EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally posted Feb. 14 and was updated Feb. 15.
Farmersville, Texas, pastor Bart Barber will serve as chair for the 2022 Committee on Resolutions at the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Anaheim, SBC President Ed Litton announced today (Feb. 14).
In conference with SBC vice presidents, Litton has appointed the 10-member 2022 SBC Committee on Resolutions, which includes two members who served on the 2021 committee, three Executive Committee trustees, one former Executive Committee employee, one state Baptist Convention president, a Gateway Seminary employee, one pastor who is serving a church launched by Lifeway president Ben Mandrell and the wife of a former SBC president.
Barber, who will celebrate 23 years at First Baptist Church in Farmersville in July, served on the committee last year alongside Dana McCain, a member of First Baptist Church in Dothan, who will be vice chair.
“I believe with all of my heart that whenever two or three believers gather in His name, Christ is present among them to speak to them and through them,” Barber said. “Our resolutions play a beautiful role in that divine process. It is not my ambition to shape Southern Baptist opinion, but instead to state Southern Baptist opinion — to empower our messengers to speak as Christ has laid it upon their hearts to speak.”
For McCain, involvement in crisis pregnancy ministries is what spurred her passion for seeing the gospel’s impact on people’s lives.
“It’s humbling to participate in the process of helping Southern Baptists reflect the gospel to the world by speaking to contemporary issues, both within the church and in the public square,” she said. “I’m honored to be able to serve the SBC in this way, and look forward to the good things God will do during our time together at the 2022 annual meeting.”
Other members
The following people also were selected for the committee.
— Julio Arriola is director of Send Network with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and a member of Thompson Station Church, Thompson’s Station, Tenn. Arriola previously served as executive director for Hispanic relations and mobilization for the SBC Executive Committee.
— J. T. English is pastor of Storyline Fellowship in Arvada, Colorado, where Mandrell served as pastor.
— Kristen Ferguson is a member of 11th Street Baptist Church in Upland, California. Ferguson is the director of online education and associate professor of educational leadership at Gateway Seminary.
— Donna Gaines is a member of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee, and the wife of former SBC President Steve Gaines.
— Mike Keahbone is pastor of First Baptist Church Lawton, Oklahoma, and is a trustee with the Executive Committee.
— Jon C. Nelson is pastor of Soma Community Church in Jefferson City, Missouri, and is president of the Missouri Baptist Convention.
— David Sons is pastor of Lake Murray Baptist Church, Lexington, South Carolina, and is a trustee with the Executive Committee.
— Jared Wellman is pastor of Tate Springs Baptist Church, Arlington, Texas, and is a trustee with the Executive Committee.
“For many decades, the resolutions process has served our convention by allowing us to speak forcefully to significant matters upon which we are resolved,” Litton said. “I have the highest confidence in the men and women I have asked to serve on the 2022 Committee on Resolutions. Each of them are faithful and capable leaders who embody what it means to be a Great Commission Baptist.
“I am particularly grateful for Dr. Bart Barber’s willingness to serve as chair of the committee. Across our convention, Dr. Barber is esteemed for his character and wisdom, as well as his conviction and charity. I have no doubt that Dr. Barber, along with vice chair Dana Hall McCain, will serve all of us by leading this committee to present resolutions for consideration that reflect the biblical priorities and convictions of our Great Commission people.”
According to Bylaw 20, the committee must include at least two members who served the previous year, a requirement fulfilled by Barber and McCain. Keahbone, Sons and Wellman meet the stipulation that three Executive Committee members also be on the committee. Wellman served on the committee last year as well.
Resolutions process
According to Bylaw 20, the procedure for submitting resolutions is as follows:
- Proposed resolutions may be submitted as early as April 15 but no later than 15 days prior to the SBC annual meeting, giving the Resolutions Committee a two-week period in which to consider submissions. The committee also may propose resolutions for consideration during its deliberations. Resolutions may not be submitted during the annual meeting.
- Proposed resolutions must be accompanied by a letter from a church qualified to send a messenger to the SBC annual meeting certifying that the individual submitting the resolution is a member in good standing.
- Proposed resolutions preferably should be submitted by email or mailed to the Committee on Resolutions in care of the SBC Executive Committee, 901 Commerce St., Nashville, TN 37203. The drafts must be typewritten, titled, dated and include complete contact information for the person and his or her church.
- No person will be allowed to submit more than three resolutions per year.
- If a properly submitted resolution is not forwarded by the Committee on Resolutions to the SBC annual meeting, a two-thirds vote of messengers would be required to bring the proposed resolution to the convention floor.
During the 2021 SBC annual meeting, a motion to do away with the resolutions committee was referred to the Executive Committee for a report in June 2022.
Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Baptist Paper contributed to this story.
Learn more about the history and pros and cons of SBC resolutions in the video below featuring TAB Media’s Jennifer Davis Rash, Baptist historian and professor Nathan Finn and Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.
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