The sorted stacks of folded newspapers caught my attention as I exited the SBC Executive Committee meeting a few minutes before noon today. You know I love a printed newspaper, so I couldn’t help but be intrigued.
And I couldn’t help but smile when I realized the person marking up those papers as he sat behind the large conference table tucked away from the flow of foot traffic was longtime Southern Seminary president Al Mohler.
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I’ve heard about his discipline in consuming an impressive amount of news from credible and traditional media outlets each day, but for a moment I was able to watch it live in action.
He was kind to allow me to interrupt for a quick hello and even granted me a selfie before I moved along to chat with others in the lobby area.
Mohler Amendment
Mohler recently announced plans to make a motion not only to amend the SBC constitution but also to request a suspension of the standing rules in order to force a vote by messengers during this annual meeting rather than allow his motion to be referred to the SBC EC for evaluation and reported out next year. Read about it from Kentucky Today here.
Those interested in watching the action should plan to be online a little after 8 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow (Tuesday, June 9). Find the livestream link plus a flow of all SBC Annual Meeting-related coverage here at thebaptistpaper.org. You’ll also find several viewpoints about the proposed motion at the link.
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I’ll resurface the opinion piece I wrote May 21 here, and more on Mohler’s proposed amendment and a proposed resolution coming to the floor from the Illinois Baptist here.
If messengers do allow the rules to be suspended and a vote taken during this year’s annual meeting, then a marked ballot vote for precise calculation would be best — and I’m appreciative of that reportedly having already been considered.
‘Where is the problem?’
Lots and lots of voices are sparring about the topic on social media, but I’ll leave you with one message I noticed from retired Alabama Baptist pastor Ron Madison on June 5. Here’s an excerpt from his Facebook post:
“Convictions held by the vast majority of Southern Baptists on the issue of the office of pastor/elder/overseer, combined with the already clear statement in the BFM 2000, and the infinitesimal number of churches with women holding this office and still desiring to be Southern Baptist, cause this retired pastor to ask, ‘Where is the problem?’
“I think I know at least a part of the answer. The problem is not with women desiring to usurp the role of men. Those women aspiring to pastoral authority have long since left Southern Baptists to find other venues through which to exercise their sense of calling and express their giftedness. Those women remaining, and especially those serving as church staff members, simply want to be valued, recognized, affirmed, and allowed to minister to those assigned to their care under the authority of the man called as pastor/elder/overseer of the church they serve,” Madison wrote.
“The problem must be laid at the feet of those failing to lead their church, entity, denomination in being more effective in reaching the lost and discipling those reached. In other words, people like me. … Fidelity to the Bible has been ensured … but effective evangelism has not.”
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