.com/10-most-fascinating-southern-baptists-of-2018/
Moi, of course, had him listed first a day earlier.
At any rate, I am happy to see his embarrassment grow.
Paige Patterson Issues Statement Addressing Recent Events Former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson released a statement in late November addressing a statement from Kevin Ueckert, chairman of Southwestern’s board. “While I do not have any interest in continued dialogue related to Southwestern’s Trustees or officials, I do always want the whole story to be told,” Patterson wrote. “As Chairman Ueckert indicated in his recent letter to Southwestern’s donors, I am deeply appreciative for anything that the trustees did to recognize my 42 years of training preachers and missionaries in the denomination, including 15 years at Southwestern Seminary. “I… Read more »
Old news, has little to do with my article, though the business of NDAs may be the only area where I would join PP.
I assume this would apply to Dr. Moore at erlc too!? There has been some trustee slight of hand there also, prompted by Dr Moore.
What are the trustees’ excuse for the financial devastation of the beloved SWBTS from 2004 to 2018?
*A total of 166 million interfund borrowing*
Take a deep breath and let this sink in.
https://baptist-blogger.com/2019/01/03/on-the-matter-of-patterspending/