Issues, opportunities, and challenges following the SBC Annual Meeting in Dallas

Recaps of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Meeting are a dime a dozen. Michael Clary has written an excellent introspective article laser-focused on the issues, opportunities, and challenges of the intended two-day annual business meeting.

In “The Status Quo: Six Takeaways from Dallas,” at americanreformer.org, the Cincinnati, Ohio, pastor lists six observations supporting his thesis that says – while efforts to reform the SBC are gaining ground – it will take years of subsequent Conventions for needed reforms to take place, if ever.

Clary lists four groups that impact key Convention decisions: 1) the Platform, “the guys on stage who control the agenda and run the SBC bureaucracy,” 2) the Reformers, “the ones who see the SBC slowly but surely heading over a cliff and are advocating for needed fixes and reforms to our theology, public witness, and internal Convention operations that we believe would revitalize the Convention, defend our Baptist distinctives, and most importantly, honor the Lord,” 3) the Loyalists, “individuals who support the Platform in public debates on their entity-sponsored blogs and as messengers from the floor. They are loyal to the Platform because they want to be the Platform. Their highest aspiration in ministry is to become an SBC ‘insider,’” and 4) the Normies, “(those who) don’t follow SBC politics or issues closely (and in many ways, who can blame them), so they attend the Convention and vote based on their perception of the room at any given moment.”

“All four groups have their own agendas, which guide their actions. In Dallas, the Platform worked with the Loyalists to run the show and was often joined by the Normies to win the votes. The Reformers certainly won many of the Normies on the vote to abolish the ERLC (Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission), and even more on the vote to pass the Law-Sanchez Amendment; however, ultimately, the powerful combination of the Platform and Loyalists prevailed,” Clary writes.

Other observations include:

• The SBC annual meeting is a massive advertising campaign for the Cooperative Program.

• The Convention spends far too much of its precious time on celebration instead of business.

• The Reformers are gaining ground, but it’s an uphill battle.

• Uninformed messengers are vulnerable to emotional manipulation.

“(D)espite all this, I’m proud to be a Southern Baptist and will continue to support Reform efforts,” adding, “One of the highlights coming out of the Convention was our clear support for biblical marriage and a call to repeal the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision that invented ‘gay marriage,’” Clary concludes. He adds, “When clear matters are brought to a floor vote without the Platform leaders putting their thumbs on the scale, you can count on Southern Baptists to speak with biblical clarity.”

Read the entire article.

Related:

• SBC messengers vote on ERLC and ban on women pastors in final hours of annual meeting in Dallas