Change Must Happen in the Southern Baptist Convention

Our church is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention, a convention of some 45,000 churches nationwide. Additionally, through financial cooperation, we help support two mission boards with a missionary force worldwide of 10,500 missionaries, six different seminaries, and we also assist in having representation in Washington D. C. Beyond that, we have the largest Christian publishing ministry called Lifeway and provide the finest financial retirement and investment ministry for ministers called GuideStone. We are a part of a thriving denomination, but one that really needs to be reinvented for the future.

Last year in the annual meeting of Southern Baptists, we elected on the first ballot my dear friend, Johnny Hunt, a leading pastor in Woodstock, Georgia. He represents what a president should represent: a man committed to winning the world, the pastor of an alive and growing evangelistic church, and a leader with a heart for the future of our denomination. In the days of the great turnaround in our denomination over theological issues, it was men like Dr. Hunt who led that change. It was men with these kinds of credentials whom God seemed to use miraculously in those days of change. Thank God, Dr. Johnny Hunt is that kind of man and God is using him greatly. I am so proud of him and pray for him by name daily.

The change that must happen in our denomination has to do with streamlining our structure to better fulfill our mission of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. These structural changes really need to take place within all the various structures of Southern Baptist life. The time is now for these kinds of changes to be made. We cannot wait. Our denomination is losing our edge on reaching lost people, and more churches are plateaued or declining in membership and attendance than growing. Vision and cooperation need to be so engaged by all of us that the message of the gospel is proclaimed globally.

If we do not speak to our future and aggressively pursue what it needs to look like, we will lose the next generation of leaders. Dr. Hunt, along with many of us, is trying his very best to engage younger leaders into the life of our denomination. However, they desire relevance that at times seems to be missing. Therefore, in the meantime, we must prepare for the future in every way, charting a vision path so engaging that every generation from young to old wants to be a part of it. Friends, these are critical days, so let’s do whatever is necessary to pursue God’s future for us.

Join me in prayer for our future. The life of our convention of churches is significant to the future of Christian work in our nation.  We cannot go to sleep or act as though change is not needed. This is our time to rise up and join God in His future for us. I am excited about the opportunities and trust you will join me in this exciting moment in Christian history.

Let’s make a difference in the world together.