A polarizing 2020 Pastors’ Conference program, a Texas church led by a registered sex offender, and questions regarding the work of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission drew decisive action from the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee at its Feb. 17-18 meeting in Nashville.
SBC Pastors’ Conference
The EC voted to allocate meeting space for the 2020 SBC Pastors’ Conference provided president David Uth amends the program by Feb. 24. The recommendation, which originated in the EC Business and Finance Committee, did not note specific program changes needed, but the speaker lineup and the choice of musical guests have generated both disapproval and applause among Southern Baptists.
First Baptist Church of Orlando, pastored by Uth, pledged Feb. 17 to cover the full cost of the 2020 Pastors’ Conference. But the EC instead voted to continue the arrangement where the conference reimburses the EC for a portion of the cost. EC chairman Mike Stone said his desire is for changes to be made to the program, “so we can proceed in keeping with who we are as Southern Baptists.”
The EC originally gave Uth a deadline of Feb. 24, but extended it to March 30 after Uth asked for 40 days to pray and fast with his church.
Texas church disfellowshipped over abuse
As recommended by the SBC Credentials Committee, the EC voted to disfellowship Ranchland Heights Baptist Church in Midland, Texas, whose senior pastor Phillip Rutledge is a registered sex offender.
Rutledge, who began pastoring the church in June 2016, was convicted in 2003 of aggravated sexual assault against two girls, ages 11 and 12, respectively.
The church is the first disfellowshipped since messengers to the 2019 SBC Annual Meeting revised the function of the Credentials Committee, allowing it to receive reports of a church’s suspected departure from Southern Baptist polity, doctrine, or practice and to make recommendations to the SBC Executive Committee regarding the possible disfellowship of churches from the SBC.
Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
Upon the recommendation of the Cooperative Program Committee, the EC voted to create a study task force to “review the past and present activities of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission in the fulfillment of its Convention-approved ministry assignments and…assess whether the actions of the Commission and its leadership are affecting Cooperative Program giving or the further advancement of the Cooperative Program.”
The study group is charged with fact-finding, EC Chairman Mike Stone said, and was not formed with the intention of recommending ERLC personnel changes. The task force was instructed to submit its findings at or before the EC’s September 2020 meeting.
Vision 2025
The EC enthusiastically voted to forward to 2020 annual meeting messengers Vision 2025, shouting hallelujah for the evangelism, missions, and stewardship initiative birthed by SBC EC president Ronnie Floyd and supported by various SBC entity leaders.
Under Vision 2025, Southern Baptists would work to add 500 full-time International Mission Board missionaries by 2025, add 6,000 new Southern Baptist churches, encourage those called to ministry to engage in their calling; reverse a decline in baptism and discipleship among 12- to 17-year-olds, and surpass $500 million in Cooperative Program giving.
The EC also voted unanimously to forward to messengers amendments to the EC mission and ministry statements as Floyd requested, updating the language and adding a seventh ministry assignment: prayer.
As approved, the EC would “assist churches through elevating the ministry of prayer,” with an express goal of providing “strategic leadership to lift up and promote coordinated prayer for spiritual awakening, ministry effectiveness, and the completion of the Great Commission.”
George Liele Day
The EC voted to recommend to messengers in Orlando the addition of a George Liele Church Planting, Evangelism, and Missions Day to the SBC Calendar annually on the first Sunday in February beginning in 2021, approving a request initiated in 2019 by the SBC National African American Fellowship (NAAF) honoring Liele as the first Baptist missionary abroad.
NAAF president and SBC first vice president Marshal Ausberry affirmed the move in comments to BP.
“If I use a basketball term, he was a triple threat, an evangelist, a missionary, and church planter. All done under extremely difficult circumstances,” Ausberry said. “If George Liele had a basketball jersey I think we would all be wearing it. He rightfully stands along with the missionary giants (Adoniram) Judson and (William) Carey.”
-From Baptist Press