SBC Update

Weekly Update – June 20th, 2024

Every year, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) meets in June for its annual meeting.  The convention contains just over 50,000 churches with an average of 10,000 or so messengers attending this annual meeting on behalf of member churches.  The SBC was formed in 1845 with the singular purpose of, “eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the Gospel.”  First Baptist Church is an active member of the SBC and unites with the other 50,000 churches in providing resources for church planting, international missions, seminary education, and much more. 

This year’s annual meeting was held in Indianapolis, IN on June 11th-12th.  The meeting could be described as a massive business meeting where reports are heard from the different entities connected and supported by the SBC, with various speakers, and items presented to be voted on by the messengers who are present.  The SBC has a president who is elected every year and can serve up to two consecutive terms.  The outgoing president for this year is Bart Barber, who is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, TX.  He will be succeeded by Clint Pressley, who is the pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC. In relation to the annual meeting that was held last week, there are a few items worth mentioning that I would like to highlight for you.

First, the failure of the Law Amendment. After the removal of Saddleback Church from the SBC last year (see HERE), an amendment was proposed by a man named Mike Law, who is the pastor of Arlington Baptist Church, in Arlington, VA. This amendment, which became known as the “Law Amendment” was passed by more than the 2/3 majority vote at last year’s convention.  It failed to pass again this year, for it to become part of the SBC constitution.  The amendment officially calls for the SBC constitution to state that for a church to be in friendly cooperation within the SBC, it must be one that “Affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” Just like many other items within the SBC, the media distorted the Law Amendment to appear as if its failure meant that the SBC now affirms women to the pastorate. That is furthest from the truth. This amendment was not meant to determine whether or not our convention would ordain women as pastor/elders or not. In fact, the SBC statement of faith already states that “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The Law Amendment was seeking to bring greater clarity constitution.  The debate concerning it, which led to its failure, was over whether or not greater clarity was actually needed and if there would be unintended ramifications from this clarity.   

Second, the resolution to affirm the dignity of human life.  The resolution titled, “On the Ethical Realities of Reproductive Technologies and the Dignity of the Human Embryo” may put the SBC out of step with much of the culture around us, but I think it is a great step forward and furthering our commitment to being pro-life.  The essence of this resolution affirms life beginning at fertilization all the way to natural death.  With that said, the resolution continues in the specific call for the protection of life even in the embryonic stage.  As this resolution states, many embryos are frozen in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process, then stored and discarded when they are not used.  Therefore, though this resolution does not formally condemn the IVF process, it does call for a restraint on the careless handling of embryos. You can read the full resolution HERE.

Third, the commissioning of missionaries. Much of the media will highlight disagreements and debates among Southern Baptists.  In reality, there is much room for good debate over serious theological topics.  I would much rather have a debate over the application of men and women’s roles within the church instead of what is a man or a woman.  Either way, one of the primary reasons churches unite with the Southern Baptist Convention is because of our commitment to missions.  This year, Southern Baptists commissioned 83 missionaries to the global mission field.  These missionaries aren’t just sent with the SBC’s blessing though.  They are fully funded by churches like ours and others, to go to the nations with the good news of Jesus Christ. 

In a convention filled with over 50,000 churches, there is bound to be disagreement and some variety of opinions on certain issues.  With a group as large as the SBC filled with sinful men and women, there are even times when we need to repent of past actions.  But God has been gracious and has sustained the work of the SBC for the furtherance of His name and for the salvation of souls all over the world.  There is no other denomination quite like Southern Baptists, and we can be thankful to be a part of such a group that often sets aside the personal preferences of men and women to unite for the sake of Christ’s name.

Serving Him with You,
Pastor Michael Nelson