Task force chair Jay Adkins delivers report to messengers on June 11. — Photo by Van Payne / The Baptist Paper
INDIANAPOLIS — Southern Baptist messengers approved the six recommendations presented by the Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force on June 11 in Indianapolis following the release of its report on May 12. The Task Force followed up with releasing its proposed recommendations three weeks later June 3.
Last year, Southern Baptist Convention messengers in New Orleans approved the formation of a group to study the success of the GCR Task Force which presented seven recommendations in 2010 to help reverse the trend of declining baptisms. Since then, debate has continued to surround those recommendations.
The full report is available at tbponline.org/GCRreport.
“We did a thorough examination of the material,” said task force chair Jay Adkins, pastor of First Baptist Church Westwego, La. “Regarding the simple question whether or not the implementation of the GCR Task Force reversed the decline of baptisms in the SBC, the answer is a clear and decisive no. However, to be sure, there is more than enough blame to go around for this continued downward trend.” But he added that they have seen some “very encouraging trends as of late.”
For those critical of specific individuals or organizations, Adkins noted that “every Southern Baptist church and Christ follower can and should in the end take responsibility for the current state of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
Recommendations
In response to their report, the task force made the following recommendations that messengers approved:
1. “Request that state conventions and Lifeway Christian Resources cease using the category of, and any language related to, ‘Great Commission Giving’ while continuing to retain the language from Article III, Number 3 regarding gifts ‘through the Cooperative Program, and/or through the Convention’s Executive Committee for Convention causes, and/or to any Convention entity’ in an effort to reaffirm the Cooperative Program as the primary method of giving for Southern Baptist Churches.”
2. Request that State Conventions and Lifeway Christian Resources “restructure and simplify the ACP in an effort to effect more participation from churches, limiting the SBC requested information to a total number of 6 categories and 2 questions.”
3. Request that the North American Mission Board “conduct an annual survey of the status of churches planted, revitalized, or otherwise assisted using CP funds 10 years out from their launch, specifically to include data regarding: 1) the % of churches which are still in existence, and 2) the % of churches still connected to the SBC in CP giving & ACP reporting, and include that information each year in its report to the messengers at the annual meeting and publish this data in the Book of Reports.”
4. Request the Executive Committee to “increase the CP Allocation Percentage designated to the IMB to 51% beginning with the 2026–27 budgeted year. This will bring the International Mission Board and Executive Committee CP allocation budget percentages into alignment with the vote of the messengers at the 2010 Annual Meeting. This will finally correct the Executive Committee’s lack of responsiveness to the will of the messengers.”
5. Request that the Council of Seminary Presidents “direct the staff of the Historical Library and Archives, under the supervision of the Director and Archivist, to begin the process of indexing the audio recordings of the original GCR compact disc collection (titled AR 913) for publication on June 16th, 2025 so that interested parties may have navigable access from the first day of public access.”
6. Request that the Executive Committee “consider and propose changes in the appropriate governing documents to be brought to the 2025 Annual Meeting for consideration in order to require entities, institutions, committees, or commissions of the Convention to report on the action they have taken on messenger approved recommendations coming from special work groups or task forces. We encourage that these reports be included in the Book of Reports.”
The task force did accept a friendly amendment during the meeting to add “Total Cooperative Program Receipts” to Recommendation 2, which lists the items churches would be asked to submit for the ACP.
Understanding our role
Adkins noted early in the process he sent an email to Woman’s Missionary Union executive director Sandy Wisdom-Martin regarding a possible interview. Her response to that email, he noted, “may have best articulated how we are to understand our role in the results.”
Wisdom-Martin responded to Adkins’ interview request, “The Great Commission cannot be parceled and assigned to our boards. While the efforts of our boards are critical, it is incumbent on every Christ follower to proclaim the gospel.
“This responsibility cannot be abdicated. We have church members who get married in the church and get buried in the church and live their entire life without once sharing their faith,” she noted. “This is the greatest tragedy of our generation, that we would not personally take responsibility for the sacred task entrusted to each of us. It really doesn’t matter what strategy we put into place if we don’t change the culture of our community of faith. This has to be the foundation.” B&R
