“There are more things that bring us together, really, than the things that separate us,” Anthony Dockery, newly elected SBC Executive Committee vice chair, said during his first press conference.
Those things that unite Southern Baptists were on display inside the convention center leading up to Tuesday’s opening of the 2023 SBC Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Messengers gathered with representatives from missions entities, SBC seminaries, and state denominations, gave evidence of areas of togetherness within the exhibit hall on Monday.
Yet, there are still matters of potential disagreement, including some which will be present at the Tuesday and Wednesday business sessions. Some vary in how they want to see the SBC address the role of women in ministry roles, particularly regarding the use of the term “pastor.” This also directly relates to whether messenger will uphold the Executive Committee’s February decision that Saddleback Church and Fern Creek Baptist Church are no longer in “friendly cooperation.”
Others are concerned with how the Abuse Reform and Implementation Task Force (ARITF) works out application of the criteria of “credibly accused” in their soon to be released Ministry Check website.
And of course, there is contested a presidential election this year, with Mike Stone, a former Executive Committee member and Georgia pastor, challenging Texas Pastor Bart Barber after Barber’s first one-year term.
Just down the street from the meeting space of the convention center were gatherings Monday night and Tuesday morning that shed light on the issues and hinted at how some of these votes may go.
9Marks at Nine
At the nearby Sheraton Hotel, a packed ballroom of nearly 1,000, mostly male and under 50 years old, was the setting for the 9 Marks at Nine event Monday evening.
9Marks describes itself as “a ministry dedicated to equipping church leaders with a biblical vision and practical resources for displaying God’s glory to the nations through healthy churches.” It was started by Mark Dever at Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
The gathered, sitting shoulder to shoulder, sang acapella hymns then listened to a panel discussion titled, “The Pastor: Gift or Office?”
Making up the panel were theologians and biblical scholars, and most notably, Mike Law, Jr. Law spearheaded the effort to amend the SBC constitution clarifying that any church which has “a woman as pastor of any kind” is not in friendly cooperation with the SBC. Law is also a former pastoral assistant at Dever’s church.
After clearly stating their position that the Bible uses the term pastor only as an office or leadership position within the church, synonymous with elder or overseer, and limited to males, Tom Schreiner, panelist and professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, wondered if many of the churches using the title of pastor for women in ministry roles are just sloppy in their nomenclature, instead of having a particular theologically liberal agenda.
To which Dever responded, “But they are building the camouflage that lets the other churches that do have that agenda come in.”
Conservative Baptist Network Breakfast
At Tuesday morning’s Conservative Baptist Network (CBN) breakfast at the Hilton Hotel adjacent to the convention center, a slightly older crowd with a mix of families sat at round tables grazing on pastries, meat, and potatoes.
The platform speakers’ focus was broader, speaking more to the needs of the local church than current convention specific issues. A series of men addressed the need for a recommitment to Baptist distinctives, taking bold stands for biblical values in culture, and the importance of evangelism to the future of each church.
Chuck Kelly, former president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, stressed that the SBC has been in a crisis of evangelism for years. “Look at the Methodist denomination,” Kelly said. “That’s where we’re headed unless we put the Great Commission back at the center of what we do.”
“Continuing as we are right now is a road to insignificance.”
Though not speaking, SBC presidential candidate Mike Stone was in attendance. Stone is a member of the CBN’s Steering Council. He narrowly lost the 2021 presidential election as the CBN endorsed candidate. In the month leading up to the convention, he has stated his lack of comfort in including names under the category of “credibly accused” in the Ministry Check website.
The CBN formed in February 2021 and at the time said it was made up of Southern Baptists “concerned about the current direction and perceived future of the Convention.”
–Ben Jones in New Orleans