At the SBC Annual Meeting, the messengers elected Clint Pressley as the new president. I’m embarrassed to say that I had never heard of him. In fact, six candidates vied for the office, and I only knew two—David Allen and Michael Keahbone. I don’t know if that says more about me (my ignorance) or about the candidates.
Last week, I wrote Bart Barber to thank him for serving as our SBC president. He did a good job in a difficult period, and he demonstrated that the pastor of a mid-sized church can serve as president. The common wisdom before was that only a candidate with a big church or institutional staff could handle the position. Bart Barber disproved that.
I was surprised the Law Amendment failed to pass. (It needed a 2/3 favorable vote.) I assumed it would pass. It was interesting that SBC VIPs lined up on both sides. It seems those who opposed it persuaded just enough messengers to vote no. Still, I doubt we’ve seen the last of this issue—female pastors and the ordination of females.
I began teaching at Southern Baptist Seminary in the fall of 1993. In fact, Al Mohler and I both arrived on campus in July 1993. (His office was somewhat bigger than mine.) in my first semester, the dean assigned me to teach Introduction of Ministry. This was a course designed to help new seminary students understand themselves, the nature of ministry, and options for service in ministry. I had both male and female students in the class. One topic we discussed was women in ministry. Now, when I went to Southern Seminary, the old “moderate” faculty was still there. They, for the most part, encouraged women to become pastors and seek ordination. Crescent Hill Baptist Church was just a few blocks from the seminary, and that church had ordained several women. So, this was a hot topic on campus. I showed my students the pertinent passages in 1 Timothy, and then we discussed the passages and the issue. I told my students then, and I still believe, that the issue is decided by this question. Are these passages culturally conditioned or not? If you believe the passages are culturally conditioned, then they only apply to Paul’s time. We are not bound by them today. If you believe they are not culturally conditioned, then they apply to all believers and churches of every era.
I taught a missions course at Southwestern Seminary in the spring, and I’ll teach two courses this fall. I’m glad to teach, and I’m glad to help the seminary. You may have noticed the article in Baptist Press. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which accredits the seminary, has lifted one of the warnings it gave Southwestern Seminary last year. They removed the warning about institutional governance. The other warnings pertain to financial matters. Those might have been lifted, but the seminary’s financial reports were not available when the accreditation commission met. I look for those to be removed, also, next year.
I read online about some of the ethical issues facing pastors and churches today. The array of sexual issues is astounding: gay marriage, gay ordination (that split the Methodists), sex change surgeries, IVF, and others. I took ethics at Southwestern Seminary with Dr. Bill Pinson 50 years ago. We didn’t discuss any of those issues. As I recall (dimly), we mainly talked about race relations, the Vietnam War, and divorce. The burning question of that time was whether a pastor should perform a wedding for a divorced person. For sure, those were simpler times.
I’m not sure whether David Allen was the official or unofficial candidate of the Conservative Baptist Network. He ran for president of the SBC; and though he made the run-off, he lost. It seems the CBN has not been able to generate the groundswell of support that the Conservative Resurgence did in the 1980s. What’s your opinion on my observation and your opinion as to why this is true?
From A. W. Tozer:
“If God gives you a few more years, remember, it Is not yours. Your time must honor God, your home must honor God, your activity must honor God, and everything you do must honor God.”
