I wanted to write and give some clarity to why I am nominating a small church pastor to lead the Pastor’s Conference in 2017 and why I support the idea of a conference of small church preachers focused on biblical preaching. This article is meant to provide some clarity on my own thinking about why I will make a nomination on Monday to do something different in 2017.
Let me first affirm some of the ideas behind our past conferences (which I personally have benefitted from) and the rationale behind the status quo:
The Case for Christian Celebrity
The very word celebrity is based on the idea that we celebrate the gifts and talents of a person and their contribution to society, whether in the arts, the sciences, athletics, or in this case preaching and pastoral leadership. The reason we pastors admire and flock to hear particular preachers is because of their giftedness and service to the kingdom. I have come to the conclusion that these men are gifted by God in ways that I am not and that their gifts are being used in service for the church. That’s why I have no qualms about attending conferences with “Big Name” preachers. Not because I idolize these men, but because I recognize their ability to understand and explain the Scriptures and can learn from their leadership. There is a place for recognizing the contributions of those God has gifted in particular ways and celebrating, and learning from them. As a small-church pastor, I have greatly benefitted from these types of conferences and from hearing and reading these celebrated leaders.
The Case for a “Celebrity” Pastors Conference
I don’t believe it is a bad thing that our annual Pastor’s Conference is typically slated with well-known speakers, nor that a number of those speakers every year come from outside the SBC. For many pastors, the SBC pastor’s conference is the only such conference they will attend and it is their one opportunity to be fed. Why would you not want to be fed with some of the most gifted leaders and teachers in your field? I am reminded by Thabiti Anyawible’s remarks about a similar conference several years ago:
“I’m greatly indebted to many of the conference speakers I have the privilege of hearing. And I would gladly hear them any chance I get. But I’m not worshiping them. Nor am I denigrating the so-called “ordinary pastors” or unknown pastors that I also appreciate and regularly listen to. Like most of you, I could name several faithful pastors who have at one point or another shepherded my soul and fed me spiritually that no one else is likely to know. I love them all, respect them all, and gain much from them. There’s no “either/or” here. Love and respect all the faithful brothers the Lord blesses you with, whether well known or plowing the fields in relative anonymity.”[1]
Indeed, if we want the Pastor’s Conference to be beneficial to those who attend, one effective model is to bring in well-known, respected, gifted leaders to lead it.
The Case against Celebrity-ism in the SBC
Celebrity is not the same as celebrity-ism. Celebrity merely means that we celebrate the giftedness, achievements, and contributions of certain persons and recognize them accordingly. Celebrity-ism behaves in such a way that those gifts and achievements give persons a higher status or importance and treats those who are not well-known as of less significance and importance. Celebrity-ism is a form of idolatry.
One danger is that an over-focus on celebrity may become celebrity-ism and communicate something about what we most value. Too often in SBC life, large and mega-church pastors are the only visible leaders in our Convention. If we truly value the contributions of small churches, we need checks against the idea that the only people of significance are mega-church pastors with superior speaking skills and well-known preaching and teaching ministries or that only mega-pastors and mega-leaders are capable of leading our denomination. To their credit, our most well-known and respected leaders are humble, godly men. They regularly give words of encouragement to small-church pastors and share of their own past experiences ministering in small churches. Their verbal affirmation and encouragement is one such check.
A more significant check would be to appoint small-church pastors and laymen to our trustee boards and committees, elect small-church leaders to leadership roles, and see a visible presence of small-church leaders on the Convention platform. That is why in our interviews with the current candidates for SBC President, we specifically asked “How can you help increase the involvement of smaller churches and their pastors in denominational leadership?” In our SBCVoices interviews, I felt that none of the candidates answered that question directly.
The nomination of Dave Miller is our small way of furthering that ideal. We propose a Pastor’s Conference focused on biblical preaching by small-church pastors and a small church Pastor, with the help of a band of other small church pastors, to lead it. Our modest proposal is one small check against Celebrity-ism and an opportunity to “celebrate” the significance of our diverse leaders and at the same time, center our focus on the preaching of the word itself.
The case for a Small Church Conference in 2017
What we’re proposing is to do something different in 2017. The idea is not a slam on well-known, gifted leaders. The idea is a check against celebrity-ism and an affirmation to the regular, small-church pastors in our convention that we recognize what really matters. Faithful pastors who preach the Word are of great value to God and are the life-blood of our Convention.
In Scripture, we find that the preaching of the Word in the power of the Holy Spirit is what matters and not the status of the preacher (Gal 2:6; 1 Cor 1:26-30; 2:1-5; 3:1-9; 2 Cor 4:5-7; 11:5-6; etc.). A “small-church” pastor’s conference led by a small-church preacher is an affirmation that we believe the Bible is right here.
That is why on Monday, I will nominate a small church pastor for Pastor’s Conference president. If you come and vote for Dave Miller, you really are not voting for a single pastor and his merits (though Miller is indeed a worthy candidate), but for an idea that small church pastors have something significant to contribute, that the diversity of leadership in our SBC churches is worth celebrating, and that the preaching of the Word and not the celebrity of it’s speakers is the most important element of any Pastor’s Conference.
I hope you will join me in electing Dave Miller for president of the 2017 Pastor’s Conference.
_____
[1] http://www.reformation21.org/blog/2011/04/really-trueman-only-in-america.php#sthash.2tXhZbza.dpuf
Thanks for sharing these perspectives and reminders
Todd
I did a little digging a while back and just posted this for reference. It seemed relevant to the conversation.
SBC Pastors’ Conference Speakers Over the Past 10 Years — http://bit.ly/1Pkj0Rj
Weary of celebrity pastor’s sugarsticks. Ready for some preaching/teaching that hits closer to home! I WILL VOTE FOR DAVE MILLER!
I’m in!
Many small pastors are not involved because of they can’t afford to attend. Also, established church pastors are often left feeling insignificant and not encouraged because not only are they not big, they are not the new plant of the big church. Established small churches need to be encouraged and given a voice. Perhaps online voting for those who can’t attend would be an option. Also, let’s not forget that in five years all the plants will be established small churches.
Is Dave up for the challenge? In reading this political promotion for the small church and Dave Miller for president of the pastor’s conference, please let me be clear, I am not acquainted with Dave Miller or his administrative abilities. I cannot speak for him or against him. In order to support him for president of this conference, it is imperative that I know he has the administrative ability and experience to pull off organizing such a conference. Leading such a conference requires an extraordinary amount of administrative ability. It also requires an extraordinary amount of time. One of the benefits of a mega church pastor serving as president is the amount of administrative staff they have available. I am close enough acquainted with one of the officers of this year’s conference to witness the incredible amount of time and energy contributed by this pastor and his staff. In my experience as a small church pastor, the time factor would automatically serve as an exclusion. For the pastor of a church without this kind of staff, it will require a networking and delegation to others not as tightly controlled. Such a scenario will require an excellent set of administrative, networking, and delegating abilities. Again my question, is Dave Miller up to the task? Again, I cannot judge because I do not know.
My second thought in regards to the comment stream of this discussion is in regards to the selection of preachers. In my estimation, the selection process must include the qualifications of ability to preach in a conference setting. I bear a resemblance to some of the criterion listed for those who might preach. I preach using a method of exposition multiple times each week. My church may not qualify as small according to the standards used here, our attendance is less than 275 on a Sunday morning. Even so, it is considered to be small by many. My ability to preach biblically faithful messages does not qualify me to preach in a conference. Small or large really is relative. The question here is do the preachers suggested here have the ability to preach in conference setting? Pastors are naturally geared toward pastoral preaching and the conference setting is much different. We have learned this in who we ask to preach the message at annual meetings of Baptist associations over the years. A man may be gifted to preach pastorally on a weekly basis but while his delivery may fall flat in a conference setting. By choosing men who preach in conference settings regularly, the speakers are first tested in that setting.
My greatest moments of encouragement as a small church pastor (if the one I pastor now does not count, then the previous one of 35 in attendance) has not come from pastors of small churches. In fact, the three speakers that I traveled to Jacksonville, Florida to hear preach each year were not even pastors at the time. These three men brought encouragement to me while pastoring a small church because they were gifted to speak to pastors of churches without regard to size. They were Junior Hill, John Philips, and Warren Wiersbe. Not only did they encourage, the modeled good preaching.
Again, I am not suggesting whether or not Dave is up to the challenge. I am saying the job carries a tremendous responsibility. As was spoken in the article, this is the only conference that many SBC pastors are able to attend each year. It must not miss the mark.
Actually, we do not have a hard and fast cut-off for “small”, but in general we are using a guideline of about 500 in average attendance.
As to whether I have the administrative ability to handle this, I absolutely do NOT! But, we are doing this as a team. If we win today, we will form a leadership team to raise fund and vet the speakers together. I am not intending to do this as a solo act.
From the start, this has been a group effort. Some of these guys are more administratively gifted than I am. We intend to work together. If God grants us success in the vote today, we plan to have a simple, word-focused, God-centered, pastor-blessing worship time.
Thanks for the clarification Dave.
This is an honor for your Church; and, for your Local and State Associations. Each of them should help you fund this Conference.
I’m all for the idea of a conference where all the speakers exegete a section of passages of scripture. And I’m all for being on guard against celebrity-ism. But, I’m wary of insisting that the speakers be from small churches. I want most to hear from pastors of healthy churches. Pastors whose preaching is biblical, but also whose churches are behaving biblically: churches who are baptizing people and growing disciples. And many of our churches (not all) are small because (for any number of reasons, good and bad) people in their communities aren’t being reached. And many (not all) large churches are large because they are doing that.
Just because a pastor preaches to a large congregation does not make his preaching biblical, his church behave biblically. I was elected a few years ago to serve as a VP for our state pastors’ conference. The president was elected because he pastored a large, growing church. His initial list of celebrity preachers included TD Jakes. A “great communicator” no doubt but Jakes denied the doctrine of the Trinity. When I mentioned this I was assured my small church “bigoted” opinion was not needed. This big church pastor did not know I was the pastor of a inner-city church with a majority of my leadership being black.
Apparently someone else influenced him away from TD Jakes as he wasn’t there for the conference.
Congratulations, Mr. President Dave Miller.
Congratulations, Dave Miller. And a very smart nomination speech by Todd Benkert essentially making the election a referendum on this concept for a Pastor’s Conference.
By the way, First Baptist Church of Sylacauga runs about 300 on a typical Sunday morning. 🙂
Congratulations, Dave. (Though I already sent you a text.) 🙂 May the Lord use you to bless other pastors and the Convention.