A primary architect of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) urged Alabama Baptists Nov. 18 to continue the effort.
Paige Patterson, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., urged members of the Alabama Baptist Conservatives Network (ABCN) to maintain the course by electing endorsed candidates to office at the upcoming state Baptist convention’s annual meeting.
Patterson addressed some 400 people gathered during the ABCN (formerly Southern Baptist Conservatives of Alabama) luncheon at the Pastors Conference at Hunter Street Baptist Church in Hoover.
Patterson, main speaker at the luncheon, called his listeners “the conservative leadership of the state of Alabama.”
“The Lord is blessing [the SBC],” he said, “but I have a concern. There are too many people who don’t understand the battle is not over.
“You have to see it all the way through,” Patterson said. “I am tired of fighting. I would like to get it over with.”
He said, “Some people are sullying the name of ‘Baptist’ with heresy. I want to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren so they won’t have to fight this battle.”
Patterson encouraged pastors to preach expository sermons, although he noted, “I was saved under a topical sermon. The gospel is true wherever it pops up. A topical sermon is not of the devil; it’s just not of God,” he said, evoking laughter from his audience.
He predicted 3,000 to 4,000 churches aligned with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) will eventually depart from the SBC. “They are going to take every moderate church that they can. The sooner it happens the better off we’ll be,” he said, adding that new churches are joining the SBC every year.
“Go to every convention session,” Patterson urged. “Have your full contingency of messengers. In a couple of years, our opponents will give up.”
Mainstream evaluation
Responding to a question, he said the group known as Mainstream Baptists is “emanating from Texas. It is sort of a judgment on the CBF. They are a much more determined and rabid group than CBF.”
Patterson said, “They have an integrity problem. Calling yourself ‘mainstream’ when you are hardly a tributary.
“I am rather glad they are here,” he said. “They are so shrill and so filled with antagonism they are basically failing in most places. We need to out-pray them, out-love them, out-witness them and out-work them.”
Patterson urged his hearers, “Don’t be ugly. Keep on being sweet. Be steel in velvet. They too are precious to God. But we need to take a strong stand and get this over with.”
Coordinator of the luncheon event was Tommy Fountain, pastor of Golden Acres Baptist Church, Phenix City.
Fountain said, “Make sure you remain at the convention. Be sure to stay through the last session on Wednesday, when the officers will be elected.
“This is a crucial, critical year for us,” he said. “Make sure Joe Godfrey is elected as president.”
Godfrey, pastor of Taylor Road Baptist Church, Montgomery, was one of three pastors supported by the ABCN. Also endorsed were Henry Cox of First Baptist, Bay Minette, for first vice president; and Roger Willmore of First Baptist, Boaz, for second vice president.
Closing the luncheon program was Godfrey’s daughter, Elizabeth, a student at Samford University, who accompanied herself on piano as she sang.
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