On the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention

[The following post is updated from a section in a longer article on the Southern Baptist Convention, published before the 2021 annual meeting; that article is found HERE.]

Here’s a fact that may be surprising to some readers; as of the time that I’m writing this article, on September 29, 2021, THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION DOES NOT EXIST. This may be surprising to you. You may be thinking, “Hey! My church [or a church that some of my family/friends attend] gives money to the Cooperative Program of the SBC. I thought that the SBC DOES exist!”

Technically, the Southern Baptist Convention only exists for two days each year, at the annual meeting. Think of the term “convention”. What would you call a group when it’s not meeting together? Not a group: not a convention. Since the entities of the Southern Baptist Convention (including the seminaries and mission boards) continue to exist, carrying out the cooperative work of the Southern Baptists, most people take no note of this technical distinction.

But since the SBC doesn’t exist for most of the year, yet the cooperative efforts of the SBC continue, the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention acts for the Convention between sessions, reviewing the work of the Convention’s entities, receiving and distributing funds Southern Baptists give in support of denominational ministries, providing SBC public relations and news services, and performing other tasks assigned by the SBC. (See HERE.) It is the RESPONSIBILITY of the Executive Committee to make sure that the “overwhelming votes” of the messengers at the 2019 and 2021 SBC annual meetings, which affirmed our desire to “make inquiries and recommendations for action regarding instances of sexual abuse, racism or other issues” were fully acted upon. Based on current reports from Executive Committee meetings, it is clear that the will of the messengers has been actively frustrated, rather than responsibly carried out, by the Executive Committee. [See HERE.] Like I pointed out above, the SBC does not currently (technically) exist, but if there is not a significant change, the SBC SHOULD NOT EXIST any more. An SBC that does not respond to the will of the messengers is just a façade for a few people who have gathered power for themselves. At the very least, churches cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention should prayerfully consider figuring out ways to stop giving funds to the Executive Committee itself.

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