SBC Archives - Baptist & Reflector

FEW PASTORS LEFT THE PULPIT DESPITE INCREASED PRESSURE

October 25, 2021

By Aaron Earls
Writer, Lifeway Christian Resources

NASHVILLE — Pastors faced increased stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, as churches were frequently forced to adapt overnight. More felt their role was overwhelming at times, yet very few pastors decided to actually leave the ministry in recent years.

A new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research found close to 1 percent of evangelical and historically Black Protestant senior pastors step away from the pulpit each year—a rate statistically unchanged from a 2015 Lifeway Research study.

“COVID-19 was neither a small nor short-lived stressor for pastors,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “Many have speculated that pastors have been opting out of the pastorate as a result. That is not the case. They are remaining faithful to the calling at levels similar to those seen before the pandemic.” [Read more…]

TEXANS TO VOTE ON AMENDMENT PROHIBITING GOVERNMENT FROM LIMITING WORSHIP SERVICES

October 25, 2021

By Thomas Cockes
Baptist Press

ALLEN, Texas — Texans will vote on their election day Tuesday, Nov.2, on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would forbid the government from limiting or prohibiting religious services.

The bill (TX HB1239, also called Proposition 3) comes in response to government limitations on religious worship services that were enacted in the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. If passed, the amendment would add a clause to the state’s constitution prohibiting such government restrictions in the future.

Although the amendment has divided some religious groups in the state, it passed through both the Senate and the House of Representatives with unanimous support from Republican as well as a number of Democrats.

One of the original co-authors and supporters of the legislation is Republican representative Scott Sanford, who also serves as an executive pastor with Cottonwood Creek Church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Allen, Texas. [Read more…]

FORMER EC CHAIR MIKE STONE SUES FORMER ERLC PRESIDENT RUSSELL MOORE

October 22, 2021

By Brandon Parker
Baptist Press

Mike Stone. — File photo, Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — In a lawsuit filed Monday (Oct. 18), former SBC Executive Committee chairman Mike Stone alleges he has “suffered a tremendous loss in professional cultivation and reputational standing, decreased future earning power…and serious mental and emotional injury in the form of extreme public embarrassment, stress, anxiety, and fear” due to the actions of former Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission president Russell Moore.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville, lists a trio of claims for Stone’s legal action: defamation – libel, false light invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The allegations are rooted in a pair of private letters by Moore which were released publicly by unknown sources in May 2021, just weeks before the June 2021 election for SBC president in which Stone was a candidate. [Read more…]

ONLINE SERVICES EXPANDED REACH OF CHURCHES DURING PANDEMIC

October 22, 2021

By Aaron Earls
Writer, Lifeway Christian Resources

NASHVILLE —

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online worship services were a novel concept for many churches. In the almost two years since, however, churches have adapted and reached new people with the adoption of digital streaming.

According to a new study from Nashville-based Lifeway Research, 45 percent of Americans say they have watched a Christian church service online during the COVID-19 pandemic, including some who say they don’t normally physically attend. Around half (52 percent) say they have not watched a church service during the pandemic, most of whom say they don’t normally attend church in person either.

“The distance to one’s nearest church has changed almost overnight,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “A form of communication that was not even used by most churches before the pandemic has now reached almost half of Americans.” [Read more…]

CP TOTAL HITS $20 BILLON

October 18, 2021

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — Since 1925, Southern Baptists have given more than $20 billion through the Cooperative Program to fund its entities and missionaries taking the gospel throughout the world.

That news was delivered Sept. 29 by SBC Executive Committee Chief Financial Officer Jeff Pearson on the eve of Cooperative Program Emphasis Month, which is celebrated throughout October.

Willie McLaurin, SBC Executive Committee vice president for Great Commission Relations and Mobilization, called the moment “a win for associations, state conventions, local and national entities and local churches.”

“Southern Baptist churches have modeled following Jesus by entrusting their treasure for Kingdom work,” he said, pointing to Matthew 6:22. “The heartbeat of SBC churches is evangelism and missions,” added McLaurin, a former staff member with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]

FLOYD RESIGNS AS LEADER OF SBC EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

October 15, 2021

By Brandon Porter
Baptist Press

Ronnie Floyd. — File photo, BP

NASHVILLE — Ronnie Floyd, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee, announced his resignation Thursday night in a letter to Southern Baptists released by email. (See full letter below this article)

Floyd pointed to the actions taken by trustees in a special called meeting on Oct. 5 as the basis for his decision.

“The decisions made on Tuesday afternoon, October 5, in response to the 2021 Convention now place our missionary enterprise as Southern Baptists into uncertain, unknown, unprecedented and uncharted waters,” Floyd said in the letter.

Citing his fiduciary responsibilities as president and CEO, Floyd said, “Due to my personal integrity and the leadership responsibility entrusted to me, I will not and cannot any longer fulfill the duties placed upon me as the leader of the executive, fiscal, and fiduciary entity of the SBC. [Read more…]

LMCO TOTAL EXCEEDS GOAL, REFLECTS COMMITMENT TO BE A GREAT COMMISSION PEOPLE

October 14, 2021

By Leslie Peacock Caldwell
Baptist Press

RICHMOND, Va. — As the International Mission Board closes the 2020-21 financial books, it expects to report a Lottie Moon Christmas Offering total of $177.6 million. This total includes $14.9 million received for specific Lottie projects (often called Lottie Moon challenge or Lottie giving projects) and exceeds the $175 million offering goal set in partnership with Woman’s Missionary Union. IMB also received $96.8 million from the Southern Baptist Convention’s Cooperative Program for 2020-21, which, combined with other sources of revenue, made it the best financial year in the organization’s 176-year history.

Because Cooperative Program receipts cover operating costs of the IMB, 100 percent of gifts given through the Lottie Moon offering and to the IMB throughout the year go directly to the mission work overseas.

“This total reflects the unending commitment of Southern Baptists to be a Great Commission people,” IMB President Paul Chitwood said. “Together we are reaching the nations and advancing a kingdom message that Jesus saves.” [Read more…]

ANNIE OFFERING TOPS $66 MILLION FOR NEW RECORD HIGH

October 14, 2021

By Brandon Elrod
Baptist Press

PITTSBURGH — After a pandemic-influenced decline in 2020, Southern Baptists rallied to give $66.5 million to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO) in 2021, the highest amount ever given to the offering that supports missions in North America. North American Mission Board (NAMB) president, Kevin Ezell, announced the total during the entity’s fall trustee meeting in Pittsburgh.

“The hard part about this year is we didn’t really know exactly what to expect,” Ezell said, referring to the COVID-19 pandemic and other unrest. “But thank goodness, Southern Baptists love their missionaries and give sacrificially and that’s why, it’s humbling and with a great sense of gratitude that we can share the total this year is $66.5 million.”

Ezell said that since 2010, the offering has increased 22 percent.

“There are a lot of things Southern Baptist have in common,” Ezell said. “A steadfast love for Christ, a commitment to the Great Commission and Southern Baptists love their missionaries.” [Read more…]

FLOYD RESPONDS TO ATTORNEYS’ DECISION TO WITHDRAW FROM ROLES

October 11, 2021

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — SBC Executive Committee President and CEO Ronnie Floyd responded on Monday afternoon to a letter he received from Convention attorneys Jim Guenther and Jaime Jordan, who announced they were withdrawing as the SBC’s legal counsel.

In the letter — which was addressed to Floyd, as well as EC trustees and Greg Addison, EC executive vice president — the two attorneys alerted Floyd that the law firm of Guenther, Jordan & Price has “no choice” but to “withdraw … from (its) role as general counsel to the Southern Baptist Convention and the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention.” See full story HERE. [Read more…]

LAW FIRM WITHDRAWS AS EC GENERAL COUNSEL

October 11, 2021

Baptist and Reflector

NASHVILLE — The Nashville law firm of Guenther, Jordan & Price informed the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee Oct. 11 that the firm will no longer represent the SBC entity because the board of directors voted to waive attorney-client privilege (See story).

The letter, signed by James P. Guenther and James D. Jordan, was sent to Ronnie Floyd, president and chief executive officer of the Executive Committee. [Read more…]

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