SBC 2018, Dallas
– It was my pleasure to attend the Annual Meeting of the SBC in Dallas this
year along with over 9500 registered messengers representing somewhere around
10% of SBC churches. Let me provide you with a snapshot view of the Southern
Baptist Convention (http://www.sbc.net/BecomingSouthernBaptist/FastFacts.asp):
·
47,000 autonomous, but cooperating congregations
·
15.2 million SBC church members
·
5.2 million average weekly attendance in SBC
churches
·
Six Seminaries (Southeastern, Southern, Southwestern,
Midwestern, New Orleans, Gateway)
·
2 Missions Sending Agencies – North American
Mission Board (NAMB) focusing primarily on Church Planting (SEND Cities) and Relief
work (SEND Relief), and the International Mission Board (IMB).
·
9,000 = the approximate number of missionaries
serving through these two missions agencies
·
42 State Conventions in North America
·
In Georgia:
o 3600
churches
o 92
church funded Associations (not CP funded) and 75 associational Leaders
·
$475 million = the amount given to the
Cooperative Program of the SBC in 2017 for the funding of our entities (Ethics
and Religious Liberty Commission, Seminaries and Missions Agencies and the SBC
Executive Committee)
·
$152 million = the amount churches gave to
Lottie Moon Christmas offering for the IMB in 2017
·
$59 million = the amount given to the Annie
Armstrong Easter offering for NAMB in 2017
·
964 = the number of new congregations added in
2017
·
The Annual Meeting of the convention is a
collective gathering of the messengers which forms a deliberative body that is
empowered to vote on Convention business. Much like a church, the convention is
divided into committees and (maybe differently) functions under a trustee
system that manages and oversees SBC entities and agencies.
News of Note from
SBC Dallas 2018
·
J.D. Greear, age 45, pastor of Summit Church in
Durham, NC became one of the youngest men in recent history to be elected as
SBC president. This probably represents the confirmation of a youth movement
within our denomination and signals something healthy in my opinion. I noted
before that the SEND conference in Nashville last year attracted more
attendance than the SBC in Phoenix which probably points to an important
philosophical change.
·
SWBTS trustees were affirmed by a vote from the
floor of the convention as having acted appropriately in removing Paige
Paterson as president because of plummeting attendance and finances and because
of concerns about the improper handling of reporting of sexual abuse in the
past. http://www.bpnews.net/51053/2018-sbc-blog
·
A motion to defund the ERLC was defeated, and an
effort to remove and replace an ERLC trustee from Nebraska with a less
cooperative trustee was also defeated.
·
Vice president Mike Pence spoke to the
convention to the consternation and opposition of many messengers. Though there
is a past precedent of hearing from politicians, there is a growing concern
about its appropriateness. I addressed
this and many other SBC issues in a recent Facebook video update that I would
encourage you to listen to on the MBA’s FB page. https://www.facebook.com/bbraswelljr/videos/1824217421007964/
Why I go and what
I do – I budget money from my compensation package to attend the convention
because I believe it is important to do my small part to understand and steward
the colossus that is our convention of churches. When I go, I typically:
·
Attend Southern Baptist Conference of
Associational Leaders (SBCAL) conference which occurs on the Sunday and Monday
prior to the convention. It helps me as an associational leader and I am
currently serving as the Southeast Regional Director for SBCAL as a volunteer
within this ministry. I have started producing a podcast for other
associational leaders as well. https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/bobby-braswell/associational-leadership-today
·
I attend many luncheons, breakfasts and other
ministry gatherings to help me in my ministry proficiency, many of which give
away free resources. I attend as many points of connection as possible to hear
from great leaders and understand the issues and direction of the SBC. I
network. I go home a “good tired.”
·
I connect with friends, some of whom formerly
served churches in the MBA.
·
I peruse the exhibit hall and try not to make
eye contact with vendors unless I really have an interest in their area.
This is a lot of information. Denominationalism is on the
decrease in our times. I understood Ed Stetzer to say recently that though we
say the SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the world, there are
actually more non-denominational churches than SBC churches now. Nevertheless,
it’s important to have a handle on who we are, and if you would be interested
in hearing more from me on this I’d be happy to come on a Sunday night and
interact with your MBA congregation about this.
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