Reflections on the Southern Baptist Convention

A few key leaders from the SBC have written some good summaries and challenges related to the recent Southern Baptist Convention meeting held in Orlando, FL. Below are the links to the articles and a blurb or two from each.

Jerry Rankin (current President of the IMB...retiring end of next month) - "The Morning After"

His concluding paragraphs are intriguing:

"We still have a long way to go, but new values and a renewed vision have been indicated. The election of Bryant Wright as president defied the usual CP litmus test of candidates. All the candidates had a passionate commitment to missions, but a president was chosen who actually started a church that has grown to mega-proportions, an innovator who has been willing to challenge traditional methods, and one who is not intimidated about bucking the system if it reaches people who need Jesus.
"Prayers and support for the Great Commission Resurgence have been evident. The unified and courageous recommendations of the task force and the gracious but passionate leadership of Johnny Hunt has brought us to the precipice of a new future. But voting for the GCR has by no means produced a resurgence of anything. It remains for our prayers and commitment to be devoted to the implementation that must follow."

J.D. Greear - "Download from the SBC"

A portion (relating to the GCR):

"But passing these resolutions is a symbolic statement that we recognize that local churches are going to exercise increasing discretion in how and where they give, and that Convention structures are going to have to adjust to that new reality. Please note that our passing of this resolution did not create that kind of “independent” giving, we simply recognized it. The reality is that in the flat world we live in, churches are going to increasingly give to things they know about and can be more personally involved in. If the SBC refuses to recognize that, we will find that the amount of churches engaging in the Convention is going to rapidly decrease. We’ll spend every Convention hearing various institutions argue about how to get larger pieces of a shrinking pie. Some (who were well-meaning) tried to argue that sanctioning this type of designated giving will destroy the SBC, which is built on cooperative, undesignated giving. Quite the contrary, I believe..."

The Florida Baptist Witness is a wonderful (in my opinion) resource for unbiased news stories that happen around the SBC. This week they, of course, posted some helpful articles summarizing the events surrounding the convention:

Click here for a listing of their specialized reporting on the convention.