SBC Archives - Baptist & Reflector

ERLC ENCOURAGES CHURCH, CIVIC PARTNERSHIP ON COVID-19 CONTACT TRACING

July 13, 2020

Baptist Press

WASHINGTON (BP) — Churches should partner with government officials to fight the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) while receiving First Amendment protections as they cooperate, the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission said in a new statement.

The ERLC issued a document July 10 that provides guidance to church and civic leaders regarding the effort to protect public health, particularly through the process known as contact tracing. In the procedure, trained workers contact people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 so those potentially infected individuals can isolate from others and thereby prevent the spread of the virus. [Read more…]

SUPREME COURT RULING DISAPPOINTS PRO-LIFERS

July 8, 2020

Baptist Press

WASHINGTON — Pro-life leaders expressed deep disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal 29 to uphold a Louisiana law designed to protect the lives and health of women by requiring hospital admitting privileges for doctors who perform abortions.

In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled the law — which mandated a physician must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of a facility where he or she performs an abortion — violated the U.S. Constitution by imposing an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to the procedure. The justices found the Louisiana measure was nearly identical to a Texas admitting privileges law they struck down in 2016. [Read more…]

BAPTIST EDITORS MEET, CONDUCT BUSINESS VIRTUALLY

June 24, 2020

By Margaret Colson
ASBP executive secretary

Approximately 25 members of the Association of State Baptist Publications (ASBP) “gathered together” online for their annual business meeting.

MARIETTA, Ga. — Meeting virtually for the first time in the organization’s 125-year history, approximately 25 members of the Association of State Baptist Publications (ASBP) elected a president-elect and honored two retiring state Baptist editors in a business meeting convened by 2020–21 ASBP President Jennifer Davis Rash.

ASBP members typically would have met in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention scheduled to have been held in Orlando, Fla., in early June. After the annual meeting was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rash, editor of The Alabama Baptist, led ASBP members to gather virtually.

“We all adapted quickly to virtual meetings at all levels when the pandemic hit, so I knew our members would embrace the idea,” Rash said. “Plus, it would allow us to catch up and check on each other. We have a special bond through our common roles and callings, and having time together truly does help provide that needed encouragement to do what we do. We even got to catch up with some who had not been able to attend in person in a few years so that made the virtual meeting extra special.” [Read more…]

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS SEE HISTORIC DROP IN MEMBERSHIP

June 24, 2020

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Christian Resources

click image for full chart

NASHVILLE — A growing number of Southern Baptist churches are home to a shrinking number of Southern Baptists.

Total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention fell almost 2 percent to 14,525,579 from 2018 to 2019, according to the Annual Church Profile compiled by LifeWay Christian Resources in cooperation with Baptist state conventions. The decline of 287,655 members is the largest single year drop in more than 100 years.

The number of churches grew slightly to 47,530, an increase of 74 from 2018. However, the number of church-type missions fell by 477 to bring the overall number of SBC congregations down to 51,138 in 2019. Multisite congregations reported an additional 505 campuses where local church ministry takes place. [Read more…]

IN HISTORIC ELECTION, SBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTS FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN CHAIR

June 16, 2020

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

Rolland Slade, pastor of Meridian Baptist Church in El Cajon, Calif., was unopposed as EC chair and was unanimously elected by ballot vote. Outgoing chair Mike Stone called for a ballot vote, he said, to mark the historic moment.

NASHVILLE — The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee elected its first African American chair in a special called meeting Tuesday.

“I think we all realize by what is going on in this country as well as in our convention, this timing is in many ways the providence of our Lord,” said Stone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, Ga.

Many, including Slade, attributed his election to God.

“I don’t think there was ever a plan for me to be in this position,” Slade told Baptist Press. “I think it’s what God has done. … I believe God loves diversity; He created us and we are all diverse. I think for us to not embrace it is saying that, ‘We’ve got a better idea than You (God).'” [Read more…]

SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF GAY, TRANSGENDER RIGHTS

June 15, 2020

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court issued a watershed decision on gay and transgender rights today (June 15) by finding longstanding, non-discrimination protections in federal workplace law cover “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.”

The justices ruled in a 6-3 opinion the category “sex” in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act applies to homosexual and transgender employees. Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch — typically among the high court’s more conservative members — joined the four-member liberal wing in the majority. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.

Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), and others disturbed by the decision expressed concerns about its impact on religious freedom and the meaning of words in laws. [Read more…]

‘GOSPEL ABOVE ALL’ DRIVES DIVERSITY, UNITY, MISSIONS, ABUSE PREVENTION

June 10, 2020

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

Promoting diversity, unity, missions and sex abuse prevention are goals the Southern Baptist Convention must continue pursuing to put the “Gospel Above All,” SBC president J.D. Greear said in his 2020 presidential address Tuesday (June 9). Screen capture from J.D. Greear’s Facebook page/Baptist Press

DURHAM, N.C. — Promoting diversity, unity, missions and sex abuse prevention are goals the Southern Baptist Convention must continue to pursue in order to put the “Gospel Above All,” SBC president J.D. Greear said in his 2020 presidential address on June 9.

Speaking from his office at The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., in a virtual format after the 2020 SBC Annual Meeting was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Greear promoted those goals as central to removing stumbling blocks that would make it difficult for unbelievers to come to Christ.

He referred to Acts 15, when the Jerusalem Council debated whether and which Jewish customs should be incorporated into the life of the church. Greear said he’d like to see James’ solution — “We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” — plastered “on every Southern Baptist church in the world.” [Read more…]

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS GATHER TO VIRTUALLY CELEBRATE SENDING 61 MISSIONARIES

June 10, 2020

By Caroline Anderson
IMB writer

Chris and Sara and their two children were living the American dream in Montana. They loved their home and their business. Chris said after he committed his life to Christ at age 25, the Lord gave their family opportunities to serve at Madison Valley Baptist Church in Ennis, Montana. God told Chris and Sara to sell their possessions and share the gospel with those who’ve never heard. Chris and Sara are moving to the Americas to serve with the IMB.

On June 9, the International Mission Board commissioned 61 missionaries in a virtual Sending Celebration. The missionaries represent churches in 15 states and will be serving in all nine of the IMB’s affinities.

Sending Celebrations provide a forum for Southern Baptists to commission new missionaries and hear their call to missions.

IMB trustees voted on and approved 59 of the missionaries this spring in a virtual board meeting. Two missionaries were appointed in January. The 61 missionaries were to be commissioned at this summer’s SBC Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, before the conference was canceled due to COVID-19.

The cancellation of the annual meeting didn’t keep Southern Baptists from celebrating the missionaries. Southern Baptists gathered around computer screens across the country to watch a video of the missionaries’ testimonies of how the Lord called them to the mission field. [Read more…]

MISSISSIPPI PASTOR FINDS CAR KEYED WITH RACIAL SLUR

June 10, 2020

By Tess Schoonhoven
Baptist Press

Screen capture from WLBT.com / Baptist Press

CLINTON, Miss. — Tiki Broome, interim student pastor at First Baptist Church of Yazoo City, Miss., woke up on the morning of June 2 to find a racial slur keyed into the side of his car.

Broome, who said he had been outspoken about racial injustice, had recently received some backlash via social media. But the defacement of his car, he told Jackson, Miss., television station WLBT, was another level.

The 25-year-old pastor told WLBT when he saw his car vandalized, with the n-word keyed into the side, he was initially angry.

But Broome determined that sharing the experience would help expose some of the hatred and sin in society and perhaps lead to further unification. [Read more…]

SOUTHERN BAPTIST LEADERS ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT ON THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD

June 1, 2020

By Baptist Press staff

Protest against police violence – Justice for George Floyd Fibonacci Blue / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

NASHVILLE — Southern Baptist leaders have published a statement grieving the recent death of George Floyd and calling for the end of “racial inequity in the distribution of justice in our country.”

The statement, co-authored by SBC president J.D. Greear and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary president Jamie Dew, was unanimously signed by all SBC officers, entity heads and state convention executive directors, including Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director Randy C. Davis.

Statement on the death of George Floyd

As a convention of churches committed to the equality and dignity of all people, Southern Baptists grieve the death of George Floyd, who was killed May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minn.

While all must grieve, we understand that in the hearts of our fellow citizens of color, incidents like these connect to a long history of unequal justice in our country, going back to the grievous Jim Crow and slavery eras. The images and information we have available to us in this case are horrific and remind us that there is much more work to be done to ensure that there is not even a hint of racial inequity in the distribution of justice in our country. We grieve to see examples of the misuse of force, and call for these issues to be addressed with speed and justice.

While we thank God for our law enforcement officers that bravely risk their lives for the sake of others and uphold justice with dignity and integrity, we also lament when some law enforcement officers misuse their authority and bring unnecessary harm on the people they are called to protect. We further grieve with our minority brothers and sisters in the wake of George Floyd’s death, pray for his family and friends and greatly desire to see the misuse of force and any inequitable distributions of justice come to an end.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Bible speaks to matters of justice and human dignity. We are taught by Scripture that human beings are distinct among the rest of creation as those beings which bear the divine image. From the beginning of life to the end, all human beings, both male and female–of all ethnicities, colors and ages–are sacred beings that God values and loves.

Throughout the law, the prophets, the gospels and the entire canon of Scripture, murder is condemned and God’s people are called to protect the vulnerable. The Bible further condemns injustice and the misuse of authority and force. And in the example of Jesus Christ, God’s people are called to love others, care for their needs, grieve with them in brokenness and labor for the well-being of our neighbor. To follow Christ is to follow in these examples He puts before us.

Therefore, as a matter of Christian obedience and devotion, followers of Jesus Christ cannot remain silent when our brothers and sisters, friends and/or people we seek to win for Christ are mistreated, abused or killed unnecessarily.

Therefore, we pray for our local, state, and national leaders as they seek justice, and call on them to act quickly and diligently to ensure that these situations are brought to an end. As a people, Southern Baptists stand ready to help towards that end. May God give us His favor, help and strength in this effort.

Co-Authors:

James K. Dew, Jr.
President, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

J.D. Greear
President, Southern Baptist Convention
Pastor, The Summit Church, Raleigh-Durham, N.C.

Signatories:

Marshal Ausberry
1st Vice President, Southern Baptist Convention
President, National African-American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention
Pastor, Antioch Baptist Church, Fairfax Station, Va.

Noe Garcia
2nd Vice President, Southern Baptist Convention
Senior Pastor, North Phoenix Baptist Church, Phoenix, Ariz.

Kathy Litton
Registration Secretary, Southern Baptist Convention

John Yeats
Recording Secretary, Southern Baptist Convention
Missouri Baptist Convention Executive Director

Ronnie W. Floyd
Treasurer, Southern Baptist Convention
President & CEO, SBC Executive Committee

Paul Chitwood
President, International Mission Board

Kevin Ezell
President, North American Mission Board

O.S. Hawkins
President, GuideStone Financial Resources

Ben Mandrell
President & CEO, LifeWay Christian Resources

Jeff Iorg
President, Gateway Seminary

Jason K. Allen
President, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Danny L. Akin
President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Adam W. Greenway
President, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary

Russell D. Moore
President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Sandy Wisdom-Martin
Executive Director/Treasurer, Woman’s Missionary Union

Rick Lance, Alabama State Baptist Convention
Randy Covington, Alaska Baptist Convention
David Johnson, Arizona Southern Baptist Convention
J. D. “Sonny” Tucker, Arkansas Baptist State Convention
Bill Agee, California Southern Baptist Convention
Nathan Lorick, Colorado Baptist General Convention
Fred MacDonald, Dakota Baptist Convention
J. Thomas Green, Florida Baptist Convention
W. Thomas Hammond, Jr., Georgia Baptist Convention
Christopher Martin, Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention
Nate Adams, Illinois Baptist State Association
Steve McNeil, State Convention of Baptist in Indiana
Tim Lubinus, Baptist Convention of Iowa
Robert Mills, Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists
Todd Gray, Kentucky Baptist Convention
Steve Horn, Louisiana Baptist Convention
Kevin Smith, Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware
Timothy Patterson, Baptist State Convention of Michigan
Leo Endel, Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention
Shawn Parker, Mississippi Baptist Convention
Barrett Duke, Montana Southern Baptist Convention
Kevin White, Nevada Baptist Convention
Terry Dorsett, Baptist Convention of New England
Joseph Bunce, Baptist Convention of New Mexico
Terry Robertson, Baptist Convention of New York
Milton Hollifield, Jr., Baptist State Convention of North Carolina
Randy Adams, Northwest Baptist Convention
Jack P. Kwok, State Convention of Baptists in Ohio
D. Hance Dilbeck, Jr., Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma
Barry Whitworth, Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania-South Jersey
Felix Cabrera, Convention of Southern Baptist Churches in Puerto Rico
Gary Hollingsworth, South Carolina Baptist Convention
Randy C. Davis, Tennessee Baptist Convention
David W. Hardage, Baptist General Convention of Texas
Jim W. Richards, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention
Rob Lee, Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention
John V. Upton, Jr., Baptist General Association of Virginia
Brian Autry, Southern Baptist Convention of Virginia
Eric Ramsey, West Virginia Convention of Southern Baptists
Quin Williams, Wyoming Southern Baptist Mission Network B&R

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