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Archives For November 30, 1999

Missionaries commissioned in Baltimore

Meredith Flynn —  June 8, 2014

Baltimore | Dozens of missionaries were commissioned this afternoon in Baltimore in a rare joint service held by the Southern Baptist International and North American Mission Boards.

The commissioning, part of the annual meeting of Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), was the first combined service in at least 25 years, said National WMU Executive Director Wanda Lee. Leaders from state WMU chapters, including Illinois’ Jill McNicol, carried in flags and torches as a packed ballroom sang “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations.” Then, missionaries walked to the microphones and told why they’re going to Alaska, Canada, and to the ends of the earth.

Our lives were well-established, said one couple, but we’re “surrendering in faith becoming uncomfortable for His glory.”

“Why not retire? Just take it easy,” another couple recounted the advice they’d heard. The 69- and 71-year-old, who’ve served in several places around the world, are going again. “So, don’t let your age keep you from doing what God wants you to do.”

And don’t let your past hold you back either. A former inmate out of prison for almost 30 years told the audience how he’s making a difference for families of incarcerated people through “restorative re-entry ministry.”

After the missionaries shared, mission board presidents Tom Elliff and Kevin Ezell gave charges to them and to the churches committed to support them. Elliff shared the advice Paul gave in Colossians 4:17: “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.”

Ezell told those gathered for the commissioning: “This is not the end but the beginning of your support.

“We must continue to give and pray and to support these who are going where very few people will go.”

Illinois WMU President Jill McNicol was part of the processional during a missionary commissioning service in Baltimore.

Illinois WMU President Jill McNicol was part of the processional during a missionary commissioning service in Baltimore.

Native Praise, a choir representing 15 Native American tribes, led in worship between missionary testimonies.

Native Praise, a choir representing 15 Native American tribes, led in worship between missionary testimonies.

North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell prayed to conclude the service, "Father, thank you for allowing us to be part of what you're doing."

North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell prayed to conclude the service, “Father, thank you for allowing us to be part of what you’re doing.”

 

 

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Baltimore Oracles: 3 things to look for at the SBC Annual Meeting

Meredith Flynn —  June 7, 2014

SBC_annual_meeting_logoBaltimore | The Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting officially starts here June 10, but Baptists are already on their way to Charm City for pre-Convention festivities. Here’s our list of what to watch for over the next few days:

1. Southern Baptists will elect a new president, and their choice could point to the lasting legacy of Fred Luter, elected two years ago as the SBC’s first African American president. A victory for Maryland pastor Dennis Kim could mean Baptists have embraced Luter’s charge to bring more diverse voices to the leadership table. Electing Ronnie Floyd might mean they’ve taken to heart Luter’s pleas for revival, and believe that Floyd, who organized recent prayer gatherings for church leaders, is a president who can lead Baptists toward the repentance required for spiritual awakening. And a vote for Kentucky pastor Jared Moore, the youngest candidate at 33, could signify older Baptists recognize the importance of engaging the next generation of leaders.

All three have expressed their desire to help Baptists unify around the Great Commission and cooperative missions. Click here to read short profiles of each candidate, and link to their Baptist Press Q&A’s.

2. How much will numbers matter? Attendance at the Convention will likely be a hot topic before and after the final tallies come in – last year’s registration in Houston was uncharacteristically low for a southern city, and some think Baltimore’s messenger total could rival the decades-low point set in Phoenix in 2011. Low attendance might reignite conversation about an online meeting/voting process, which some bloggers have advocated for in recent years.

In another mathematical matter, the SBC Executive Committee will discuss whether to bring a recommendation to the floor to amend Article III of the Constitution, which governs how many messengers individual churches may send to the annual meeting. Some have questioned whether the amendment would inhibit participation from smaller churches, since it would increase the financial contribution required to send additional messengers (more than two). But Executive Committee President Frank Page has vowed not to do anything that will hurt small churches.

3. Same old culture war? The issues might be similar to those in recent years – marriage chief among them – but Southern Baptists tactics in the culture war seem to be shifting. Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore has encouraged Christians to embrace the strangeness of their beliefs and to avoid “more culture war posturing” for the sake of a “Christ-shaped counter-revolution.” At least two issues could put his encouragements to the test: A California congregation that recently split over whether to affirm same-sex lifestyles, and a proposed resolution on gender identity issues.

All that plus crab cakes, regular cake (courtesy of famed Baltimore baker Duff Goldman), and a special tour of the city highlighting favorite daughter Annie Armstrong. Check back here for frequent updates, or go to Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist and Twitter.com/IllinoisBaptist. Thanks for traveling with us!

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One pastor’s vision for the next IMB president

Meredith Flynn —  June 4, 2014

O’Fallon, Ill. | An Illinois pastor has prescribed three goals – and one new project – for the next president of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

In a May 24 blog post, FBC O’Fallon Pastor Doug Munton said choosing who will replace current President Tom Elliff is “perhaps the most important decision that will be made in the Southern Baptist Convention for years to come.” Elliff, 70, asked IMB trustees in February to begin looking for his successor.

Munton said the next president should focus on making the IMB effective and efficient, and on providing the organization with energy. “Missionaries are great, but they can become discouraged,” he wrote. “Keep them focused on the life-giving energy of time spent with the Lord in daily devotions.  Remind them often of the joy of the Lord.”

Lastly, Munton asked the IMB’s next leader to begin an IMB Endowment of $20 billion. Harvard University has an endowment of more than $30 billion, he said, so why shouldn’t the Southern Baptist agency have a similar goal? “With all due respect to Harvard, our job is bigger and greater.”

The revenue stream would allow the IMB to send more missionaries and would serve as a buffer against a tumultuous market, he said. “Encourage every Southern Baptist to leave the IMB in their will,” Munton advised. “Thousands would respond to that plea. Thousands and thousands.”

The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention is June 10-11 in Baltimore. Look for our coverage at ib2news.org and in the June 16 issue of the Illinois Baptist newspaper, online at http://ibonline.IBSA.org.

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Three pastors to be nominated for SBC president

Meredith Flynn —  June 4, 2014

Candidates lead in varied contexts: Small church, city church, megachurch

Baltimore | With the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting one week away, the election to succeed current President Fred Luter appears to be a three-candidate race:

Ronnie_FloydRonnie Floyd
Church: Cross Church has four campuses in northwest Arkansas, and launched a site in Neosho, Mo. this Easter. According to the church’s website, more than 17,000 people have been baptized during Floyd’s 27-year tenure.

SBC service: He has chaired the SBC Executive Committee and led the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. Most recently, Floyd organized national prayer meetings for Southern Baptist ministers.

Quotable: “It is obvious to me that we need a mighty, fresh manifestation of God’s presence in our lives personally, which I would call personal spiritual revival,” Floyd said in an interview with Midwestern Seminary President Jason Allen about the SBC presidency. “Our churches need that mighty manifestation of God’s presence through the life of the church – revival, revitalization, whatever you want to call it, refreshing winds of the Spirit. There is no question that the greatest need in American life is a spiritual awakening.”

Read the Baptist Press Q&A with Floyd here.

Dennis_KimDennis Manpoong Kim
Church: Global Mission Church of Greater Washington, a predominantly Korean congregation, is the largest church in the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

SBC service: Kim is a past president of the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America, and recently served on a task force appointed by the North American Mission Board to
study the SBC’s declining baptisms.

Quotable: In his interview with Baptist Press, Moon outlined how he would call the SBC forward in fulfilling the Great Commission if he is elected president: “In a time when about 1,000 churches close their doors every year, I believe that the need of the hour is an evangelistic tool that is simple enough to train all church members, effective enough to ignite believers’ passion for evangelism and engaging enough to captivate the hearts of the present generation.”

Read the entire Baptist Press Q&A with Kim here.

Jared_MooreJared Moore
Church: New Salem Baptist in Hustonville, Ky., is a church of about 60 members that Moore describes as a “loving, caring, godly group of people.” He served as a youth minister and pastor in Tennessee before moving to Kentucky.

SBC service: Moore currently is second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Quotable: “I want to represent Southern Baptists like the ones I serve on a daily basis who may not have the opportunity to attend the convention or serve at the convention level,” Moore wrote on his blog. Among his other reasons for running: promoting unity and the Cooperative Program.

“Apart from cooperating with other SBC churches through the Cooperative Program, our small church could not support as many ministries on our own,” Moore wrote. “I hope to encourage churches to begin, continue, or increase their support of the Cooperative Program.”

Read Moore’s Baptist Press Q&A here.

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Transgender identity is subject of proposed SBC resolution

Meredith Flynn —  June 2, 2014

BREAKING_NEWSNEWS | Two Southern Baptist leaders have submitted a resolution on transgender identity that could be considered June 10-11 by messengers at the SBC’s annual meeting in Baltimore.

“You know you’re a cultural tipping-point when both Newsweek and Time magazine run cover stories on your cause within the span of a single year,” wrote Denny Burk, who co-authored the resolution. “Such is the case with transgender, which both Newsweek and Time have declared to be the next phase of the gay rights revolution.”

Burk, a professor at Boyce College in Louisville, Ky., co-wrote the resolution with Andrew Walker, director of policy studies at the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The SBC Resolutions Committee will consider the measure prior to the annual meeting and decide whether to bring it (or an amended version) to the Convention for a vote.

On his blog, Burk outlined several reasons for the resolution: The American Psychiatric Association removed transgender from its list of disorders last year. Some school systems now allow students to use opposite-gender restrooms and locker rooms. And, Burk wrote, parents, medical professionals, and counselors are increasingly open to treatment – including sex reassignment surgery – that helps children and others identify with the gender they feel, rather than the one with which they were born.

“…Christians are going to have to have to meet the transgender challenge as a matter of great pastoral and missional urgency,” Burk wrote. “We must be clear about what the Bible teaches and be faithful to live that message out in a culture that is increasingly out of step with biblical norms.”

The full text of the proposed resolution is available at DennyBurk.com (scroll to the bottom of the post). It asks SBC voters to affirm several statements, including:

  • That “perceived conflict between their biological sex and their gender identity” is one way some people experience the brokenness sin brought into the world.
  • God’s design is that “gender identity should be determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception.”
  • Transgender persons should be invited to “trust in Christ and to experience renewal in the gospel.”
  • “That we regard our transgender neighbors as image-bearers of almighty God and therefore that we condemn acts of abuse or bullying committed against them.”
  • Opposition to efforts to bring biological sex in line with a different gender identity.
  • “Our love for the gospel and urgency for the Great Commission must include declaring the whole counsel of God, including what God’s word teaches about God’s design for us as male and female persons created in His image and for His glory.”
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