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2012: SBC Annual Meeting Preview

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B21 panel topic: Conservative Resurgence

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — The Conservative Resurgence will be the main topic for discussion by this year’s Baptist21 panel with Paige Patterson, R. Albert Mohler Jr., Fred Luter and others, held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in New Orleans. The title of the panel discussion — “The CR, the GCR, & […]

Black pastors discuss how ‘Great Commission Baptists’ descriptor could help

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- As Southern Baptists prepare to vote on the adoption of the descriptor "Great Commission Baptists," African American pastors are adding insight on how well the reference will improve the convention's cross-cultural attraction. [QUOTE@left@100='I think it will be helpful, very helpful in expanding our capacity as Kingdom citizens to fulfill our biblical mandate issued by the Master.'
-- K. Marshall Williams]K. Marshall Williams, chairman of the Southern Baptist African American Advisory Council, said the adoption of the descriptor would be a step in the right direction and could improve the SBC's effectiveness in Kingdom building. "I think it will be helpful, very helpful in expanding our capacity as Kingdom citizens to fulfill our biblical mandate issued by the Master," said Williams, senior pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pa. "It's a clear declaration of who we are and what we're about, namely the exaltation of the Almighty and the edification and evangelization of all nations." Williams said he would use the name on his church stationery and website and "would be proud to wave that banner as an identifier of who we are, whose we are and what we're about." His church's membership is about 98 percent black. In February, the SBC Executive Committee approved the recommendation of a special task force that the Southern Baptist Convention keep its name but adopt an informal, non-legal "Great Commission Baptists" descriptor, to be used by any church that wishes to use it. Usage would be voluntary. Task force member Ken Fentress, who leads multiethnic Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Md., has said the inclusion of "Southern" in the SBC's name is a barrier to many in the African American community, who find the term reminiscent of the Confederacy. "Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. recently summarized the history of the founding of our convention in 1845. In his eloquent recitation of the issues that led to the establishment of the SBC, we learned that the founders intended for the name to identify with the Confederacy in the years leading up to the Civil War," Fentress said in his February address before the Executive Committee. "This signifies that the name has not only been a source of difficulty for church planters serving in areas outside the American South but also that the name has been a source of some difficulty among African Americans precisely because of its identity with the Confederacy." Robert Anderson, a Maryland pastor who is finishing eight years on the Executive Committee, used a baseball analogy in explaining the anticipated effectiveness of the proposed descriptor. "In any game everybody likes to see a home run. If I could talk about this game of life and ministry that we have, I think this is a home run. This is not a home run that wins the game, or anything, but it is a home run in the game," Anderson said. "Everybody wins, those who affectionately love the name Southern Baptist and would not want that to change. But also it helps those who would like to see a change for various purposes, better relating into ethnic communities, better relating to regions of the country that are not down South." While the SBC is predominantly white, Anderson pointed out the 3,500 African American churches in the SBC comprise some eight percent of the 45,700 membership congregations. "I think with that in mind and the passion or interest that our denomination has to reach urban areas, this is going to help," Anderson said. Anderson said the SBC last year hit a significant home run when messengers passed an ethnic diversity report that encourages the SBC president, when he makes his various appointments, to "give special attention to appointing individuals who represent the diversity within the Convention, and particularly ethnic diversity." The report cites the "need to be proactive and intentional in the inclusion of individuals from all ethnic and racial identities within Southern Baptist life." Anderson served on the Executive Committee communications workgroup which drafted the report.

Updated: SBC nominees’ 2011 key stats

Updated Saturday, June 16 NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Church statistics related to announced nominees for the offices of Southern Baptist Convention president and vice presidents have been compiled by Baptist Press, primarily drawing from the Annual Church Profile maintained by LifeWay Christian Resources. PRESIDENT Fred Luter, pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans — […]

‘Sinner’s Prayer’ among proposed resolutions

NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- The Sinner's Prayer, same-sex marriage and civil rights, and "racist statements" in Mormon documents are among the topics being discussed in various media about resolutions that pastors state they submitted for the Southern Baptist Convention's Resolution Committee to consider in preparation for the June 19-20 annual meeting in New Orleans.

Wells to be re-nominated for reg. secretary

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP) — Jim Wells, Cooperative Program state missionary for strategic partners for the Missouri Baptist Convention, will be re-nominated for another one-year term as Southern Baptist Convention registration secretary during the June 19-20 annual meeting in New Orleans, a Missouri pastor has announced. Wells was diagnosed in 2010 with a form of […]

Yeats to be re-nominated recording secretary

HAYES, Va. (BP) — John L. Yeats will be re-nominated for another one-year term as recording secretary of the Southern Baptist Convention during the June 19-20 annual meeting in New Orleans, a Virginia pastor has announced. “John has brought a level of professionalism to this strategic position which balances our need for both the high-tech […]

In video, Wright previews SBC annual meeting

MARIETTA, Ga. (BP) -- In his final monthly video as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Bryant Wright offers a preview at www.Pray4SBC.com of the annual meeting in New Orleans, noting that unengaged, unreached people groups and church planting will be the main focuses.

SBC Executive Committee, boards, commission, seminaries, committee nominees announced

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Nominees to serve on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, the four denominational boards — International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources and GuideStone Financial Resources, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the six seminaries and the Committee on Order of Business — have been selected by the […]

Wright appoints Committee on Committees

NEW ORLEANS (BP) — Appointments to the Southern Baptist Convention’s Committee on Committees have been announced by SBC President Bryant Wright. Wright, pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, GA, announced the appointments in accordance with SBC Bylaw 19 which requires that their names be released to Baptist Press no later than 45 days […]

2012 SBC Annual Meeting Program

2012 SBC ANNUAL MEETING PROGRAM TUESDAY MORNING, JUNE 19, 2012 ANNUAL MEETING THEME: “Jesus: to the Neighborhood and the Nations” 8:00 Worship through Music — Mark Cottingham, Convention music director, worship pastor, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta, Georgia, and combined choirs and orchestra, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta, Georgia; First Baptist Church, Jackson, Mississippi; First […]