Month: June 2003

Summer is annual convention season

Summer is upon us once again. It seems Christmas was last month. How does this happen? Someone has said that the older you get, the longer the days and the shorter the years. Summer conjures up many images. There is baseball, hot days, swimming pools, and the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. I guess only someone hardwired to the denomination would add the last one to the list.For those of you who have not noticed, the SBC is changing. Fewer messengers are attending than in years past. There are several reasons for the decline. One is the struggle for the heart and soul of the convention that raged for two decades is over. Biblical inerrancy in our institutions, particularly in regard to SBC employees, was THE issue. Unfortunately, some church members did not understand the problem or failed to appreciate the effort. Critics said we should have done it another way, but there was no other way. Moral suasion did not work. Appeals from the floor did not impact the leaders. Grassroots involvement turned the Southern Baptist Convention.

A by-product of the “conservative resurgence” was the mass mobilization of rank and file Southern Baptists. As a twenty-something pastor of a small rural church in the Louisiana delta cotton country, I attended my first annual meeting. The church had a full complement of messengers. Laypersons who had never attended an SBC function helped determine the direction of the greatest evangelical denomination in America.

Few people see the urgency of attending now. For the most part, the battle for the Bible has been won in the convention.

The second possible reason for declining numbers in attendance may be the emerging generation that has no connection to the turbulent days of the Resurgence. They do not have the context, life experiences or passion for involvement in the denomination. Many of them do not even see the need for the denomination. I am not lamenting. I am observing. There is an answer.

The SBTC sponsored a 20/20 Vision Team in the spring. Our convention president, George Harris, issued an invitation to a “white board” session. Although he was unable to attend due to a motorcycle wreck, his son, Jeff, stepped in. Twenty ministers under the age of forty met for a day to futurize what the denomination would look like in the year 2020. No agendas were presented, only an open discussion. Several insightful proposals came out of the discussion.

Missions is on the heart of young ministers like nothing else. The SBTC and the SBC must be the connection for individuals and churches wishing to plug-in. Without an infrastructure, strategic mission endeavors would be almost impossible. No church is so large that it can formulate a state-wide, national or international mission plan. A convention fills the gap.

A second issue brought up by the 20/20 Vision Team was fellowship. Affinity associations provide encouragement and interaction. Building relationships that produce ministry partnerships is what the guys wanted. While we will not jettison the tried and true models of ministry, we must be flexible to change some methods. It is not an either/or, but a both/and.

Denominations now live in an entrepreneurial atmosphere. We must prove our reason for existence. If we want people to be involved, we must give them a reason. The SBTC will continue to find a way to connect the leaders of the future with the heritage of the past.

Let me encourage you to attend the annual meetings of the SBC and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Your participation is the only assurance that the direction set through tears and sweat, will continue on course. Your participation is the only assurance that you will have a voice in where we go in the future. Stay faithful, Galatians 6:9.