SBC Parliamentarian McCarty now a Baptist

ATLANTA — Barry McCarty, chief parliamentarian for 29 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meetings, decided Aug. 16 to become a Southern Baptist. He also is joining the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, as a professor of preaching and rhetoric.

McCarty has logged some 540 hours on the platform at SBC annual sessions and has served under 16 SBC presidents, beginning in 1986 with Charles Stanley, pastor of First Baptist Church, Atlanta. 

McCarty also is a preacher, teacher, pastor and educator. He holds a Ph.D. in rhetoric and argumentation from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania has served as president of Cincinnati Christian University in Ohio and until recently was pastor of Peachtree Christian Church, Atlanta.

McCarty cited three primary reasons for his decision to become a Southern Baptist. “First, while Southern Baptists are not a creedal people, they are a confessional people,” he noted. “And at this point in history the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is the best statement of faith I know of. Second, right now no one is speaking to our culture on the great moral issues with as much clarity or biblical integrity as Southern Baptists. Third, at this point in history no one is doing more to penetrate lostness around the world than Southern Baptists.”