Actually these are trackbacks, plus they were very popular topics.
The first is Bart Barber and the topic of the [then upcoming] Southern Baptist presidential election
The other is Jarrod Morris (on the same day he was linked by flowerdust.net) and the topic of christians and drinking. Something everyone has an opinion about.
And the places where it bottoms out are Sundays. Apparently no one reads blogs on Sundays.
So this was the first day of the actual convention. I got up and was gone from Lafayette by 7:30. A wreck on the interstate and pouring rain here in the Indiana rainforest, and I was in a seat on the convention floor by 9:00. I should describe the layout of the convention here in Indy. It is about 100 rows deep in 6 sections. There are huge projection screens in front of two sections. So it is ridiculously wide and not that deep. There are practically no good seats in the entire hall. But if you park yourself in front of one of the giant screens you have a very good view. The same exact view you would get if you watched it online.
Now...on to the business of the day. The vote for SBC president. You all read my previous posts and had the opportunity to lobby me. After praying, I voted for Frank Cox. We passed the ballots to the right. And there was no question when I passed the ones in my section that Johnny Hunt got the majority of the votes in my section. There were 6 candidates and I figured that there would be a runoff, but I guess I underestimated Johnny’s popularity, . Johnny got 52% of the vote. I admire Johnny and believe he will be a good president. In case anybody is counting I am 0-2 in voting for SBC president.
First VP is Bill Henard from Porter in Lexington KY. I did vote for him. Also I voted for 2nd VP, but I left before they announced the winner. (There will be a runoff between Mulkey and Newland.) I voted for Newland from the Indianapolis church that was sued by the NFL for hosting a Super Bowl party. But Mulkey had one of the greatest nomination speeches I’ve ever heard. It was great.
In other news, I attended the Annie Armstrong banquet because our church was top in giving and per capita giving in our association. It was a very good banquet and the missionary speaker did a wonderful job. But a fire alarm went off before the end, and I was very ready to leave the room. The alarm, strobe, and voice emanating from the speakers was incredibly annoying.
Tomorrow, there will likely be no report. Read Baptist Press.
In my previous post I asked people to lobby me for their candidate for SBC president. As I have thought about this I realize that many of my readers need a bit of a lesson in Southern Baptist polity.
I think the first thing to establish is that the president of the Southern Baptist Convention is largely a figurehead position. What I mean by that is that the SBC itself is not so much a denomination as a collection of independent churches. No president of the convention or Associational Director Of Missions has any actual power over any church. Our statement of faith the BFM 2000 is just that; a statement of faith. We join ourselves together because we hold common beliefs not because of any hierarchy. Our associational DOM has no authority over the 96 churches of the NSRBA. The convention president is the same. He has no real power.
So what does the president do and why even bother going to the convention at all? The president is moderator of the convention, he appoints the committee on committees, and he serves largely as a spokesman for all Southern Baptists to the media.
Let’s look at each of these duties and deal with them separately with the 6 candidates in mind.
First, the SBC president serves as moderator over the convention. This is a 2-day per year job. (In execution, though surely there is a lot of prep work that must be done.) Based on my knowledge of the candidates any of them would be fine in this position. There is a parliamentarian on hand to keep whoever it is straight on the details. It may well be that some of the candidates are a bit more in love with the sound of their own voice than others ;) but the sheer amount of business that must be carried out in two days makes it necessary that the president keep things moving. The position of moderator concludes with the convention sermon, they all have different skills in this regard, but hopefully any of them would be well-prepared and ready to bring God’s word to the convention.
Second, the SBC president nominates the committee on committees. Once upon a time, this was probably the most significant part of the job. Now that the convention as a whole is solidly conservative, and full of inerrentists, most likely all of the candidates would appoint all conservatives to this position. (An aside: I am thankful to God for those who figured out the significance of this and led to the conservative resurgence.)
Third, the convention president largely serves as spokesman and ambassador to the media for the entire denomination. It would be impossible to be a spokesman for the entire group of millions of Southern Baptists. As I stated earlier, we are a very independent group, and only joined because we choose to cooperate. This part of the job is significant because the media does not understand the nature of our convention. So we need an apt spokesperson. I have heard Frank Page say repeatedly that he was approached by all the major presidential candidates and asked for an endorsement. There are many other people who to some degree speak on behalf of Southern Baptists. That is essentially Richard Land’s job description, and to a large degree Al Mohler does the same thing. But there will never be a true replacement for the SBC president. This is the part of the job where the candidates truly begin to separate themselves. This is also one of the reasons that the megachurch pastors have a leg up on the field in most cases.
At this point, for me, the election is down to Frank Cox, Johnny Hunt, and Avery Willis, in no particular order. You basically have one more day to lobby me for your candidate, or disagree with my analysis in the comments. Feel free to do so.
Also as a bonus, here are links to the candidates interviews with Baptist Press
One of the major concerns we hear about in Southern Baptist life is the lack of “young leaders.”
You often read that people under age 40 feel somehow alienated by the processes of the SBC. I am under 35, and seminary educated, but I don’t feel either jaded or disenfranchised with the processes of the SBC.
I have no idea what all the commentators mean by “leader” but I’m pretty sure I don’t qualify on that front. I’m the youth minister at a small church, and I have no ambition to ever preach the convention sermon, but I do want to see the Southern Baptist Convention be the best it can be. I obviously am a blogger, (hopefully the stigma from that label is gone now) and I read a handful of SBC blogs. Some I agree with, some I don’t. I would very much like to one day earn my PhD and my readers already know I want to be a certified apologetics instructor. It would be great to have a bunch of readers on my blog, but this blog is too often about fishing to ever catch on in a big way. So, surely I am not a “leader.” All I want is to bring glory to God in whatever position He puts me. And if that means being a youth minister to 10 kids, then hopefully I can help them to grow closer to Christ and have an impact on their world.
Despite not being a “young leader” I believe I am the very person that many people are concerned about. As an under 35, seminary educated, Southern Baptist, I am interested in what happens, and deeply concerned with the baptism decline. I hope this doesn’t sound arrogant, really I just believe I fit the mold. I’m sure there are many like me.
I will be attending the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, and I can honestly say that I do not know who I will be voting for for president. There are 6 candidates. (<update>I am only seriously considering 3 </update>of them.) I am genuinely undecided. This is your opportunity to lobby for my vote. Use the comments to convince me that your choice for SBC president is the one who will best lead the convention.
Here are some things you may want to know about me before you begin your defense. Some of this is a repeat.
Let the lobbying begin