Southern Baptist Convention leaders dropping 'Southern' from name over slavery connection
It's been an ongoing discussion since at least 2011, but is gaining momentum.
I suspect some on Tweb will be pleased, some will rant "too little too late", or some such, but it is what it is.
My brother, Rogue, asked what I thought about it, and my comments were pretty much....
A) Most of us (Southern Baptists) rarely use the name at all, since we are LOCAL churches, and are completely autonomous
2) It has become quite a distraction, and there's no need to "regionalize" a global entity
C) The SBC is unique among denominations, as we are NOT a "top down" organization - we don't have "delegates", we have "messengers"
D) The above means that we send representatives from the local churches to the Annual Meeting to tell THEM what we want, not the other way around
5) Much of the "structure" of the national/state/area/association is outmoded because the internet has made a lot of what we used to do no longer necessary
F) We USED to go to regional "associational offices" to pick up Sunday School material, order VBS material, and pickup up supplies and material - no longer necessary
7) MANY SBC Churches do not even identify themselves on signage or communications because it's unnecessary - our identity is "local church"
H) Our purpose as a global entity is to fulfill the Great Commission - which is why "Great Commission Baptists" is being considered as the new name
Our local association is already voting tomorrow to look at disbanding our own "association" for the reasons listed in 5) and F) above
It's been an ongoing discussion since at least 2011, but is gaining momentum.
Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention are steadily removing the “Southern” part of the group's name in an effort that Convention President J.D. Greear said is essential following a summer of Black Lives Matter protests and increased calls for racial justice reform.
In an interview with The Washington Post published Tuesday, Greear said there has been more support to adopt the new name “Great Commission Baptists,” both because of the changing climate in the U.S. and because many have long believed the “Southern Baptist” title no longer adequately encompasses the approximately 50,000 churches that now exist around the globe.
“Our Lord Jesus was not a White Southerner but a brown-skinned Middle Eastern refugee,” Greear told the Post. “Every week we gather to worship a savior who died for the whole world, not one part of it. What we call ourselves should make that clear.”
These statements come after the leader also announced in June that he would be retiring a historic gavel named for a slaveholder that Southern Baptists had continued to use to open their meetings.
“While we do not want to, nor could we, erase our history, it is time for this gavel to go back into the display case at the Executive Committee offices,” Greear said in a statement at the time.
The convention formed in 1845, splitting from Northern Baptists over Southern support for slavery. While the group had a historic drop in membership last year, it remains the largest Protestant denomination in the United States with 14.5 million members.
According to the Post, officials said that while the convention will continue to operate with the Southern Baptist name legally, its website now states, “We Are Great Commission Baptists,” an alternative moniker that refers to the verses in the New Testament when Jesus calls his disciples to baptize believers in all nations.
In an interview with The Washington Post published Tuesday, Greear said there has been more support to adopt the new name “Great Commission Baptists,” both because of the changing climate in the U.S. and because many have long believed the “Southern Baptist” title no longer adequately encompasses the approximately 50,000 churches that now exist around the globe.
“Our Lord Jesus was not a White Southerner but a brown-skinned Middle Eastern refugee,” Greear told the Post. “Every week we gather to worship a savior who died for the whole world, not one part of it. What we call ourselves should make that clear.”
These statements come after the leader also announced in June that he would be retiring a historic gavel named for a slaveholder that Southern Baptists had continued to use to open their meetings.
“While we do not want to, nor could we, erase our history, it is time for this gavel to go back into the display case at the Executive Committee offices,” Greear said in a statement at the time.
The convention formed in 1845, splitting from Northern Baptists over Southern support for slavery. While the group had a historic drop in membership last year, it remains the largest Protestant denomination in the United States with 14.5 million members.
According to the Post, officials said that while the convention will continue to operate with the Southern Baptist name legally, its website now states, “We Are Great Commission Baptists,” an alternative moniker that refers to the verses in the New Testament when Jesus calls his disciples to baptize believers in all nations.
I suspect some on Tweb will be pleased, some will rant "too little too late", or some such, but it is what it is.
My brother, Rogue, asked what I thought about it, and my comments were pretty much....
A) Most of us (Southern Baptists) rarely use the name at all, since we are LOCAL churches, and are completely autonomous
2) It has become quite a distraction, and there's no need to "regionalize" a global entity
C) The SBC is unique among denominations, as we are NOT a "top down" organization - we don't have "delegates", we have "messengers"
D) The above means that we send representatives from the local churches to the Annual Meeting to tell THEM what we want, not the other way around
5) Much of the "structure" of the national/state/area/association is outmoded because the internet has made a lot of what we used to do no longer necessary
F) We USED to go to regional "associational offices" to pick up Sunday School material, order VBS material, and pickup up supplies and material - no longer necessary
7) MANY SBC Churches do not even identify themselves on signage or communications because it's unnecessary - our identity is "local church"
H) Our purpose as a global entity is to fulfill the Great Commission - which is why "Great Commission Baptists" is being considered as the new name
Our local association is already voting tomorrow to look at disbanding our own "association" for the reasons listed in 5) and F) above
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