Any way one judges an annual meeting of Alabama Baptists, the Nov. 14-15 session in Montgomery was a positive experience. Attendance was up. Enthusiasm was high. Business items were overwhelmingly approved.
Messengers also expressed concern for unity in the fellowship and worked at being inclusive despite what some of the state’s news outlets reported.
By the end of the opening session, attendance had already surpassed total messenger registration for last year’s annual meeting. At the end of the Tuesday morning session 1,476 people had registered representing 630 churches. In 1999, the messenger count for the entire convention reached only 1,245.
Registration reached 1,778 by Wednesday noon’s adjournment, making it the largest convention in the last four years. Part of the reason for the messenger count was that 21 churches registered 212 messengers for the Wednesday morning business session. All together, 674 churches from all 75 Alabama Baptist associations registered messengers for the annual meeting.
Messengers adopted a record $38,670,000 Cooperative Program budget without discussion. Mike McLemore, pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Birmingham, was unanimously elected president. Not a single item of miscellaneous business was introduced by messengers. All committee recommendations were overwhelmingly approved.
Evidently messengers were satisfied with explanations offered by State Board of Missions members as well as the direction of convention related programs.
Only two of seven resolutions approved by messengers generated debate. The first was on helping the poor, which included tax reform; the second on doctrinal heritage.
No one argued against the need for tax reform. Disagreement was about the best way to address the issue. Some wanted an indirect reference, others a direct statement. After messengers decided on the direct approach, the resolution calling for tax reform was approved with only scattered opposition. Again, the messengers were united.
The resolution on doctrinal heritage generated the most emotional comments. However, some of the debate seemed to miss the point of the resolution. Unfortunately, most of the media reports also missed the point.
The resolution adopted by Alabama Baptists said nothing about hot-button issues such as women as pastors or submission, even though both items were mentioned in debate and in news stories. The resolutions committee carefully crafted the resolution to “affirm Southern Baptists for their doctrinal heritage and confessions of faith, then and now.”
The 1925 and 1963 versions of The Baptist Faith and Message statements of faith received the same affirmations as the 1998 and the 2000 statements. All of these were commended to Alabama Baptists as “resource for better understanding the teaching of Baptist beliefs and practices.”
The only doctrinal positions affirmed by the messengers attending the 178th annual session of the Alabama Baptist State Convention were contained in the final clause of the resolution which stated “we reaffirm our historic commitment to the Bible, God’s totally true and trustworthy Word, as our sole authority for faith and practice and that we reaffirm our basic belief in the Lordship of Jesus Christ.”
Those persons supporting the 2000 version of The Baptist Faith and Message were satisfied with the resolution. Some of the leaders of that group purposely decided not to seek anything binding on the convention or related entities. Their goal was to make sure the 2000 statement was not repudiated and that it was offered the same prominence as previous versions of The Baptist Faith and Message.
The resolution accomplished that goal by placing the 2000 statement in place as the historical successor of the 1963 statement.
Those fearing an attempt to make The Baptist Faith and Message a litmus test for Alabama Baptists generally praised the inclusive nature of the resolution which, they said, represents the spirit of the state convention. Again, the messengers were united.
Unfortunately, a few messengers tried to re-introduce controversial elements of previous Southern Baptist Convention debate on the revised statement. Some news outlets mistakenly reported statements from floor microphones as if they were actions by the convention.
The easygoing presiding style of President Buddy Gray, pastor of Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover, kept a relaxed atmosphere in the convention, even during debate. Frequently the program ran ahead of schedule. Members of the committee on order of business had to hustle to find things for messengers to do while they waited for the time of fixed items of business.
There was no shortage of inspiration at this year’s annual meeting. Larnelle Harris may have provided the highlight of the convention with his music and testimony. About 900 Alabama Baptists clapped, swayed and waved their arms as Harris led a time of worship and praise. Harris attracted the largest number of persons in the convention hall at any one time during the two-day meeting.
Tom Whatley in the convention sermon, Gray in his president’s address, the report on partnership missions — these and more kept the messengers focused on the reason Alabama Baptists cooperate as a convention, to present Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.
Yes, the 178th session of the state convention was a positive experience. It reflected the spirit and unity which Alabama Baptists share in conviction and in purpose. May it always be so.
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