I’m not a candidate for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee and never will be. There are reasons for this fact, none of them relevant.
What you read below is a thought-exercise based on the questions advanced by the presidential search team of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. They seek to fill a vacancy created in May 2018 with the departure of Dr. Frank Page.
Saturday night the anonymous Twitter account @SBCExplainer tweeted this:
On what basis were @EC_SBC candidates considered, apart from their resume? Here’s their Presidential candidate questionnaire, passed along to me today. pic.twitter.com/vPRhV67LOJ— SBC Explainer (@SBCexplainer) February 2, 2019
After checking three sources in positions to know, I am satisfied it is legitimate.
I am frustrated by it. I have seen more on-point questions from some small- and mid-sized church pastor search teams. This document does not present the kind of interrogatory—even at the “weed out” level—Southern Baptists should expect from an entity search team, and this particular one is critical.
It should not surprise Southern Baptists if some qualified candidates pitched these questions into the trash given their lack of depth. The questions betray the culture and climate of the entity more than revealing the preparedness of a potential president.
For fun and without further adieu, here are my answers:
1.What do you see as the primary role the President of the EC?
To lead the Executive Committee and its employees to fulfill its role as a Southern Baptist Convention entity.
2. What do you see as the primary role/function of the EC in SBC life?
To carry out the business of the Southern Baptist Convention of churches between annual meetings.
3. Is there anything you would like to see the EC doing that it is not currently doing?
It depends. Besides helping with the annual meeting, maintaining a poorly designed website, overseeing an underutilized press corps, hosting two full committee meetings a year, hashing out various legal matters, dispersing CP funds, and inter-entity arbitration, what does the EC currently do?
4. What are the most crucial issues we are facing as a convention? How would you go about dealing with those issues?
Ineffective child abuse reporting information: It is nearly unthinkable in this era that documents provided by the EC to Southern Baptists do not explicitly direct churches to immediately call law enforcement when there is a suspicion of sexual abuse. Instead, directions remain focused on in-house investigations.
Directions on this recommended checklist could be erroneously interpreted as “call legal authorities, if applicable.”
Information on child abuse reporting provided by the Executive Committee through Guidestone is not strong enough.
Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect (2015) from the CDC is more thorough. Another detailed resource is available at Church Law and Tax (2017). Both of these are more informative than SBC resources.
In an era when sexual abuse is on every front page, it is mystifying that SBC does not officially, specifically recommend to its churches reporting to law enforcement as the first step in protecting victims even in states where such reporting is not yet mandatory. We should be miles ahead of the curve rather than lagging miles behind it (as evidenced by video training not updated since 2008).
Inadequate responses to minority opportunities: Although minority attendance appears to be on the rise at annual meetings, and although the SBC has directed movement to minority inclusion at all levels, if the employee pages are any indication, the EC has a long way to go.
There are multiple openings for Southern Baptist entity presidents. The Executive Committee presidency is the preferred position for a minority hire. There are qualified candidates. That no minority candidate was interviewed for this position is appalling.
Disband the Great Commission Counsel: A decade or so ago, one now-former entity head refused to attend the semi-annual confabs citing “carnality” while a still-current entity head said (during the same era), “I feel like I need a shower after every one of them.” A significant amount of “dirt” was Paige Patterson’s incessant criticism and will-bending attempts of the other entity heads.
It is possible the decade+ since my last deep SBC engagement the GCC has seen improvement, though that is not a given. Whenever you get that many strong personalities in one room with that much turf to fight over, flair-ups are inevitable. However, if the GCC is little more than a semi-annual gripe session, a relic of a bygone time, it should probably be disbanded.
5. How can we better present and promote the CP among the younger generation of our convention?
It’s been over a decade since Jimmy Draper sounded the alarm over the SBC losing younger leaders yet some expect those in their grandparents’ generation to understand what will draw younger leaders to embrace the Cooperative Program. If the EC is still asking this question and has not found an answer, the issue might not be with the questions but with this questioners. Consider structural changes within the Executive Committee that should be made. Out-of-touch rarely gets in touch.
6. How would you reach the younger generation and expand their role in the life of the SBC?
Hire a few to work at the Executive Committee. Hire one to lead it. Hire someone in their 40s to be president of the EC, fifties at the oldest. Do not hire a 60+ year old if you are serious about younger leaders.
And, especially, don’t hire someone who has been an eternal candidate for SBC leadership. The Executive Committee does not need a president who has been in line for every other vacancy over the last 20 years and finally slipped through an open door. Bring in creative vision, fresh ideas, and new energy rather than “Well, it was his turn.”
7. Describe your style of leadership.
Visionary, team-oriented, missiologically driven
8. What is your approach to conflict resolution and consensus building?
Matthew 18:15–20; Act 15:1–21; Philippians 4:2–3
Pray, listen, gather information from all relevant stakeholders, sift, refine, cast the vision, build the team, move forward.
9. In your estimation, what is the most disruptive influence(s) in SBC life at the present? How would you deal with it (or them)?
Local church pastors making regular national media appearances officially or unofficially representing the SBC: While the EC has no authority (and should not) over local churches, the EC should facilitate getting the SBC President some media time as warranted.
The EC should clarify as often as is needed that mega-church pastors—even if they are regular cable news guests or serve on a presidential council—do not speak for the Southern Baptist Convention. Also, the Communications Department strategy should undergo a deep review as the SBC does not present itself often or well in the public eye. Unless Southern Baptists tell our own story it will always be told for us, and usually not accurately.
10. Do you see Calvinism as a problem in our convention? How should we deal with it?
Calvinism isn’t as big a problem as is the people who think Calvinism is a problem are a problem. The “Calvinism problem” in the Southern Baptist Convention is largely manufactured. The decline in Southern Baptist baptisms and attendance—as has been well documented—has been happening for decades, well before any renewed influence of Calvinism. The lack of evangelistic fervor likewise is the fault of loveless rank-and-file Southern Baptists most of whom do not engage in personal witness and most of whom are not Calvinists.
While a few churches in limited areas have experienced problems due to pastors not being transparent about their theological beliefs, these problems belong to churches. Associations are next in line to deal with church wars, then the state conventions. If DOMs and state execs are not competent to handle church theological concerns or navigate intra-church squabbles, the problem is bigger than the Executive Committee president can fix.
The bigger problem in the SBC are those few people who are fixated on Calvinism as a denominational boogeyman and, as a result, cannot overcome their bias to have fellowship in any meaningful sense with pastors who are Calvinists.
(This question is, to this writer, evidence of undue influence of Calvinist fear-mongers either on the search team, on the EC, or among the EC staff.)
11. Would your wife be willing and able to travel with you as you carry out your responsibilities as EC president?
Does the EC plan to pay for all her travel? Meals? I hear Mackinac Island is great this time of the year. Will the EC pick up the tab for Dead Sea Scroll fragments?
I understand this concern derives from the failure of the previous president, but requiring the wife/husband of the president to accompany him/her at all times is not the solution. Yes, my wife would love to travel with me periodically and I would love for her to accompany me. But, she is not me and doesn’t need to rearrange her life and further burden the EC budget to address a problem not resultant of “responsibilities as EC president.” My wife is not a trinket or amulet I carry for good luck, nor does she accompany me every time I go to Kroger to ensure I don’t have an affair.
Given the immersive nature of communication technology I would plan to keep travel to a minimum as a rule. Frankly, for that reason, you should reject anyone who intends to make extensive travel part of his or her plan.
12. What is your position on tithing? Are you a tither?
This question should be removed. Not only is “tithing” not mentioned in the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, it is a local church and personal piety issue not a denominational issue. If you want a money answer, straight up ask, “What percentage of your total income do you give to church and other ministries?”
An even more biblical question is, “What is your position on the fruit of the Spirit? Is all the fruit of the Spirit evident in your life?”
13. What is your position on the use of alcohol by believers? Do your [sic] drink?
I have found the use of alcohol on scrapes to be very effective at killing any germs whether the user is a believer or not.
The SBC does not (and cannot) forbid the members of its churches to drink alcohol in moderation just as it does not (and cannot) forbid said members to eat fried-chicken, mashed potatoes, and banana pudding in moderation. The scripture does not forbid the moderate consumption of alcohol by believers. I agree with the scriptures that drunkenness is a sin.
The SBC has a regulation that entity heads, employees, and trustees should not imbibe. I would abide by the policy comfortably as, unlike some early Southern Baptists, I have never been a drinker of alcoholic beverages.
14. Are you in agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000?
Depending upon who is interpreting it at any given moment, yes. I do not agree with weaponizing the BFM to gain an upper-hand in third-tier theological disagreements or as a means of securing power.
15. What have we failed to ask that you consider important in these matters?
What will happen to the current EC staff?
The EC is stuck in a decade not readily identified by non-sociologists. It needs a culture shift that will only come from culture shock. Upon my arrival, I would expect every vice-president and other major position holders to submit their resignations. After extensive review and conversations, some may be retained, others may be reassigned, and some may be offered a severance package.
Many, if not most, of the top leadership at the EC have been in place many years, through parts of the previous two leadership regimes. It is impossible to place all EC woes on presidents when the bureaucracy is the same. Some changes will be necessary.
What about women in ministry?
We kid ourselves if we think the rise of women teachers, authors, and leaders will not soon bring the SBC to a crisis moment. The Conservative Resurgence was partially predicated on “if a man desire the office of a bishop,” the inference being “man” means men only. This position is written into our confession of faith. Expect more discussion around what “ministry” means for women.
Expect also discussion around women outside ministry. Many already have no problem with women serving in any number of SBC roles including vice-president or president of the SBC, head of entities like Guidestone or the Executive Committee. Some consider the “presidential address” to be a sermon and therefore outside scriptural boundaries for woman. Others consider the address to be a speech and thus within those boundaries.
Expect more controversy in this area.
The role of the EC in public messaging and branding
A number of years ago on a Saturday afternoon I watched an exemplary 30 minute program showing Southern Baptists at work in Disaster Relief. Other than a clumsy promo for the Cooperative Program at the end (which means nothing to unbelievers) it was a solid piece.
The SBC needs to create and promote more content highlighting the ministries that affect real people directing them to local Southern Baptist churches in their area. Promoting the CP to a NASCAR audience is bad strategy.
Do you own or run any company or ministry or have side-hustles that are potential conflicts of interest?
I don’t think so, but if deemed necessary I will put my podcast in a blind trust.
Would you feel comfortable occasionally representing the EC (and by extension the SBC) in non-SBC media? Could you do so without acting like a Baptist pope, without self-aggrandizement and personal platform-building?
Yes
Describe the SBC in 10 words or fewer: A shrinking regional denomination aspiring for national attention.
