Jay Wolf, pastor of First Baptist Church, Montgomery, has been named to a new task force to consider changing the name of the 166-year-old Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
SBC President Bryant Wright announced the new task force during the opening session of the Sept. 19–20 SBC Executive Committee meeting in Nashville.
Wright, who was re-elected to a second one-year term during the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix this past June, said he believes the study will be helpful for two main reasons.
“First the convention’s name is so regional,” he said. “With our focus on church planting, it is challenging in many parts of the country to lead churches to want to be part of a convention with such a regional name. Second a name change could position us to maximize our effectiveness in reaching North America for Jesus Christ in the 21st century.”
Wright said Jimmy Draper, retired president of LifeWay Christian Resources and a former SBC president, has agreed to serve as chairman of the task force. Wright will serve as an ex officio member.
In 2004, then-SBC President Jack Graham made a similar argument when he proposed a committee to study a new name to better reflect the convention’s scope as a national rather than regional body. Messengers at the 2004 annual meeting in Indianapolis debated the idea vigorously before voting 55 percent to 45 percent against the name-change study.
Southern Baptists have rejected attempts to rename the denomination eight times since 1965. Presented in 1999 with a motion by Executive Committee member Blaine Barber of Michigan to become the “International Baptist Convention,” the Executive Committee decided a new name was neither warranted nor desired.
Wright said he believes Southern Baptists would benefit from another look at the question, noting, “I am going to ask this task force to consider four questions: 1) Is it a good idea, that is, is there value in considering a name change? 2) If so, what would be a good name to suggest? 3) What would be the potential legal ramifications of a name change? 4) What would be the potential financial implications?”
Wright, pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, Marietta, Ga., emphasized the task force’s role is to advise him
on the questions he has given it to consider.
Other members of the task force are
• Michael Allen, senior pastor of Uptown Baptist Church, Chicago.
• Marshall Blaylock, pastor of First Baptist Church, Charleston, S.C.
• David Dockery, president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn.
• Tom Elliff, president of the International Mission Board.
• Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board (NAMB).
• Ken Fentress, senior pastor of Montrose Baptist Church, Rockwell, Md.
• Micah Fries, senior pastor of Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church, St. Joseph, Mo.
• Aaron Harvie, lead pastor of Riverside Community Church, Philadelphia.
• Susie Hawkins, speaker, Bible study teacher and missions volunteer from Dallas.
• Fred Hewitt, executive director of the Montana Southern Baptist Convention.
• Cathy Horner, Bible teacher and pastor’s wife from Providence Baptist Church, Raleigh, N.C.
• Benjamin Jo, pastor of Hana Korean Baptist Church, Las Vegas.
• R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
• Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
• Bob Sena, retired director of Hispanic resource development and equipping in NAMB’s church-planting group.
• Roger Spradlin, co-pastor of Valley Baptist Church, Bakersfield, Calif., and chairman of the SBC Executive Committee.
• John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer of the Florida Baptist Convention. (BP)
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