Southern Baptists look for cures to stagnation
'Great Commission Resurgence' » Leaders will present declaration at
annual meeting this week.

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service

Salt Lake Tribune
02:56:55 PM MDT


Decades of painful conservative-moderate fights. Stagnant baptism rates.
Membership malaise. Surveying the state of the Southern Baptist
Convention, seminary president Danny Akin can sum it all up in six words:

"Business as usual is not working."

Seeking to turn things around for the nation's largest Protestant body,
Akin has teamed with SBC President Johnny Hunt to draft a "Great
Commission Resurgence" declaration that will be presented to the
Baptists' annual meeting June 23-24 in Louisville, Ky.

The goal is to find a new way forward after several high-profile
campaigns to boost the number of baptisms -- a key measure of vitality
and an article of faith for Baptists -- fell flat.

Hunt told one Baptist newspaper that the SBC is like a ship that is
"adrift" and needs to consider ridding itself of unnecessary "cargo."

For the Rev. Micah Fries, a 30-year-old pastor of a Southern Baptist
church in St. Joseph, Mo., such analogies are appropriate for a
denomination that has grown in size and bureaucracy in its more than 150
years of history.

"We need to lose some excessive baggage," he said, noting a worrisome
$30 million shortfall in an international missions offering that will
reduce the number of missionaries deployed oversees.

For years, political battles -- inside and outside the convention -- put
key Southern Baptist leaders in the spotlight. But now, as some of those
faces fade from view, a younger generation is taking a different focus.

"I think in many ways, the Southern Baptist Convention mirrors the
Republican Party in that they have cultivated such a narrow base," said
the Rev. Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University School of
Divinity in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"They have to keep defining themselves to say to a new generation,
'Here's what we delivered you from,' because this new generation doesn't
remember."

Those fights included whether to boycott the Walt Disney Co., forbidding
women pastors, telling wives to "submit graciously" to their husbands
and screening out would-be missionaries who pray in tongues, as well as
public-square battles over abortion and homosexuality.

Akin, the 52-year-old president of Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., says the annual fights over hot-button
theological or social issues aren't moving the next generation of Baptists.

"This is kind of the network of younger, enthusiastic Southern Baptists
who, to be honest with you, ... find the annual meeting itself a little
frustrating and a little boring," said Akin.

Akin hopes the declaration will help chart a new direction by combining
theology -- with a focus on sharing the gospel and belief in an
error-proof Bible -- with a top-to-bottom streamlining that puts special
emphasis on racial reconciliation.

The Baptist blogosphere is already abuzz with debate over where the
document could take the denomination, or if it could even work.

"It exposes two divides," said the Rev. Wade Burleson, pastor of
Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., who has used his blog to
question Southern Baptist policies in recent years. "It's an
ideological, not generational, divide and it is a
status-quo-versus-change divide."

Richard Land, president of the denomination's Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission, said the statement reflects particular concern with baptism
rates -- now at their lowest since 1987 -- and a total membership that
dropped 0.2 percent in a church that for years prided itself on its
annual increases.

"I think it's a sense of some frustration that we have not seen more
growth in missions and evangelism, and [it's] an attempt to re-emphasize
that," he said.

Not everyone is embracing Hunt and Akin's plans. Former SBC President
Morris Chapman (who currently leads the denomination's Executive
Committee) has been outspoken in his opposition.

"Reallocating our funds will not solve any perceived problems," Chapman
wrote in a column in Baptist Press, the denomination's news service.
"But a genuine revival might!"

Some Baptist state conventions have questioned what the proposed
restructuring could mean on the local level, while others acknowledge
the need for change.

"It is with sadness I declare that many in our churches are spiritually
sick and in great need of a fresh movement of God both within the
leadership and the laity," said Milton A. Hollifield Jr., the executive
director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, at
a May board meeting. "May God help us look to him and to be different."

- - -

It's nice to see problems among the bigots.

HK wrote:

Southern Baptists look for cures to stagnation
'Great Commission Resurgence' » Leaders will present declaration at
annual meeting this week.

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service

Salt Lake Tribune
02:56:55 PM MDT


Decades of painful conservative-moderate fights. Stagnant baptism rates.
Membership malaise. Surveying the state of the Southern Baptist
Convention, seminary president Danny Akin can sum it all up in six words:

"Business as usual is not working."

Seeking to turn things around for the nation's largest Protestant body,
Akin has teamed with SBC President Johnny Hunt to draft a "Great
Commission Resurgence" declaration that will be presented to the
Baptists' annual meeting June 23-24 in Louisville, Ky.

The goal is to find a new way forward after several high-profile
campaigns to boost the number of baptisms -- a key measure of vitality
and an article of faith for Baptists -- fell flat.

Hunt told one Baptist newspaper that the SBC is like a ship that is
"adrift" and needs to consider ridding itself of unnecessary "cargo."

For the Rev. Micah Fries, a 30-year-old pastor of a Southern Baptist
church in St. Joseph, Mo., such analogies are appropriate for a
denomination that has grown in size and bureaucracy in its more than 150
years of history.

"We need to lose some excessive baggage," he said, noting a worrisome
$30 million shortfall in an international missions offering that will
reduce the number of missionaries deployed oversees.

For years, political battles -- inside and outside the convention -- put
key Southern Baptist leaders in the spotlight. But now, as some of those
faces fade from view, a younger generation is taking a different focus.

"I think in many ways, the Southern Baptist Convention mirrors the
Republican Party in that they have cultivated such a narrow base," said
the Rev. Bill Leonard, dean of the Wake Forest University School of
Divinity in Winston-Salem, N.C.

"They have to keep defining themselves to say to a new generation,
'Here's what we delivered you from,' because this new generation doesn't
remember."

Those fights included whether to boycott the Walt Disney Co., forbidding
women pastors, telling wives to "submit graciously" to their husbands
and screening out would-be missionaries who pray in tongues, as well as
public-square battles over abortion and homosexuality.

Akin, the 52-year-old president of Southeastern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., says the annual fights over hot-button
theological or social issues aren't moving the next generation of Baptists.

"This is kind of the network of younger, enthusiastic Southern Baptists
who, to be honest with you, ... find the annual meeting itself a little
frustrating and a little boring," said Akin.

Akin hopes the declaration will help chart a new direction by combining
theology -- with a focus on sharing the gospel and belief in an
error-proof Bible -- with a top-to-bottom streamlining that puts special
emphasis on racial reconciliation.

The Baptist blogosphere is already abuzz with debate over where the
document could take the denomination, or if it could even work.

"It exposes two divides," said the Rev. Wade Burleson, pastor of
Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., who has used his blog to
question Southern Baptist policies in recent years. "It's an
ideological, not generational, divide and it is a
status-quo-versus-change divide."

Richard Land, president of the denomination's Ethics & Religious Liberty
Commission, said the statement reflects particular concern with baptism
rates -- now at their lowest since 1987 -- and a total membership that
dropped 0.2 percent in a church that for years prided itself on its
annual increases.

"I think it's a sense of some frustration that we have not seen more
growth in missions and evangelism, and [it's] an attempt to re-emphasize
that," he said.

Not everyone is embracing Hunt and Akin's plans. Former SBC President
Morris Chapman (who currently leads the denomination's Executive
Committee) has been outspoken in his opposition.

"Reallocating our funds will not solve any perceived problems," Chapman
wrote in a column in Baptist Press, the denomination's news service.
"But a genuine revival might!"

Some Baptist state conventions have questioned what the proposed
restructuring could mean on the local level, while others acknowledge
the need for change.

"It is with sadness I declare that many in our churches are spiritually
sick and in great need of a fresh movement of God both within the
leadership and the laity," said Milton A. Hollifield Jr., the executive
director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, at
a May board meeting. "May God help us look to him and to be different."

- - -

It's nice to see problems among the bigots.

That's good news for Harry Krause, isn't it. The fear and intimidation
you suffer at the prospect of being asked to consider a moral, ethical,
and religious life must have you shakin in your boots.

On Jun 22, 6:20*am, Jim24242 wrote:


That's good news for Harry Krause, isn't it. The fear and intimidation
you suffer at the prospect of being asked to consider a moral, ethical,
and religious life must have you shakin in your boots

except, of course, the s. baptists have never come close to living a
moral ethical and religious life. the church was founded as a
proslavery church in 1845 and has opposed freedom for anyone ever
since...in the name of god. it's also america's leading pro-
creationism church

IOW it's wrong about everything.

On Jun 22, 6:50*am, wf3h wrote:


IOW it's wrong about everything.

I very much disagree with you , but I won't argue about it.

On Jun 22, 8:06*am, Tim wrote:
On Jun 22, 6:50*am, wf3h wrote:



IOW it's wrong about everything.

I very much disagree with you , but I won't argue about it.

I wonder why seemingly good people, and of course assholes like Harry
feel the need to push their anti-Christian bigotry on everyone
whenever they find a remote opening, or even make one up? Why must
they shove their "religion" down our throats all the time... Oh,
but we can't talk about ours, that would hurt their feelings and they
would want to take us to court snerk In other words, why are they so
hypocritical?

JustWaitAFrekinMinute! wrote:
On Jun 22, 8:06 am, Tim wrote:
On Jun 22, 6:50 am, wf3h wrote:



IOW it's wrong about everything.
I very much disagree with you , but I won't argue about it.

I wonder why seemingly good people, and of course assholes like Harry
feel the need to push their anti-Christian bigotry on everyone
whenever they find a remote opening, or even make one up? Why must
they shove their "religion" down our throats all the time... Oh,
but we can't talk about ours, that would hurt their feelings and they
would want to take us to court snerk In other words, why are they so
hypocritical?


I'll try to make it really simple for you, ****-for-brains.

I'm not pushing any religion or any religion's alleged principles,
precepts, beliefs. I don't give a **** if you believe in a supreme
being, or a terra cotta statue, or a great pair of teats.

What fundamentalist religions do, religions like the white southern
baptists, is try to push their alleged principles, precepts, beliefs,
and bull**** onto others, and onto society generally.

You can talk about *your* religion to your heart's content. I wouldn't
lift an eyebrow to stop you. If, however, you try to use the people's
facilities, or the people's property (public schools, or building a
creche in front of the public's firehouse, for example), to sell your
particular brand of snake oil, then I think you should be taken into court.

On Jun 22, 10:47*am, "JustWaitAFrekinMinute!"
wrote:
On Jun 22, 8:06*am, Tim wrote:

On Jun 22, 6:50*am, wf3h wrote:

IOW it's wrong about everything.

I very much disagree with you , but I won't argue about it.

I wonder why seemingly good people, and of course assholes like Harry
feel the need to push their anti-Christian bigotry on everyone
whenever they find a remote opening, or even make one up? Why must
they shove their "religion" down our throats all the time... * * Oh,
but we can't talk about ours, that would hurt their feelings and they
would want to take us to court snerk In other words, why are they so
hypocritical?

the s. baptists are anything but christian.

wf3h wrote:
On Jun 22, 6:20 am, Jim24242 wrote:

That's good news for Harry Krause, isn't it. The fear and intimidation
you suffer at the prospect of being asked to consider a moral, ethical,
and religious life must have you shakin in your boots

except, of course, the s. baptists have never come close to living a
moral ethical and religious life. the church was founded as a
proslavery church in 1845 and has opposed freedom for anyone ever
since...in the name of god. it's also america's leading pro-
creationism church

IOW it's wrong about everything.

Everything that has evolved was created at one point, one would think.
Krause despises all religion, as far as I can tell.

wf3h wrote:
On Jun 22, 6:20 am, Jim24242 wrote:

That's good news for Harry Krause, isn't it. The fear and intimidation
you suffer at the prospect of being asked to consider a moral, ethical,
and religious life must have you shakin in your boots

except, of course, the s. baptists have never come close to living a
moral ethical and religious life. the church was founded as a
proslavery church in 1845 and has opposed freedom for anyone ever
since...in the name of god. it's also america's leading pro-
creationism church

IOW it's wrong about everything.


An absolutely backwards "bunch" of religious zealots, doing "the devil's
work" wherever it can. That floridajim believes they're moral and
ethical says even more about him than it does about the white southern
baptists.

HK wrote:
wf3h wrote:
On Jun 22, 6:20 am, Jim24242 wrote:

That's good news for Harry Krause, isn't it. The fear and intimidation
you suffer at the prospect of being asked to consider a moral, ethical,
and religious life must have you shakin in your boots

except, of course, the s. baptists have never come close to living a
moral ethical and religious life. the church was founded as a
proslavery church in 1845 and has opposed freedom for anyone ever
since...in the name of god. it's also america's leading pro-
creationism church

IOW it's wrong about everything.


An absolutely backwards "bunch" of religious zealots, doing "the devil's
work" wherever it can. That floridajim believes they're moral and
ethical says even more about him than it does about the white southern
baptists.

OK **** for brains. Show me where I said that.