According to a four-member panel of Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) leaders, when a church has an opening for a pastorate it must be honest in stating their beliefs and desires.
Steve Lemke, director of the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, said there “clearly” is a resurgence of Calvinism within the convention and among seminary students. Students, he said, are coming to seminary “with pre-commitments toward Calvinism, largely because of non-SBC speakers like John Piper and others.”
Pastoral search committees must ask candidates who are Calvinists: “Are they committed to missions and evangelism,” and, “Do they talk more about Calvin than about Jesus,” Lemke suggested.
The current “distrust by both sides leads to exaggerating what the other side is saying and really going beyond where they really are,” he added.
“I hope we can find ways to work together more constructively.”
(BP)
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