ORLANDO (BP) – A range of panelists at the Baptist 21 luncheon on June 8 expressed both differences and unity on topics within the Southern Baptist Convention, while agreeing that the SBC, as a whole, is going in the right direction.
Moderated by Jed Coppenger, lead pastor at First Baptist Church in Cumming, Ga., panelists included Albert Mohler, president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; Josh Powell, lead pastor, First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C.; Jimmy Scroggins, lead pastor of Family Church in West Palm Beach, Fla.; Willy Rice, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Clearwater, Fla.; Juan Sanchez, senior pastor of High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin, Texas; and Danny Akin, outgoing president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The conversation began over Mohler’s amendment regarding the function of women preaching that would be approved by messengers later that week.
“The great divide [between liberal and conservative] denominations is whether or not a woman can serve in the office [of pastor] and then serve the preaching function,” he said. “I think Scripture is very clear, and I hope and pray that the time is right for Southern Baptists to say, ‘We’ve just gotta do this.’”
Rice, who would be elected SBC president the next day, blamed “sloppy ecclesiology” born out of “cultural pragmatism” that led to the need for the amendment.
“We started handing out titles indiscriminately,” he said, pointing to the title “pastor” added to various roles of church staff. “We lost the meaning of the word. There was an inflationary use of the term, and inflation always devalues the currency.”
He went on to state his belief that there are those within the SBC who would like to see women pastors, though “it’s a very small minority.”
Scroggins acknowledged the need for “routine maintenance” in the SBC, but felt conversations expressing the need for a “Conservative Resurgence 2.0” crossed the line.
“I guess I’m more bullish on what I see in the Southern Baptist Convention than I am pessimistic,” he said. “We have the Baptist Faith and Message, which in my mind, is very clear, but obviously we need some greater guidance … to move these things forward.
“[The need for another Conservative Resurgence] is so overstating the case to the point of ridiculousness for those of us who actually lived when we needed a conservative resurgence. … What we’re dealing with now, tweaking our bylaws to make sure we give appropriate guidance to what our constitution and bylaws already say, this is routine maintenance.”
Sanchez agreed in principle, but added that “Southern Baptists can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
“Everyone wants to celebrate what the Lord is doing,” he said. “… [But], we need to be careful of being triumphalistic, and I think it’s a little bit more what Willy is talking about.”
Sanchez went on to express the need for a format where Southern Baptist leaders can “have honest conversations” and “talk to one another, not in a critical way.”
“I think there will be increased trust if we openly admit what is going great, and what needs work,” he said.
All panelists enthusiastically agree that a commitment to the Great Commission must remain central to Southern Baptist work.
“We can look back at our history, and it’s been scattered with issues and challenges,” said Powell. As a student at North Greenville University in the early 1990s, he recounted the personal impact of the Conservative Resurgence.
“It changed me in ministry. I recognized the need for conventional, confessional faithfulness. I’m thankful for [Drs. Mohler and Akin]. I think, oftentimes, [Southern Baptists] jump in one side of the ditch or the other. We’re at our best when we’re running down the middle with our foot on the gas, holding fast to the confessional history that we have.”
“A lot of people have asked me what I’m going to do [in retirement],” said Akin. That list, he said, included attending the annual meeting, giving to the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong missions offerings, and give through the Cooperative Program “because I believe in six seminaries that stand on the Bible as the infallible, inerrant, Word of God.
“I have absolute confidence in where we’re going,” he added. “Do we need to continually check ourselves? Absolutely. Routine maintenance? Absolutely. But this convention of churches is going in the right direction and doing the right things. I believe in it. I’ll stay committed to it the day I make my exit and go into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Related posts:
Hispanic pastors discuss leading a church out of COVID 
YEAR IN REVIEW: Top 12 most-read stories in 2024 
Ezell shares about the people behind NAMB’s work in report to the convention 
Floyd: Awakening will cause ‘strategic reinvention’ 
‘Post-Gospel’ Indy friendly, slow to embrace Church, association rep says 
4 entity heads address messenger questions 
Why we must send more missionaries of color 
NAMB presentation highlights evangelism, church-planting efforts throughout North America
