• /
    • Archives /
  • November 30, 1999

Archives For November 30, 1999

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!

In SBC , , , , , , ,
permalink

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.

In News, SBC , , ,
permalink

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.

In News , , , , ,
permalink

Southern Baptist church splits over whether to affirm same-sex lifestyle

Meredith Flynn —  June 3, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

A California congregation voted May 18 to retain their pastor, Danny Cortez, who had announced three months earlier that he affirms same-sex lifestyles. The decision by New Heart Community Church in La Mirada, Ca., brings the Southern Baptist Convention to “a moment of unavoidable decision” just before its annual meeting in Baltimore, said Southern Seminary President Albert Mohler.

Cortez blogged May 29 on Patheos.com that New Heart will “formally peacefully separate” June 8, when a group affirming traditional church teachings about homosexuality leaves the congregation. The church took three months to study and pray over the issue after Cortez told them about his beliefs in February. Prior to Cortez’ confession to his church, his teenage son told him he was gay and posted a “coming out” video on social media sites.

The_BriefingIn May, the church voted to keep Cortez as pastor and become a “third way” church that stands in the middle ground between condoning and condemning same-sex relationships.

“So now, we will accept the LGBT community even though they may be in a relationship,” Cortez wrote on Patheos.com. “We will choose to remain the body of Christ and not cast judgment. We will work towards graceful dialogue in the midst of theological differences.”

Despite the church’s decision, “there is no third way,” Mohler said on his blog.

“A church will either believe and teach that same-sex behaviors and relationships on sinful, or it will affirm them. Eventually every congregation in America will make a public declaration of its position on this issue. It is just a matter of time (and for most churches, not much time) before every congregation in the nation faces this test.”

That New Heart’s decision is in conflict with The Baptist Faith & Message, the SBC’s statement of faith, could result in discussion and/or action when messengers gather in Baltimore.

“I am confident that the Southern Baptist Convention will act in accordance with its own convictions, confession of faith, and constitution when messengers to the Convention gather next week in Baltimore,” Mohler said.

“But every single evangelical congregation, denomination, mission agency, school, and institution had better be ready to face the same challenge, for it will come quickly, and often from an unexpected source. Once it comes, there is no middle ground, and no ‘third way.’”

Other news:

Poll: Most believe same-sex couples should be able to adopt
A new Gallup poll shows 63% of Americans believe same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt a child. The percentage of approval is higher than approval for same-sex marriage, which, according to another recent Gallup poll, is at 55%. Read more at Gallup.com.

Imprisoned pastor still sharing the Gospel
The wife of a U.S. pastor imprisoned in Iran says his sentence may be extended because he’s leading people to Christ. “I don’t see him [witnessing] as an act of defiance,” Naghmeh Abedini told Baptist Press about her husband, Saeed. “Knowing Saeed’s heart as a pastor, he’s seeing people in such a dark place…on death row for murders and rapes, and just seeing people who are in prison whose future is so dark. Knowing Saeed’s heart, I know that his heart was to give them the hope that he’s found in Christ that no one can take away, even in prison.”

Abedini, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced last year to eight years in prison for his involvement in the Iranian house church movement. He moved to the U.S. in 2005 and was arrested two years ago during a trip to build an orphanage in Iran. Read more at BPNews.net.

SBC leaders call for ‘renewed passion’ amid declining numbers
Southern Baptist churches reported more than 310,000 baptisms in 2013, but the total was 1.46% less than the previous year. The Annual Church Profile report, compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions, also showed declines in church membership (down 0.9%) and primary worship attendance (down 2.2% to 5.8 million worshipers).

“I am grieved we are clearly losing our evangelistic effectiveness,” said Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources. “I continue to pray for revival and a renewed passion for the Great Commission in our churches. May God renew all of us, including me, with a greater heart for the lost.” Read more at BPNews.net.

A Southern Baptist task force addressed declining baptisms in a report released in May, ahead of the denomination’s June meeting in Baltimore. Read their report here.

Viewing habits: What do we all have in common?
Sheldon Cooper, at least according to research by the Barna Group. Their survey found “The Big Bang Theory” is the most commonly watched show among American adults (30%) and the Millenial generation (31%). And with 23% it was #2 on the list for practicing Christians. Among that group, Sheldon, Penny and the gang lost out by two percentage points to “NCIS.” Read more at Barna.org.

In Briefing , , , , , , ,
permalink

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.”
In News , , , ,
permalink

1964 convention sermon proves prophetic

eric4ibsa —  June 2, 2014

HEARTLAND | Eric Reed

Owen Cooper was a prophet. “We live in an age when it is popular to be tolerant and it is a stigma to be called intolerant,” the chemical engineer from Mississippi preached to messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention. “Tolerance of a half truth soon leads to tolerance of an untruth and then to tolerance of an error,” he warned. “Social and political pressures in the name of tolerance are quenching the flame of missionary zeal.”

Owen_Cooper_0616

Photo from Mississippi Historical Society website

Cooper was describing his own time, but his convention sermon delivered in Atlantic City in 1964 has proven an apt description of our time.

Among Cooper’s insights: Christianity is losing ground in the U.S., world population is growing faster than the Christian faith, and Islam is on the rise; baptisms in SBC churches are declining, more ministry is focused on places where Southern Baptists are strong than to regions and nations where evangelical witness is weak, and the word “witness” itself is almost lost from our vocabulary – and our activity.

“Southern Baptists are losing their mission zeal because of a growing feeling among many theologians and the laity that, after all, man is not lost.” He cited contemporary articles declaring the beginning of “the post-Christian era.”

In 1964? Really?

“Perhaps it is well to ask ourselves the question, ‘What is wrong?’” Cooper said. “‘What is the trouble? Why the diminution of spiritual momentum in the world, and in our country, and in our denomination?’”

In the two decades after World War 2, the Southern Baptist Convention grew rapidly. An emphasis on Sunday school and evangelism that reached the burgeoning families of returning GIs swelled the ranks. The SBC eclipsed the mainline denominations that peaked in 1964 and started their downward spiral. Even as the SBC rallied for growth in membership, Cooper sounded an alarm. Ten million Southern Baptists were on the church rolls, but three million of them couldn’t be accounted for. Baptisms flatlined.

The numbers are no better today. With 15.7 million members officially, our churches report only 5.8 million in worship on any given Sunday. And baptisms are down for seven out of the last nine years, after 40-plus years mostly plateaued. We peaked in 1972.

“We may find ourselves somewhat in the position occupied by Gideon when his followers included…those who follow the crowd as well as the earnest and dedicated,” Cooper said. Apparently some thinning of the herd at the watering hole wouldn’t hurt. “It’s too easy to join a Baptist church,” he stated.

But more than the incipient decline, Cooper decried the loss of commitment to evangelism. “The Southern Baptist Convention was organized for the purpose of ‘directing the energies of the whole denomination for the propagation of the Gospel.’ Witnessing was acknowledged as our principle objective; it must continue to be such.”

Cooper, a layman, was very public about his faith. (Even in 1964, he said personal witnessing would be considered “intolerant, bigoted, and improper” in many circles.) One of only two laymen elected president of the SBC, he served two terms starting in 1973.

In the 1964 sermon, Cooper called on messengers to increase Cooperative Program giving. In 1962, he said, citing the most recent statistics available, 10% of receipts by Southern Baptist churches went to the CP missions and 8% to state missions; today CP giving is down to 5.4% per church, on average. And he called for more money, missionaries, and church planters in distant and unreached parts of the U.S.

But mostly Cooper called for a return to witnessing: “The challenges and problems faced by Southern Baptists, yea even in Christianity for that matter, seem overwhelming when viewed in their totality. Yet broken into their component parts, it becomes much simpler. As Southern Baptists, as Christians, our task is to ‘win them one by one.’

“Ask men to witness,” he urged. “At the time a person joins the church, he should understand that part of his responsibility is to witness, and opportunities should be provided for Christian witness…Without the primacy of missions and witnessing, the church is without true purpose,” Cooper said, “the pulpit is without power and the pew is without potency.”

Eric Reed found Owen Cooper’s 1964 convention sermon while researching the SBC for the Illinois Baptist series B-101. Cooper, from Yazoo City, Mississippi, was a member of the SBC Executive Committee at the time he delivered it.

In Heartland , , , , ,
permalink

Baltimore Oracles: Small numbers, big impact

Meredith Flynn —  May 29, 2014

COMMENTARY | Eric Reed

Editor’s note: Leading up to the Southern Baptist Convention in Baltimore June 10-11, the staff of the Illinois Baptist will preview the annual meeting in “Baltimore Oracles,” a series of columns about SBC elections and key issues.

When there was but one candidate for SBC president, attendance at the Baltimore gathering seemed of little consequence in the outcome of the proceedings. The analysts would comment on the demographics and decline.

But now, with three candidates in the running, the convention promises a bit more of a horserace. And the headcount becomes more important.

The 2011 annual meeting in Phoenix is the lowest-attended in recent history, with only 4,814 messengers registered. Many would attribute the sad nadir to distance from the Southern-states home base – faraway conventions are rarely well attended.

And since 1985’s peak of 45,519 messengers in Dallas when Charles Stanley was elected president, there hasn’t been a political debate or theological wrestling match to draw ordinary church members in large quantities. Only the stalwarts have continued to make the annual trek, no matter how far from home the host city may be.

Attendance has declined steadily over the past two decades. When 7,484 registered in New Orleans in 2012, Fred Luter’s election as the first African American SBC president was the big draw and debate over renaming the convention received second billing. The following year, when it was thought the simmering dispute about Calvinism might boil over, only 5,103 showed up in Houston.

If the proponents of Reformed theology had put forth a candidate this year, then location and attendance could have significantly swayed a genuine two-man race. Location and attendance were big factors in Stanley’s win, when busloads of messengers from nearby states traveled to Texas to raise their ballots and secure conservative control of the denomination.

But after Southern Seminary president Al Mohler said he would nominate megachurch pastor Ronnie Floyd, it appeared there would be no duel over theology and no need to rally support from the Reformed bases near Baltimore. Convention attendance, except as a measure of personal investment,
wouldn’t be an issue.

Now, however, attendance becomes a factor with the announcement by Jared Moore that he will run against Floyd. With registration expected to be near record lows, a relative unknown running on a “small church” platform could muster a respectable showing when ballots are raised. And the late entry of Maryland pastor Dennis Kim makes every vote – cast in his home state – even more important.

It’s been a long time since the convention elected a president who wasn’t the pastor of a megachurch. Mississippi businessman Owen Cooper served two terms starting in 1973 with a win in Portland, Oregon, and only 8,871 messengers registered.

With the denomination’s recent voting history, such a dark-horse win seems unlikely. But the race for SBC president just became interesting.

In Commentary , , , ,
permalink

Baltimore Oracles: Math makes a difference

Meredith Flynn —  May 28, 2014

COMMENTARY | Meredith Flynn

Editor’s note: Leading up to the Southern Baptist Convention in Baltimore June 10-11, the staff of the Illinois Baptist will preview the annual meeting in “Baltimore Oracles,” a series of columns about SBC elections and key issues.

Leaders of smaller Southern Baptist churches will be watching closely in June as the SBC Executive Committee considers a change to the denomination’s constitution. The article in question (Article III) governs how many voters – known as messengers – individual churches may send to the Convention’s annual meeting.

Here’s how Article III stands now:

  • Churches in friendly cooperation with the SBC can send one messenger to the annual meeting, as long as the church contributed any amount to SBC causes the previous year.
  • Additional messengers may be sent for every 250 members, or for each $250 given to Convention causes.

Under the proposed changes:

  • Churches may send a minimum of two messengers, provided they meetthe guidelines for friendly cooperation (including undesignated, financial contributions either through the Cooperative Program, toward Convention causes, or to Convention entities).
  • Additional messengers are based on contributions (one for every $6,000 or full percent of the church’s undesignated receipts, whichever results in more messengers).

Whew. What does all that math actually mean for churches? In the March issue of SBC Life, Executive Committee Chairman Ernest Easley explained the thinking behind the changes: The new version adjusts for inflation. The $250 figure was adopted 126 years ago. And the proposed wording is an opportunity to “lift up Cooperative Program as the preferred model of giving to Convention work.”

But what about smaller churches, some asked. Won’t the new giving standards make it more difficult for them to send additional messengers?

“…If the perception is that it will hurt small churches, this is DOA,” Executive Committee President Frank Page told EC members at their February meeting. “My heart is with small churches, and I don’t want anything that even seems to be in some way pejorative toward their involvement.”

The EC meets just prior to the Convention and will decide whether to bring the amendment to messengers for a vote during the meeting June 10-11.

Any debate surrounding the proposal, especially if it makes it to the convention floor, could have some bearing on the race for SBC president. Ronnie Floyd pastors a megachurch, while Jared Moore is from a smaller, rural congregation. Dennis Kim’s Maryland congregation of around 1,700 is somewhere in between.

If the conversation about messenger representation swings the momentum in favor of smaller churches or those in regions with fewer Baptists, Moore or Kim could gain some extra visibility at the Convention. If the measure doesn’t come up for a vote or passes without much debate, Floyd would remain the better known candidate with the most SBC leadership experience.

Math may make a difference when Baptists meet in Baltimore.

Previous Baltimore Oracles columns:
The Southern Baptist Convention’s new ‘traditionalists’
What a single-candidate election could mean for the SBC
Why geography matters

 

In Commentary , , , ,
permalink

Marriage Update: 19 states approve same-sex unions, one ban remains unchallenged

Meredith Flynn —  May 27, 2014

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Oregon and Pennsylvania became the 18th and 19th states to approve same-sex marriage after judges struck down their states’ same-sex marriage bans May 19 and 20.

An Oregon appeals court denied a request to stay the ruling, and no appeal has been filed in Pennsylvania. In both states, the attorney general has said she would not defend the ban.

Layout 1Earlier in May, Arkansas became the first southern state to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Arkansas joined the list of states in limbo between a judge’s decision and current law. In Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee, the debate is over whether to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.

Only one same-sex marriage bans remain unchallenged – North Dakota – after lawsuits were filed late last week in Montana and South Dakota. The Minneapolis attorney who filed suit in South Dakota told the Post he will do the same in North Dakota within six to eight weeks.

Same-sex marriages were scheduled to begin June 1 in Illinois after the passage of SB10, the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act.” But many counties began issuing licenses after Attorney General Lisa Madigan gave clerks the go-ahead in March.

According to a Gallup poll released May 21, 55% of Americans approve making same-sex marriage legal, including 78% of those in the 18-29 age bracket.

More news:

Baptist seminary criticized over admission of Muslim student
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson faced criticism this month when a blogger reported the school had admitted a Muslim student to its Ph.D in archaeology program. Patterson told the Southern Baptist Texan that the student “had had no other options for Ph.D. work in his field,” and that he hoped to win him to faith in Christ. Patterson also said, “We required that the student would agree with our moral standards while a student at Southwestern. It was no problem for him.”

The decision, which Patterson said he is responsible for, was debated online after Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson published the report on his blog. Trustee chairman Steven James said the board will discuss the issue at its scheduled meeting in September. According to the Texan, Southwestern’s website includes requirements for graduate-level courses including “a mature Christian character” and “desire for Christian ministry.”

Boy Scouts president stands by decisions made last year
Robert Gates, president of the Boy Scouts of America, said he supports the organization’s decision last summer to include openly gay participants, and would have extended the policy change to include adults too. But Gates, a former U.S. Defense Secretary, also said it’s time to let the issue rest, according to a report on ChristianPost.com.

“Given the strong feelings – the passion – involved among our volunteers on both sides of this matter,” Gates said at the organization’s annual meeting May 23, “I believe strongly that to reopen the membership issue or try to take last year’s decision to the next step would irreparably fracture and perhaps even provoke a formal, permanent split in this movement with the high likelihood that neither side would survive on its own.”

Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting to focus on prayer, revival
Restoration, revival and prayer are the themes of this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, scheduled for June 10-11 in a city known for its place in American and Baptist history. And baseball and crab cakes.

SBC President Fred Luter will preside over his final annual meeting as his second one-year term draws to a close. He told Baptist Press this year’s meeting theme is similar to last year’s – revival – with added importance given to prayer. The meeting also will include a Tuesday night revival service. “…We just come for worship and the word,” Luter said. “That’s it. No business will be conducted.”

Three candidates will reportedly be nominated to succeed Luter: Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas; Dennis Manpoong Kim, pastor of Global Mission Church of Greater Washington, and Jared Moore, pastor of New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, Ky. Read more about the SBC Annual Meeting at BPNews.net.

 

In Briefing , , , , , , , , ,
permalink

Third candidate to be nominated for SBC president

Meredith Flynn —  May 21, 2014

Dennis_KimNEWS | The SBC Voices blog posted late Tuesday afternoon that Dennis Kim, pastor of Global Mission Church of Greater Washington, will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention when it convenes in Baltimore in June.

Texas pastor Dwight McKissic will nominate Kim, whose predominantly Korean church is the largest in the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, according to a report by the convention’s communications director.

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.

“Dr. Kim’s heartbeat is evangelism and discipleship,” McKissic wrote in a letter announcing he would nominate Kim. “He has been faithfully serving as the senior pastor of this church for 23 years with a great passion for evangelism, discipleship and world missions. Fulfilling the Great Commission is the all-consuming passion of his ministry.

“…He is fully bilingual in Korean and English with a keen understanding of multicultural world views. If elected, he will be an ambassador for the Kingdom and Southern Baptists that’s well qualified.”

Kim joins Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, and Jared Moore, pastor of New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, Ky., in the election to succeed current SBC President Fred Luter.

Read more about Kim in this article from BaptistLIFE, the newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

In News , ,
permalink