NASHVILLE (BP) — Black pastors contemplating withdrawing from the Southern Baptist Convention might be in a position similar to that of the prophet Jonah who despised Nineveh, pastor Marshal Ausberry said Monday (June 14) in his final sermon as president of a fellowship of more than 4,000 Black pastors.
“Going to Nineveh just does not make sense on paper to Jonah,” Ausberry said at the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention’s (NAAF) annual George Liele Banquet at the Music City Center.
“My friends, before you make one step in the doorway, … before you make one step toward an exit, it might feel right, it might seem right, it might be politically correct and popular with your friends,” Ausberry said. “I stopped by this evening [to say] that before you go through that door, the SBC might be your Nineveh. I want to encourage you that before you do anything, seek the will of God.”
Ausberry’s sermon from Jonah 1:1-3 preceded the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting. A handful of African American pastors withdrew from the SBC in 2020 after Southern Baptist seminary presidents – six white men – declared all aspects of critical race theory (CRT) incompatible with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
Ausberry pointed to the disagreement over CRT as among several contemporary discussions that might be encouraging other pastors to leave. He referenced two letters written by former Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore. He said others might still be offended by the SBC’s history of upholding slavery in the U.S., even though the SBC officially apologized for its history in 1995. Others might question whether Black churches should be a part of a majority white organization, Ausberry said, or might be put off by political dissension based on party platforms.
“Maybe God is directing some of you, while your hand is on the doorknob about to walk out, but maybe God is directing you to stay in the SBC,” Ausberry said. “God’s will be done.”
Ausberry said pastors may also be facing a “Garden of Gethsemane moment,” referencing Jesus’ prayer before the crucifixion.
“Do I go? … Pray and pray like Jesus prayed,” Ausberry said. “And remember Jesus’ response: ‘Father not my will … but your will.’ … God’s will must be done.”
The journey of predominantly Black churches in the SBC must be a journey of faith, Ausberry said.
“God has a purpose and a plan for you being here in this convention. It might not make sense today,” Ausberry said. “Nobody said the road would be easy. Sometimes it’s like climbing up the rough side of the mountain. … You go where God is sending you.”
New Officers
The banquet followed NAAF’s annual business meeting, where a new slate of officers was announced.
Frank Williams, senior pastor of Bronx Baptist Church and Wake Eden Community Baptist Church, both in New York, takes the helm of NAAF as president. Also leading are vice president Bucas Sterling III, senior pastor of Kettering Baptist Church, Upper Marlboro, Md.; secretary Kevin James, senior pastor of New Creation Bible Fellowship, Tracy, Calif.; and treasurer John Rollins Sr., senior pastor of Simeon Baptist Church, Antioch, Tenn.
NAAF, a network of approximately 4,000 African American churches and missions, is also represented by four regional directors and leaders of NAAF chapters in more than 20 states.
NAAF – NAMB initiative
Also in its business meeting, NAAF announced a new church-planting partnership with the North American Mission Board aimed at initiating African American-led church plants in underserved communities.
NAAF members Greg Perkins, lead pastor of The View Church in Menifee, Calif., and Kason Branch, pastor of Creekstone Church in Keller, Texas, are leading the effort along with Steve Canter, Send New England regional director for NAMB.
“Our goal is to plant churches everywhere for everyone,” Perkins said of the project. The “partnership will identify and support African American planters called to plant SBC churches in underserved African American communities throughout North America.”
Six NAAF pastors will help fulfill the work by serving as “sending pastors” in six targeted U.S. regions considered underserved, Perkins said.
Branch, charged with recruiting church planters to work in the program, said African Americans are more likely to be reached by churches led by other African Americans, regardless of the ethnic makeup of the congregation.
“In unserved areas, there’s a whole segment of our society that we feel is going unreached,” Branch said. “We want to not only reach them with these church planters, but we want to make sure these planters have contextualized training. The NAMB training that we have is good training … but we want to contextualize that so that we can train these pastors for the community that they’re going to reach.”
NAMB plans to launch the initiative in the coming weeks as a pilot program.
Other Business
In other business, NAMB heard an update on the number of African American congregations in the SBC. The number reached 3,920 churches in 2018 and has since passed 4,000, NAAF Executive Director Dennis Mitchell said in his report.
“That’s three years old. That does not include unconstituted church plants,” Mitchell said, “so we know there are well over 4,000 churches.” African American churches experienced the greatest growth among Southern Baptist churches between 1990 and 2018, growing from about 255,000 to approximately 970,000.
Charles Grant, executive director of African American relations and mobilization for the SBC Executive Committee, announced the availability of new Cooperative Program promotional resources featuring ethnic minorities, and updated NAAF on progress made in mobilizing Black churches.
“In this role, I seek to champion pastors and serve churches for the ultimate goal of simply supporting what NAAF is already doing, that is greater mobilization and involvement in all of SBC life,” Grant said. “It’s no secret that we’re in difficult, challenging times in the SBC. Proverbs 24:10 says in the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) if you do nothing in difficult times, your strength is limited.”
He assured pastors that Blacks are still making progress in Southern Baptist life, noting a growth in predominantly non-white Southern Baptist churches from 3.9 percent to more than 22 percent since 1990; and an SBC Committee on Committees that includes among its 68 members 39 women and is majority non-white, including 14 African Americans.
The leadership team of the Executive Committee staff includes two Blacks, an Asian and a Hispanic, Grant noted.
Recognitions
NAAF recognized at its banquet several pastors, including those deceased and still living, for their contributions to African American Southern Baptist life.
Recognized in memoriam were Victor Lee Davis Sr., who died May 10 as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., at age 69; and retired pastor Willie Thomas McPherson, who died May 12, 2020, in Wichita, Kan., at age 80.
Also honored were retired church planter and pastor Leroy Gainey; Lyman Alexander, retired director of missions with the East Bay Baptist Association in San Leandro, Calif.; Roy Cotton, retired director of African American ministries of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; Leroy Fountain, retiring this year as church health strategist for the New Orleans Baptist Association; and Ken Weathersby, who retired in 2019 as vice president for convention advancement with the SBC Executive Committee.
