The "Truth and Unity Amendment" sayest the SBC's formerly smartest person, Al Mohler. The truth and unity concerns females in the SBC serving as pastors, overseers, and elders or exhibiting any of the functions of a pastor or an overseer or an elder or preaching to the assembled church or using any other job title such as minister, associate/assistant, shepherd etc. depressingly etc etc. This is the most laughable, cynical, and absurd title applied to any of these recent similar efforts concerning women who serve in SBC churches. The last attempt was by a guy who said he wasn't qualified to … [Read more...] about Gonna nail down this women thing once and for all (or maybe not)
How Do You Rebuild the Reputation of Your Church in the Community?
“How do you rebuild your church’s reputation in the community?” Steve, a pastor in Kentucky, emailed me after my last post. Like me, he had to adjust from church planting where the pastor builds the reputation to leading a church whose reputation is already built. Here is what I told him: I've been here for 5 years in June. Much of what you described for your church is true here. I've actually apologized to some people for how our church treated them. I haven't seen the massive shift in how our community sees us that I hoped to see yet, but we are trying to do consistent, faithful basics … [Read more...] about How Do You Rebuild the Reputation of Your Church in the Community?
The Conservative Resurgence and Southern Baptist Seminary – A Personal Memoir (Dr. Mark Terry)
Most Baptist historians mark the beginning of the Conservative Resurgence in 1979. In that year, the messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting elected conservative pastor Adrian Rogers as president of the SBC. His election came about through careful planning by Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson. In the years leading up to 1979, they developed a strategy to take control of the SBC. The key element in their strategy was to elect conservatives to the presidency of the SBC for many consecutive years. They accomplished this by mobilizing conservative churches to send messengers … [Read more...] about The Conservative Resurgence and Southern Baptist Seminary – A Personal Memoir (Dr. Mark Terry)
Is Anyone Really Still Confused? (Matt Johnson)
As we head into the home stretch leading up to the SBC Annual Meeting, we are once again hearing familiar voices espousing familiar positions that have had familiar results. Baptist Press is once again reporting that one of our entity heads (who seems to have a lot of time on their hands to be running the flagship seminary) is once again bringing the issue of women’s roles in the church to the front and center of a meeting which is supposed to be about missions. The claim states there is still confusion over the role of women. Is there? After expelling some of our most influential churches … [Read more...] about Is Anyone Really Still Confused? (Matt Johnson)
Population Decline and the Future of the SBC
Fifty-four years ago, I sat in Dr. David Garland’s Old Testament Introduction class at Southwestern Seminary. When we came to Genesis 1:28—“be fruitful and multiply,” Dr. Garland declared this was the only biblical commandment that people had consistently obeyed. Well, he spoke the truth fifty years ago, but today birth rates are plunging in all the developed countries. In recent days several articles have appeared on the internet explaining how the low fertility rate in the USA will affect our future as a nation. It seems appropriate to consider the effects on the Southern Baptist Convention … [Read more...] about Population Decline and the Future of the SBC
Varied and Vacuous Opinions & Observations by Dr. Mark Terry, Part 7
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