SBC FAQs

Keith Harper, Amy Whitfield

• Publisher: B&H Academic
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781462748440
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Denominations

SBC FAQs  provides a general overview of the Southern Baptist Convention in the format of frequently asked questions. Covering details of basic history, polity structure, entity functions and more, this ready reference seeks to answer the most common inquiries about how America’s largest Protestant denomination functions. The topics range from the founding of the SBC to how officers and committees work, what individual entities do, movements in modern denominational history, common terminology, and more. It is designed for first-time messengers and longtime messengers to the SBC Annual Meeting, as well as students, church members, and those in full-time ministry. Whether one is new to the denominational family and wants to learn the big picture or a lifelong Southern Baptist who wants to refresh his or her knowledge about a specific detail,   SBC FAQs  offers clear and concise explanations. Cooperation begins with an informed commitment to participation. This resource will not only help readers find information, but also inspire them to find their place in the process.

PART 1

FAQs

What is the Southern Baptist Convention?

The Southern Baptist Convention is a body of people who are members of churches that have chosen to participate in cooperation with one another. The Convention’s purpose is “to provide a general organization for Baptists in the United States and its territories for the promotion of Christian missions at home and abroad and any other objects such as Christian education, benevolent enterprises, and social services which it may deem proper and advisable for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God.”¹

How did the Southern Baptist Convention begin?

The Southern Baptist Convention began in Augusta, Georgia, on May 8, 1845. Its stated intent was to be “for the purpose of carrying into effect the benevolent intention of our constituents by organizing a plan for eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the denomination for the propagation of the Gospel.”² On December 27, 1845, the General Assembly of the State of Georgia acted to incorporate the Southern Baptist Convention so that it could hold property, make its own bylaws, and participate in any business transactions. The act again stated that this was “for the purpose of eliciting, combining and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians for the propagation of the Gospel.”³

The formation of the SBC was in response to the churches of the General Missionary Convention of the United States, who had struggled with the issue of slavery as the collective conscience of the nation was splitting into pieces on the eve of the Civil War. As the division between the North and the South was growing wider, the General Board faced the question of whether it was appropriate to appoint slave owners as missionaries. Pressure from both sides built until there was an unavoidable impasse. The churches of the South submitted James Reeves as a missionary candidate for consideration as a test case. They had already secured the funds for his salary from individuals in the South, so they only needed the board’s approval. The General Board chose not to respond with any ruling, and in their silence there was no appointment. While they still did not articulate a direct ruling against slave owners, this nonaction spoke volumes to Southerners.⁴

The committee that met in Augusta insisted that this lack of approval was a deviation from the original intent of the General Missionary Convention, and that the requirements for missionary service were stricter than they had previously been. The Triennial Convention of the General Board had originally advocated for “the principle of a perfect equality of members, from the South and the North.” Under its constitution, the standards for missionary service were full membership in a church of the denomination and full evidence of a Christian life. The committee believed that the General Board’s decision (or lack thereof) amounted to a change in policy and thought that their only option was to leave the General Missionary Convention of the United States and form their own missionary-sending alliance of churches.⁵

While the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention have since expressed painful regret over the root circumstances,⁶ they have also affirmed a commitment to the denomination’s stated purpose, the Great Commission. Southern Baptists of the twenty-first century must necessarily acknowledge the reality of their beginnings, but they must also be ready to move forward in action with open eyes to the stated purpose for cooperation—the propagation of the Gospel.

What is a convention, and how does it work?

A convention is one form of a deliberative assembly. It is a large group of individuals, typically serving as representatives of smaller groups, who come together at a certain appointed time to make specific decisions. It only exists at the time that it is officially called into session. Robert’s Rules of Order defines a convention as “an assembly of delegates ... chosen, normally for one session only, as representatives of constituent units or subdivisions of a much larger body of people in whose name the convention sits and acts.”⁷ In this case, the Southern Baptist Convention is composed of what it calls messengers, who have been sent by cooperating churches. When the messengers convene, they act as a body.

A convention only exists for a fixed amount of days, which constitute a session. In accordance with its bylaws, the Southern Baptist Convention lasts two days, currently opening on Tuesday morning and adjourning on Wednesday evening. The Committee on Order of Business will present an agenda for consideration and approval by the messengers. The agenda must include certain elements that strike a balance of inspiration and motivation to Southern Baptists with accountability and the opportunity for democratic process: a Convention sermon, the President’s message, Committee reports, resolutions, and the introduction of motions.⁸

Who are the messengers?

Messengers are those individuals who actually compose the Southern Baptist Convention at each respective meeting. The term was first used to describe delegates to associational meetings of General Baptists in England as far back as the eighteenth century,⁹ and continued throughout the history of Baptists even as they formed different groups in different locations. Today, they are not delegates in the traditional sense because no authority is delegated to them by anyone. James L. Sullivan described them as “two way” messengers: “They go as voices of interest and concern from the churches to a Southern Baptist Convention. Once that Convention is over, they then become voices of communication for the Convention to the membership of the churches which have sent them.”¹⁰

There are very specific parameters for who serves as a messenger to the Southern Baptist Convention. The calculation method and corresponding number of messengers has varied throughout the years, but the current practice is straightforward.

Each cooperating church may send a minimum of two messengers from their membership. Beyond those two, cooperating churches may send additional messengers according to a formula that allows for two options. One option is that for every full percent of a church’s undesignated receipts in the preceding fiscal year contributed through the Cooperative Program, through the Convention’s Executive Committee for Convention causes, and/or to any Convention entity, a church may send one messenger. The other option is that for every $6,000 contributed through the above channels, a church may send one messenger. Using either option, a church can send up to ten of these additional messengers, allowing for a maximum total of twelve.¹¹

Messengers must provide proper credentials in one of three forms. A church can register a messenger electronically before the meeting and receive an official Southern Baptist Convention registration document. A church can provide a letter signed by the pastor, clerk, or moderator of the church that certifies the messenger’s election. A messenger can also provide verification through fax, email, or some other document (electronic or physical) from their church that is deemed reliable by the Credentials Committee.¹²

Whatever form is used, it must demonstrate that a local church that meets the standards for cooperation has clearly selected the messenger.

What determines if a church cooperates with the SBC?

Autonomy of the local church means that a church chooses to voluntarily cooperate with other churches as a part of the Southern Baptist Convention. There is no requirement to attend the annual meeting, and failure to do so does not change the status of a church. There are, however, three standards of cooperation that a church must meet in order to seat messengers.

A church in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention:

1.Has a faith and practice that closely identifies with the Convention’s adopted statement of faith.

2.Has formally approved its intention to cooperate with the Southern Baptist Convention.

3.Has made undesignated financial contribution(s) through the Cooperative Program, and/or through the Convention’s Executive Committee for Convention causes, and/or to any Convention entity during the fiscal year preceding.

1.A cooperating church has a faith and practice that closely identifies with the Baptist Faith and Message. While this phrase may seem open to interpretation, the SBC Constitution gives only one specific example. It clearly states that churches who affirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior would be deemed not in cooperation with the Convention.

2.A church desiring to cooperate must declare its intention to do so in some formal way. The Convention requests an annual report, and the Constitution names this as an appropriate example of this official declaration.

3.All cooperating churches must contribute financially in some way. They can do this through the Cooperative Program (which goes through their respective state conventions), through the Executive Committee to be used for Convention causes, or through a direct contribution to any entity. There is no minimum threshold for cooperation.

Ways to Give:

1.Through the Cooperative Program

2.Directly through the Executive Committee to be used for Convention causes

3.To any entity

In the event that a church does not meet the first standard, the Convention or the Executive Committee must act to formally deem a church not in cooperation. Standards 2 and 3 are dependent on individual churches acting to declare their intentions and to contribute financially each year.¹³

What is the relationship between the Convention and the churches?

The Southern Baptist Convention is not a hierarchical religious denomination. It is a Convention of churches that choose to cooperate with one another. This is in keeping with the Baptist distinctive of local church autonomy, and stated clearly in Article IV of the SBC Constitution: “While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or Convention.”¹⁴

Autonomous churches have complete control over their own affairs. No entity outside of those local believers has influence over that church and what it does. Hierarchy would imply that someone has auth...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Part 1: FAQs
• Part 2: Guiding SBC Documents
• Appendix A: Southern Baptist Convention Presidents
• Appendix B: Cooperative Program Allocations by State
• Appendix C: Report of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force
• Notes