On Easter Sunday, I thought back to my years as a pastor. I can guarantee that every pastor has thought/wished this: “Maybe they’ll all come back next Sunday.” Of course, the attendance the next Sunday reverts to the usual level. Still, a pastor can dream. I was sad to learn Steve Gaines passed away on March 20th. He was formerly president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of the famous Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis. I first met Steve at Southwestern Baptist Seminary when we were students in the same PhD seminar. At that time, he was pastoring in Lake Dallas, and he invited … [Read more...] about Varied and Vacuous Opinions & Observations by Dr. Mark Terry, Part 7
Four More Reasons SBC Churches are Dying
“The churches are emptying, and the pastors have no idea what to do about it,” my friend told me. This was 20 years ago. I had asked my friend from the deep South what things were like. I spent my high school years in Georgia and had moved to the other parts of the South for college and seminary. I was curious what was happening in the churches. She was the first person that mentioned to me that there was a problem. Dr. Terry started a discussion a few weeks ago about churches closing. Churches declining and closing is not a new problem. I’ve been thinking about four more possible reasons … [Read more...] about Four More Reasons SBC Churches are Dying
Easter Memories from the Philippines
I suppose my Voices readers think of me as a writer or a semi-retired seminary professor. I think of myself as a retired (emeritus) missionary. After all, Barbara and I served with the FMB/IMB for twenty-five years in Southeast Asia. The Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board) appointed us in April 1975, and we went to Missionary Orientation in the fall. We arrived in Davao City, Philippines, in April 1976. Today, Davao is a large, bustling city, the largest city on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, but in those days, it was a sleepy, provincial town. A … [Read more...] about Easter Memories from the Philippines
Why Do Churches Leave the SBC?
Recently, I posted on Voices about the number of SBC churches that die/close their doors. That research piqued my curiosity, and I decided to research why churches leave the SBC. It is important to understand that the Southern Baptist Convention consists of churches that have voluntarily joined themselves together. The SBC is often described as a voluntary association of churches. A church can decide to apply for membership in the SBC, and a member church can vote to leave (disaffiliate in the terminology of researchers). How many churches do leave? I learned that many more churches close … [Read more...] about Why Do Churches Leave the SBC?
Why SBC Voices Matters in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence press, hype, and doom is everywhere. I can’t look at the news without hearing about AI. I’ve written elsewhere about what I can do as a pastor that AI can’t do. Today, I wanted to argue why I think SBC Voices matters in the age of AI. First, In an age of general thoughts and predictions, SBC Voices matters because the posts here are the particular thoughts of specific people. AI can only do general or predictive work. We live in specific places, though. We pastor specific churches, not the idealized or general. Early fighter jets were made for the average pilot, … [Read more...] about Why SBC Voices Matters in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Why Are Southern Baptist Churches Dying?
Recently, I posted about the reasons to plant new churches. I wrote that one reason we need to plant new churches is to replace those that die (close their doors). That prompted me to do some research on dying churches in the SBC, and I’m sharing it with you in this post. Church Closure Statistics A number of SBC churches close each year. Here are some statistics from recent years. 2020—845 2021—780 2022—984 2023—292 2024—183 (Source: Lifeway Research, years 2020-2023, and Baptist Press for 2024) I attribute the higher numbers from 2020-2022 to the impact of the COVID … [Read more...] about Why Are Southern Baptist Churches Dying?
Things Seminary Didn’t Train Me For: Part 2862 – Winter Weather
Seminary was a positive experience in some ways, especially my Greek and Hebrew training, systematic theology, Church history, and other such classes that gave me a grounding in how to handle and preach God's word, but I walked into my first pastorate completely untrained in how to deal with basic day-to-day tasks I faced as a pastor. I remember when I walked down from the pulpit to lead the Lord's Supper for the first time, and I realized that no one had ever led me through how to do it. I fumbled my way through it, managed to serve the bread first and the cup second, and got the people … [Read more...] about Things Seminary Didn’t Train Me For: Part 2862 – Winter Weather
Why Should We Plant New Churches?
SBC Voices has published several posts recently on church planting. I thought it might be helpful to our readers to explain why church planting is important. In the following post, I’ll list a number of reasons. After the first reason (It is biblical), the reasons are not listed in order of importance. So, why should we emphasize church planting? Church planting is biblical. I could just stop with this reason. If church planting is biblical, then believers and churches should do it. In His Great Commission, Jesus commanded His followers to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19). The … [Read more...] about Why Should We Plant New Churches?
On Small Church Pastors and SBC Offices (Jonathan Greer)
Should a small church pastor be the Recording Secretary of the SBC, (or any other elected position)? With the exception of the 2nd Vice President of the convention, there has only been one elected officer of the SBC with an average weekly attendance of 200 or less, at least from what I can find searching ACP information on SBC Workspace. According to The Baptist Press, churches with 500 or more in weekly attendance only represent 4% of Southern Baptist churches, yet the major office holders of the convention consistently come from that top 4%, occasionally creeping into the top 7% range. … [Read more...] about On Small Church Pastors and SBC Offices (Jonathan Greer)
I (Still) Believe in Tithing
By tithing I mean giving 10 percent of your income to your church. I believe Christians should tithe, and I believe churches should preach it and teach it. I believe one reason the SBC is struggling financially is because our churches do not teach tithing as they once did. I realize that not all pastors and Bible teachers agree with me about tithing. Still, before you begin throwing verbal bricks at me and calling me a dinosaur, legalist, and pharisee, let me make an appeal. Let’s debate this on the basis of hermeneutics (principles of Bible interpretation). Read my rationale for supporting … [Read more...] about I (Still) Believe in Tithing