For generations of Southern Baptist churches, the term “pastor” had a clear and rarely debated meaning. He was the man who preached on Sundays and led the church throughout the week. But with the rise of mega-churches inside and outside the SBC and the corresponding growth of church staffs, that simplicity has changed.
There may be nuances related to ordination and how it is observed from one church to another, but the qualifications for the pastor role are crystal clear, said a collection of Southern Baptist pastors and leaders.
Perhaps you’ve heard about the little boy who leaned over after the Sunday sermon to tell his mother, “I’ve decided to become a pastor when I grow up.”
Frank S. Page cited Southern Baptists’ decline in baptisms and missionary numbers in calling for “a groundswell of intentionality like never before to see God’s Great Commission accomplished.”
Two advisory councils submitted reports to Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, at the Many Faces booth in the exhibit hall on Monday, June 13, 2016.
Great Commission Advance: an aggressive global vision with a strong home base.
The day prior to his election as SBC president at the 2016 SBC annual meeting, Steve Gaines was interviewed at the Cooperative Program booth in the exhibit hall about his vision for the Convention should he be elected president. The following is excerpted from that interview.
The Cooperative Program booth and stage in the 2016 SBC annual meeting exhibit hall was a huge attraction for messengers to this year’s meeting in St. Louis.
Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, and Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, have appointed a task force on disciple-making.
Undesignated giving was one of only three categories of the Annual Church Profile that showed an increase in the most recent reporting year.
At the 2016 SBC annual meeting in St. Louis, close to sixty communicators—the small Baptist Press core staff and many others partnering alongside them—served as the denomination’s official media team.
The need for more churches in Fairbanks, Alaska weighed heavily on Joe and Cindy Boney. As new church planter with the NAMB, they were praying fervently that God would show them how.
An interim pastor told the dwindling, aging congregation he was to help “transition,” that First Baptist Church of Affton was on its death journey. But the church did die—intentionally—and on Easter, a new church was born.
