I would like to see a serious effort by Southern Baptists to elect someone other than a megachurch pastor as president of the convention.
While I have no particular complaint about current president Ronnie Floyd, I think he has done a good job, my view is that we lose something valuable by relying on a parade of pastors whose environment is that of the two hundred or so megachurches in the SBC. There are no job demands, no responsibilities, no tasks of the president of the SBC that qualify only megachurch pastors for election. Although the SBC president has to have some level of visibility, there is no requirement that he take every speaking engagement, attend every meeting, or take on tasks that preclude him from managing his church responsibilities while serving as president.
We Southern Baptists are like everyone else in 2016 in that many, perhaps most, of us who try to stay informed no longer have to wait for a printed Baptist state paper or even the Baptist Press stories that are posted at the end of most working days. We exchange information regularly and frequently on blogs. We get feeds throughout the day from a variety of sources. Bloggers like Dave Miller, Rick Patrick, Bart Barber and others have as much name recognition as some megachurch pastors. I am not promoting or endorsing any of these but rather offering reasonable examples of the reality that one need not be a megachurch pastor or a regular speaker at the better attended conferences around the SBC to be recognized.
Frankly, the parade of the same several dozen figures, churches, and entity leaders is tired and old. This “star” system, on balance, probably hasn’t serve us well at times, an assertion that is no indictment of any individual but rather an opinion that when we see the same churches have trustees elected to the major SBC entities repeatedly, often with spouses of pastors and seat-warming laypeople from these churches, such is unhealthy, unfair, unproductive, and to be candid, insulting to the tens of thousands of churches whose pastors and members have no chance of being asked to serve. It cannot be a positive thing for the SBC that in regard to the Cooperative Program, our stated preferable and indispensable giving program, these megachurches are invariably known for giving less that the average SBC church percentage.
An SBC president from outside the usual circles of influence would inject new blood, new ideas, new enthusiasm for a tired and declining denomination. I’m one SBC pastor who has no interest in traveling on any ship other than the lumbering, sometimes cumbersome, manifestly imperfect Southern Baptist Convention. I’d like to see those among us who are rotated every couple of years as captain of the ship to occasionally outside the normal star system that we have been using.
The only times in my experience that we have departed from the megachurch star system for our presidents has been in the election of Fred Luter in 2012 and 2013. Every other president since the mid-1970s has been a white, male, middle-aged or older megachurch pastor. There’s no inherent reason this should continue. It was encouraging in 2014 to see a strong showing by Asian pastor Dennis Kim.
I think we are in the neighborhood these days where, since everything else has changed about SBC life, a non-megachurch pastor can be elected.
I’m not optimistic about this happening but I’d like to see it.
What would be your definition of a megachurch?
Andrew Green,
When I first heard the term back in the early 70’s was when our pastor/boss told us “we are now called a Megachurch.” When asked, “What is a megachurch? He answered. A church that consistently has over 2,000 people attending services every Sunday.
Maybe the definition has now changed.
Thom Ranier does a blog each year on SBC megachurches. The number is 2000 weekly attendance, self-reported which puts the number at around 200.
lol
The only thing stopping us is an electable candidate and a well run campaign. Who do you suggest? Or better yet, jump out ahead of the megas. Ask someone to run and contact BP with the story.
Wonder if any of the big dogs wants bylaw changes to ban other SBC members/messengers from running?
How would such a notion be received?
I have a particular person in mind that I think would be an excellent candidate for the president of the SBC. He is a pastor but not of a megachurch. He has some name recognition. I have never meet this guy in person but I know something about him from various news feeds and information channels.
I don’t think that there is anything wrong with people being the president of the SBC just because they pastor a large church. However, I do believe it is about time that our president came from a more “typical sized church”. After a couple of terms we could then look and see what difference the president’s home church size makes — if any — in terms of the quality of their service and/or availability to do the job. If conditions warrant we could go back to the “de facto” condition of only having pastors of large churches nominated and becoming SBC president.
In fairness, it should there have been some non-megachurch pastors / teachers nominated in the last decade. They didn’t get many votes for president compared to the megachurch pastors who were also nominated in that same year. I don’t know why that is.
There is no way anyone — including a mega church pastor — could be elected unless they have broad support across the entire SBC.
There are a number of valid qualifications that can be legitimately considered for a potential president of the SBC. In my opinion, (a) age, (b) sex, (c) size of home church, and (d) whether the person is a pastor, teacher (such as a seminary prof), or layman should not be considered to be qualifications / disqualifications. Instead messengers should look at how the person being nominated is the right guy/gal for the current situation in the SBC.
I don’t think it is written in stone that all SBC presidents will always be men over 40 who are megachurch pastors. Last time I read the SBC bylaws it didn’t exclude women or laymen. Also I didn’t notice anything in the bylaws mentioning anything about having to attend a church of some given size.
Roger Simpson Oklahoma City OK
Roger K. Simpson Oklahoma City OK
Amen William.
I think Dwight McKissic would be a great choice. Also, Dr. Kim would another.
William T
I agree completely. Sadly I think your last sentence/paragraph is the operative statement….just don’t see it happening.
Just for complete transparency, Owen Cooper was president of the SBC from 1972 to 1974 and he was a layman. He may have been the last non-pastor prez….not sure why except maybe the demands of the position. Several presidents have been friends/acquaintances of mine & they schedule as is ‘needed’ if not ‘mandated’ by the position requires much ‘freedom’ from their local job/pastorate.
sorry – this should read “THE SCHEDULE as is needed” not “THEY SCHEDULE”…
William,
Contrary to your post – Aren’t both Fred Luter and Dennis Kim “mega church” pastors?
The semi-official definition of mega is 2000 in average attendance. It is my understanding that Katrina brought Fred Luter below that, at least for a time. No idea on Dennis Kim.
Luter’s church was not below the threshold long and by the time he was elected president – is church met the “unofficial” definition you just mentioned.
Kim, may have been. I didn’t go back and check. His election would have been a departure from the usual system even if he is a megapastor.
I think the pattern we have been using for presidents is crystal clear. I’d like to see messengers change it.
I only looked back to Kim’s (re: mega church status) because of this discussion – it didn’t matter to me then and it still doesn’t.
I’m bothered personally by the “multi – site” Phenom. I’d rather see 5 actual autonomous church plants than 5 “extensions” . But that’s just my opinion.
Tarheel, “multi-site” would be an interesting discussion. How do you like your preacher – in person or in a box?
“….. Is the guy who I hear preach every Sunday my pastor or does my real pastor stay in the mothership…”
I’m not sure if there is a multi-site in Iowa, so I don’t have a strong opinion. But my instinct is to NOT like the idea much.
Multi-site is cult of personality, in my opinion. I don’t even think mega-churches really fit the biblical model of churches, so for me multi-site churches are way out there.
I’m not bothered by mega church guys being SBC president but it is bothersome that to be on a board of any kind that only a select group of elite churches are considered. I don’t even know how to get in this group if I wanted to do so. Rural and small town churches in the traditional states seem especially hurt by this.
Brooks Hayes, a Baptist layman and U.S. congressman from Arkansas was SBC president in the late 50s.
More info –
http://www.sbclife.net/Articles/2014/09/sla9
When did the 2-year term limit come to be?
In 1952, under J. D. Grey.