{"id":388,"date":"2024-01-25T08:35:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T14:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/?page_id=388"},"modified":"2024-02-15T18:27:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T00:27:41","slug":"great-commission-resurgence-special-report","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/?page_id=388","title":{"rendered":"GREAT COMMISSION RESURGENCE SPECIAL REPORT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Great Commission Resurgence getting a 10-year evaluation, Jan. 30, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASHVILLE \u2013 A six-member task force and a former seminary president are focal points of an evaluation of Southern Baptist missions in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force appointed by SBC President Bart Barber will relay its evaluation at the 2024 annual meeting in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seminary president, Chuck Kelley, who led New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for 23 years, already has delivered his assessment in a 2023 book, \u201cThe Best Intentions: How a Plan to Revitalize the SBC Accelerated Its Decline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At issue is a 2010 revamping of the convention\u2019s North American Mission Board set forth by a 23-member Great Commission Task Force (also called the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force) and adopted at that year\u2019s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former editor of Baptist Press, Art Toalston, who served from 1992-2015, has undertaken a special report about the Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force and Kelley\u2019s book, along with numerous other elements regarding the future of home missions, including the longstanding Cooperative Program channel by which Southern Baptists churches support missions and ministry internationally, nationally and in their states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GCR task force\u2019s seven recommendations, or components, included a call for NAMB to be \u201cunleashed\u201d for church planting as its primary emphasis, with the mission board subsequently reallocating an estimated $50 million yearly to help fund the initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That shift meant the cessation of \u201cCooperative Agreements\u201d between NAMB and state conventions that had linked their evangelism, church planting and other ministries for 50-plus years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially for smaller state conventions with limited budgets in the Northeast, Midwest, Great Plains and the West, the Cooperative Agreements were the lifeblood of funding for their evangelism and church planting efforts, including various staff members and directors of missions for Baptist associations across their states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutbacks in evangelism staffing and budgeting by the North American Mission Board \u2013 coupled with a \u201ccorporate approach to strategy based on centralized planning and control\u201d apart from the SBC\u2019s 41 state conventions \u2013 have contributed to \u201can epic evangelism crisis,\u201d Kelley asserts in his 225-page book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the North American Mission Board\u2019s implementation of the Great Commission Task Force recommendations has yielded 10,000 church plants, 10 percent of all baptisms across the SBC and 23 percent of baptisms in state conventions outside the South.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toalston\u2019s special report, spanning more than 9,000 words, includes comments, opinions and information from a broad range of SBC leaders, including Kelley, Kevin Ezell, Bart Barber, Danny Akin, R. Albert Mohler Jr., J.D. Greear, Ronnie Floyd, Scott McConnell, Morris Chapman, David Hankins, Johnny Hunt, Geoff Hammond, David Dockery, Amy Whitfield, Trevin Wax. Jeff Iorg, Jerry Rankin and Jim Elliff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toalston, in his report, cites the introductory words of the 2010 Great Commission Task Force recommendations to the SBC, noting that they remain applicable in 2024:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn every generation, Southern Baptists have been called to reclaim our identity as a Great Commission movement of churches. Now is the time for this generation to answer the same call \u2013 to make an unconditional commitment to reach the nations for Christ, to plant and serve Gospel churches in North America and around the world, and to mobilize Southern Baptists. A world of lostness is waiting \u2013 what are we waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The full text of the special report. 9,100 words, and source notes follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

———-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SPECIAL REPORT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Commission Resurgence getting a 10-year evaluation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Art Toalston<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NASHVILLE \u2013 A six-member task force and a former seminary president are focal points of an evaluation of Southern Baptist missions in North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force appointed by SBC President Bart Barber will relay its evaluation at the 2024 annual meeting in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The seminary president, Chuck Kelley, who led New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for 23 years, already has delivered his assessment in a 2023 book, \u201cThe Best Intentions: How a Plan to Revitalize the SBC Accelerated Its Decline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At issue is a 2010 revamping of the convention\u2019s North American Mission Board set forth by a 23-member Great Commission Task Force (also called the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force) and adopted at that year\u2019s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GCR task force\u2019s seven recommendations, or components, included a call for NAMB to be \u201cunleashed\u201d for church planting as its primary emphasis, with the mission board subsequently reallocating an estimated $50 million yearly to help fund the initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That shift meant the cessation of \u201cCooperative Agreements\u201d between NAMB and state conventions that had linked their evangelism, church planting and other ministries for 50-plus years. It\u2019s a historic juncture \u201cin the SBC story\u201d of Baptist leaders \u201cchanging Baptist polity,\u201d Kelley writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially for smaller state conventions with limited budgets in the Northeast, Midwest, Great Plains and the West, the Cooperative Agreements were the lifeblood of funding for their evangelism and church planting efforts, including various staff members and directors of missions for Baptist associations across their states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GCR evaluation is one of two studies underway related to Baptist cooperation to be presented at June\u2019s annual meeting. The other, by a 20-member Cooperation Group, involves a motion from the 2023 convention in New Orleans to study what it means for a church to be \u201cin friendly cooperation\u201d with the SBC \u201con matters of faith and practice.\u201d The issue was sparked by three churches, two with women in pastoral roles, appealing an Executive Committee vote deeming the churches as \u201cnot in friendly cooperation\u201d with the SBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GCR: revival or tumult<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGCR supporters,\u201d Trevin Wax, then a Tennessee church\u2019s associate pastor, wrote in a Christianity Today blog, \u201chave sometimes spoken as if (it) will be the spark of a worldwide revival that will send renewal through the SBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGCR detractors,\u201d Wax continued on the day of the convention\u2019s June 2010 vote, \u201chave sometimes spoken as if (it) would end the SBC as we know it and destroy all our cooperative efforts.\u201d Wax currently is NAMB\u2019s vice president for research and resource development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley, in his book, compiled published Southern Baptist church planting and baptisms data from 2011-2021 after NAMB\u2019s GCR implementation and concluded, \u201cNo other decade in SBC history has seen such a broad statistical decline in the standard measures applied to SBC churches, including the decade of the Great Depression and the decade of the tumultuous sixties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cutbacks in evangelism staffing and budgeting by the North American Mission Board \u2013 coupled with a \u201ccorporate approach to strategy based on centralized planning and control\u201d apart from the SBC\u2019s 41 state conventions \u2013 have contributed to \u201can epic evangelism crisis,\u201d Kelley writes in the 225-page book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than a resurgence, the GCR has been a \u201cGreat Commission Regression,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley did not publicly oppose the task force recommendations in 2010 because \u201cI did not want to be viewed in any way as opposed to the need for a Great Commission resurgence,\u201d he said in an email exchange for this report. \u201cI simply could not support the approach taken by the task force,\u201d resolving to \u201cassess its impact 10 years down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a 2011-2021 time frame, Kelley moved forward with a critique. \u201cAssessments require the passage of time to fairly evaluate the impact,\u201d he wrote. \u201cTen years is the standard used by our (seminary) accrediting agencies for evaluating initiatives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern Baptists are \u201cThe New Methodists,\u201d Kelley declared in a 2009 chapel message reflecting a longstanding interest in SBC data as an evangelism professor. He regularly repeated the lament in his speaking engagements, citing the downward spiral among United Methodists and other mainline denominations in recent decades as a likely reality for the SBC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince 1983 I have been saying 70 percent of SBC churches are plateaued or declining,\u201d he recounted to the seminary audience. Now, \u201cwe should be calling 70 percent plateaued or declining \u2018the good old days.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warning of a downward trend in discipleship training among Southern Baptist churches, he projected the results in a Powerpoint presentation: \u201cUniversalism Settling into our Pews, Tolerance Overtaking Conviction, Behavior Blending with Culture, Plateau Becoming Decline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Important insights\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new six-member GCR evaluation task force, named at last year\u2019s annual meeting in New Orleans, is being chaired by the convention\u2019s 2023-2024 first vice president, Jay Adkins, pastor of the New Orleans-area First Baptist Church in Westwego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The task force was created in response to a motion by an Ohio pastor, Randy Chestnut of Dayton, to study \u201cthe impact that the adopted recommendations from the (2010) Great Commission Resurgence Report \u2026 have had on (1) the effectiveness of our North American Gospel mission effort and (2) the impact on relationships between SBC ministry partners.\u201d The motion called for the new task force to represent \u201call SBC partners serving from all regions of North America\u201d and to include \u201cany recommendations to enhance and unify our cooperative mission effort to penetrate darkness in North America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barber, the SBC president, said in a Baptist Press report that he has asked the task force \u201cto conduct a dispassionate and fair review\u201d that will \u201cbring important insights to the messengers for consideration in Indianapolis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adkins told BP the evaluation task force will be as \u201cthorough\u201d as possible given the short time frame and the fact that the 2009-2010 Great Commission Task Force proceedings are sealed until 2025. The new task force will be \u201copen-minded,\u201d he said, and provide a \u201cfactual and helpful report which will be above reproach.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview on the \u201cSBC This Week\u201d podcast, Adkins voiced similar aims for the task force report to be \u201crobust,\u201d \u201cwell-articulated\u201d and \u201cfull of integrity\u201d \u2013 one that will \u201cglorify God in the end and bless our convention as we move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the podcast interview, Adkins noted that the task force members have research-oriented backgrounds from having engaged in doctoral work. Joining him in the GCR evaluation are Jeremy Westbrook, executive director\/treasurer of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio; Adam Groza, vice president for enrollment and student services and associate professor of philosophy at Gateway Seminary in California; Chris Shaffer, assistant professor of theology at New Orleans Seminary; Robin Foster, associational mission strategist for the Trinity Baptist Association in Arkansas; and Luke Holmes, pastor of First Baptist Church in Tishomingo, Okla.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also Update 1 below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barber, in 2009, had voiced opposition to a \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence\u201d declaration, precursor to the Great Commission Task Force\u2019s creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome of the ideas being bandied about under this heading have the very real potential to be one of the most disastrous mistakes that the Southern Baptist Convention has ever made to eviscerate our efforts to fulfill the Great Commission,\u201d the pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, told Baptist Press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a mistake, Barber said, \u201cto include matters of tactical and organizational bureaucracy in a document that should stick to the highest ideals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on those comments, Barber said in a Dec. 13 (2023) statement for this report, \u201cNot just occasionally, but regularly over the course of my life that has meant coming up on the losing side of votes. When you lose a vote, in the long-term aftermath you either see that you were wrong, see that you were right, or see that you were partially wrong and partially right. Unless you are caught up in your own ego, every one of those outcomes is a good outcome because through any of them you learn more about God\u2019s sovereign leadership over His churches, and with some of them you get to learn from your past mistakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe work of Jay Adkins and the rest of the researchers on this committee will help us to do just that,\u201d Barber continued. \u201cI suspect that the outcome for me will be that third option \u2013 that I was partially right and partially wrong back in 2009. Like everyone else, I anticipate their report and welcome the chance to learn from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barber added, \u201cI\u2019m a thoroughly convinced adherent of congregational church polity, not merely as a practical matter but as a theological conviction. I believe that the Holy Spirit guides believers as we make decisions together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Measurable outcomes\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley, in his book, fashioned a chart of declining church planting totals recorded in the SBC Annual, published after each year\u2019s annual meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Church plants initiated by NAMB under GCR and by state conventions totaled 1,003 in 2011, counted by congregations receiving an SBC ID number, then 929 in 2012; 936 in 2013; 985 in 2014; and 926 in 2015 \u2013 followed by a decline to 732 in 2016; 691 in 2017; 624 in 2018; 552 in 2019; 588 in 2020; and 600 in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Totals for \u201cNew Congregations\u201d in the SBC Annual, as differentiated from Kelley\u2019s focus on church planting, also include replants of dying churches, numbering 135 in 2021; new campuses of multi-site churches; and established churches that affiliated with the SBC.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With NAMB\u2019s church planting budget rising from $24 million in 2011 to $73 million in 2021, Kelley writes, \u201cNo other administration of HMB\/NAMB (HMB being NAMB\u2019s predecessor prior to 1997) has spent so much money and had such little positive effect on measurable outcomes in SBC churches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB, according to its Send Network website, has planted 10,000 churches since the 2010-2011 start of GCR, though falling 5,000 short of the 15,000 goal it placed before Southern Baptists in order to keep pace with population growth during the decade and the loss of 900 churches each year by closure or other reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnfortunately,\u201d NAMB President Kevin Ezell stated in the mission board\u2019s 2018 report in the SBC Annual, \u201cthere are currently not enough qualified church planters to meet the demand\u201d to reach a revised goal of 1,200 plants per year, lowered from the 1,500 yearly mark at the outset of GCR. Highlighting its \u201cMultiplication Pipeline,\u201d Ezell said NAMB is working with churches to \u201cdevelop the next generation of church planters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ezell repeated his concern in the 2020 SBC Annual that \u201cour need for new churches is outpacing the supply of qualified church planters\u201d and again in 2023, with NAMB now aiming for 600 church plants per year and 200 replants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB\u2019s church plants \u2013 many in its 25-plus metropolitan \u201cSend Cities\u201d \u2013 account for nearly 10 percent of all baptisms in the SBC \u2013 and 23 percent of all baptisms in non-South regions of the country, according to its website. And 67 percent of churches planted from 2017-2022 under GCR are still growing, according to a Lifeway Research analysis of the SBC\u2019s Annual Church Profile, the longstanding tally of data submitted by local churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB\u2019s Multiplication Pipeline, once called its \u201cFarm System,\u201d entails a two-part \u201cChurch Planter Pathway.\u201d In \u201cPlanter Discovery,\u201d an online application\/assessment process open to all churches helps to confirm potential planters\u2019 calling and abilities. NAMB\u2019s \u201cPlanter Development\u201d team then provides training, coaching and care for planters in deploying to the mission field. Twenty state conventions have entered into partnerships with NAMB for additional attention to their potential planters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In NAMB\u2019s yearly reports, a range of 970 to 1,350 churches were \u201cactively exploring or implementing\u201d the planter discovery process, with 1,400 to 5,100 individuals engaging in some measure of training. In 2023, 359 churches also were offering residency programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record-setting offerings<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB continues to draw support from Southern Baptists, setting new records six of the last seven years for its annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, reaching a 2022-2023 total of $70 million to support its 2,961 missionaries. NAMB\u2019s 2023-2024 budget exceeds $137 million, including the missions offering and its 22.79 percent share of Southern Baptists\u2019 Cooperative Program unified giving channel, along with direct\/undesignated contributions, fundraising and interest income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether church plants remain committed to the Cooperative Program following their four-year NAMB subsidy is \u201cworth tracking and reporting to the SBC,\u201d Kelley writes in his book. \u201cOne year does not indicate any type of trend,\u201d but only 25.4 percent of 2014\u2019s surviving church plants were supporting CP in 2019, he writes, citing information provided by NAMB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe drift of new churches away from the SBC,\u201d Kelley speculates, \u201ccould be a consequence of NAMB\u2019s strategy to connect many new churches to itself rather than seeking to root them in the SBC associations and state conventions in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A NAMB spokesperson relayed the following statement for this report:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen messengers at the 2010 SBC Annual Meeting overwhelmingly approved recommendations from the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) Task Force, Southern Baptists reaffirmed their commitment to dedicating resources and efforts at every level of Baptist life to fulfilling the Great Commission. We are grateful for that commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement continued, \u201cNAMB has worked diligently to carry out the goals articulated in those recommendations, consistent with our ministry assignments and ministry objectives. We will defer further comment to allow the GCR Evaluation Task Force to do its work and share its report at the 2024 Annual Meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Requests for comment were sent to two seminary presidents who played key roles in voicing vision for a Great Commission Resurgence and subsequently served on the task force: Danny Akin of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in North Carolina and R. Albert Mohler Jr. of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akin responded, \u201cI think changes were needed, the recommendations were sound, and there has not been enough time to accurately assess the impact. \u2026 I have been encouraged, in spite of economic challenges and Covid, by the work of the IMB (the SBC\u2019s International Mission Board) and NAMB. \u2026 Post-Covid skews everything and in a real sense we had to start all over again. The trajectory, though slow, is moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohler did not respond to two queries for comment emailed on Oct. 31 and Nov. 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing, plateaued & declining<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decline among Southern Baptist churches was noted by Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research, in comments for a Sept. 22, 2023, Baptist Press story. McConnell was not speaking of the Great Commission Resurgence but the analysis of the Annual Church Profile from 2017-2022 (2022 being the latest year for which complete ACP statistics have been finalized.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouthern Baptists have never had more declining churches and fewer growing churches than we see today,\u201d McConnell said. Since 2017, the story noted, \u201cOverall, 18.5 percent of Southern Baptist churches are growing, 42.5 percent are plateaued and 39 percent are declining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BP story reported that 42 percent of churches founded since 2000 were growing (the two decades split between GCR and the former Cooperative Agreements), and 67 percent of churches planted in 2017 under GCR were growing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Otherwise, among churches with a membership of 500 or more, 35 percent had declined since 2017 while 26 percent reflected a gain of 10 percent or more. In urban areas, 46 percent of churches had declined while 22 percent had grown. Among rural churches, 35 percent had declined and 16 percent had grown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Church membership in the Northeast had declined in 47 percent of the congregations since 2017, while 36 percent had grown, the highest level among all SBC regions. In the West, the decline was 47 percent and growth 29 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baptisms and worship attendance in 2022, meanwhile, climbed more than 16 percent and 5 percent, respectively, marking gains for a second straight year, according to the ACP report. (In 2021, coming out of Covid, baptisms increased by 26 percent). However, from 2010-2021 baptisms and worship attendance had fallen in every year but 2021, according to charts compiled by Kelley. Baptisms declined from 331,008 to 154,701, and there were 2.6 million fewer people in worship<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley notes in his book a net increase in Southern Baptist churches of 1,887 during the first decade of the GCR, 2011-2021 (churches added, minus those that closed or left the SBC) compared to 4,139 in the 10 years prior to the GCR. Spending on church planting totaled $667,391,815 during GCR\u2019s first decade versus $227,448,246 in the prior decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the history of the SBC,\u201d he asserts, \u201cthere has never been that kind of gap in the net total of SBC churches and budget funds for church planting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley, who retired from New Orleans Seminary in 2019, acknowledges a downward trend in baptisms and church plants by Southern Baptists prior to the year 2000. He uses a comparison between 1939 and 2019, however, to underscore a \u201cbreathtaking downward change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn spite of all the struggles associated with coming out of the Great Depression, SBC churches (numbering 25,018) baptized 269,155 people. In 2019, prior to the COVID epidemic, the SBC (with 47,530 churches) \u2026 only baptized 235,748 people,\u201d he writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Doing their best\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, those who envisioned and those who implemented GCR, Kelley acknowledges in his book, \u201cwere all people who love Jesus, who have effective ministries and who were doing their best to serve Him and the churches of the SBC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley wants Southern Baptists to \u201ctalk to each other. Let\u2019s not waste time looking for heroes or villains. Let\u2019s not vent anger or frustration with each other. \u2026 Let\u2019s accept what the data reveals. We are a convention clearly in decline. Now, where do we go from here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A \u201chealthy SBC,\u201d he acknowledges, \u201cshould never wonder whether NAMB or any SBC entity should try new ways to accomplish its mission.\u201d Nevertheless, \u201ca healthy SBC must always ask, after a reasonable time, if a new strategy or new approach worked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley is not without opinions, suggesting in a statement for this report that SBC leaders overcome their \u201cextreme reluctance\u201d to make an \u201cacknowledgement from the SBC platform that the convention is in the grip of unprecedented decline and is determined to do everything possible to break that grip\u201d through \u201cprayer, discussion and strategic thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A summit conference involving representatives from NAMB\u2019s staff and trustees and state convention executive directors and presidents, convened by the SBC Executive Committee, could be an important step forward, Kelley suggested, along with developing new strategic agreements between NAMB and each state convention to affirm \u201ca mutual commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission \u2026 more than NAMB priorities alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And, he writes in an earlier book, \u201cThe Dilemma of Decline: Southern Baptists Face a New Reality,\u201d published in 2020, that NAMB should \u201creturn to a passionate embrace of the historic SBC assignment\u201d of evangelism, which the convention added in 1906, joining church extension and compassion ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe SBC needs a strategic plan that identifies reasonable evangelistic goals and includes additional personnel, national infrastructure, and dedicated budget to help churches by providing plans, resources, and training to reach those goals,\u201d Kelley writes in the 66-page book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A positive turnaround\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ezell, while encouraged by 2022\u2019s baptism gains, told Baptist Press, \u201cWe must remain focused on starting new, evangelistic churches and on replanting dying churches, but to really see a positive turnaround, established churches must lead the way by reaching and baptizing the lost.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Facebook, Jim Elliff, who has spoken in churches across the SBC for nearly 40 years, maintained in a December (2023) post that \u201cthe biggest problem\u201d reflected in the SBC\u2019s long-term numbers is \u201cthe difference between membership and attendance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur largest churches often have thousands on their rolls who never show up. And our smaller churches often have a similar but slightly less disparity in percentages,\u201d Elliff, president of Christian Communicators Worldwide and founding pastor of Christ Fellowship of Kansas City, wrote in a text message for this report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am a bit amazed that pastors don\u2019t lose sleep over this,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a June 2022 blog about Baptists who rarely attend worship, Elliff asked, \u201cHow are they any different from the people who attend the liberal church down the street \u2013 the \u2018church\u2019 where the gospel is not even preached? What does failure to attend eagerly say about the heart of the member?\u201d Such individuals, he continued, \u201care more interested in themselves than God. \u2026 The atmosphere that most pleases them is that of the world and not God (since) their apathy towards regular and faithful church attendance betrays their true affections. The fact is, you do what you love to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elliff advocated the creation of a study group \u201cto explore our presently deplorable situation\u201d and \u201cre-examine the biblical mandate to have a regenerate church. Then this study group should report back with a strategy to help us out of the dilemma. They should be painfully honest.\u201d He voiced hope \u201cthat individual churches will act without this prompting, but this would be an added stimulus to getting us to our fighting weight as a denomination.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Bloated bureaucracies\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An April 2009 sermon by Akin, \u201cAxioms of a Great Commission Resurgence\u201d delivered at Southeastern Seminary, sparked widespread interest across the SBC, partly from his characterization of state conventions as \u201cbloated bureaucracies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe rally cry of the Conservative Resurgence was, \u2018We will not give our monies to liberal institutions,’\u201d Akin said. \u201cNow the cry of the Great Commission Resurgence is, \u2018We will not give our money to bloated bureaucracies.’\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akin\u2019s sermon revolved around 12 one-sentence statements of resolve to pursue the Great Commission with a heightened sense of gospel purpose. In its preparation, he received input from Mohler; then-SBC president and Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt; and then-Lifeway Christian Resources President Thom Rainer. Within two weeks, a Great Commission declaration \u2013 minus the \u201cbloated\u201d reference \u2013 was being circulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mohler made the motion at the 2009 annual meeting that Hunt appoint a \u201cGreat Commission Task Force\u201d to bring a report the next year \u201cconcerning how Southern Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lead-up to the convention, Mohler told Baptist Press, \u201cClearly, we have a generation that is wondering about who Southern Baptists are and what we intend to do as we look to the challenges of reaching the world in this new century.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rainer, in a chapter for a LifeWay book under its B&H Publishing Group, wrote, \u201cAn honest evaluation of the data leads us to but one conclusion: the Conservative Resurgence (the 1979-1992 battle over biblical authority and liberalism) has not resulted in a greater zeal for evangelism in our churches.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAccording to the research, the Southern Baptist Convention is less evangelistic today than it was in the years preceding the Conservative Resurgence. A Great Commission Resurgence is needed desperately, indeed,\u201d Rainer wrote in his chapter, \u201cA Resurgence Not Yet Fulfilled,\u201d in the multi-author 2010 book, \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time.\u201d It was a concern he first voiced in 2005 in the Southern Baptist Journal of Theology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akin, in an interview with the Florida Baptist Witness, said it would be \u201cirresponsible\u201d to \u201cpretend we\u2019re not in a crisis moment, that we\u2019re not facing some very difficult times, and it would be irresponsible for us not to take a good, hard look\u201d at the convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.D. Greear, lead pastor of The Summit Church in Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and another GCR task force member, wrote in a blog of the \u201cneed to adjust\u201d the Cooperative Program created by the SBC and state conventions in 1925 by which Southern Baptist churches support international, national and state missions and ministries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[T]here are a number of things CP dollars go to which are no longer the best and most efficient use of missions giving,\u201d said Greear, who was elected as SBC president in 2018, serving through the Covid 19 pandemic until 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greear cited, for example, church planting networks, worship resources, Bible study materials, help for starting new ministries and pastors\u2019 conferences that could be pursued online or beyond convention venues. He did acknowledge gratitude for CP funding in support of 65 missionaries with the International Mission Board sent out by The Summit Church; for CP support of the SBC\u2019s seminaries that enabled him and others to graduate at \u201cgreatly reduced rates\u201d; and support from the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina for The Summit Church\u2019s goal of planting 1,000 churches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe only really central, burning question to me is, \u2018What would Jesus want us to do with His money?\u2019\u201d Greear asked in the May 2010 blog at jdgreear.com. \u201cWe should remember we are going to have to answer to Him one day for what He gave us stewardship over. I think we should do whatever it takes to get the money to the Great Commission, and most specifically to the 6,500 Unreached People Groups in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GCR envisioned<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several visions of what a Great Commission Resurgence would look like were set forth in the 429-page book, \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d spanning chapters by 20-plus contributors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jerry Rankin, then-president of the International Mission Board, wrote, \u201cOnly as every church and every believer catch a vision for God\u2019s purpose and are mobilized to be on mission with God can a lost world be reached and the kingdom of God extended to the ends of the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat is what a Great Commission Resurgence must be,\u201d Rankin stated in his chapter, \u201cTo All Peoples: The Great Commission and the Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary in California (formerly Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary) in his chapter \u201cNorth America as a Mission Field: The Great Commission on Our Continent,\u201d wrote, \u201cA Great Commission Resurgence will coincide with intensification of two specific spiritual realities: increased intercession for people to be saved and fresh dependence on the power of the Holy Spirit for witnessing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern Baptists\u2019 \u201cfuture effectiveness,\u201d Iorg stated, \u201cdepends on a fresh approach, initiated by NAMB but embraced by denominational partners, to a coordinated strategy for national evangelism, church planting, and mission ministries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A focus on major cities will be needed, Iorg wrote, explaining that first-century missionaries \u201cknew that if they successfully planted in cities, within a relatively short period of time the city\u2019s influence would spread the gospel to the surrounding areas\u201d via commerce and governmental influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Akin, \u201cOur mission will require aggressive and intentional cooperation in church planting,\u201d he wrote in his \u201cAxioms for a Great Commission Resurgence\u201d chapter. \u201cThe churches we plant must be sound in their doctrine, contextual in their forms, and aggressive in their evangelistic and mission orientation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn order to make this work,\u201d he continued, \u201cwe need renewed commitment from our churches, local associations, and state conventions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greear, meanwhile, stated, \u201cA Great Commission Resurgence will happen only when we return to the strategy God has established for the propagation of His gospel \u2026 the planting of healthy, local churches in strategic cities in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the New Testament, the first work of the Holy Spirit after Jesus underscored the Great Commission in Acts 1:8 was to plant the congregation recorded in Act 2:42-47, Greear recounted in his chapter, \u201cGreat Commission Multiplication: Church Planting and Community Ministry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions arise<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concern developed, however, as news of the task force\u2019s deliberations became known \u2013 particularly its potential impact on state conventions along with another of its seven components: the idea of \u201cGreat Commission Giving\u201d to \u201ccelebrate\u201d all designated giving to Southern Baptist causes, not just the established Cooperative Program. CP, in funding the SBC\u2019s mission boards, seminaries and religious liberty advocacy, was created nearly 100 years ago to alleviate the numerous direct appeals churches were receiving from an array of Baptist organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morris Chapman, then-president of the Executive Committee, became the most outspoken GCR critic, warning in analyses posted on Baptist Press that the task force proposals will begin \u201ca process of erosion of all things \u2018cooperative\u2019 in the Southern Baptist Convention.\u201d The measures will \u201cdemote, devalue, and potentially destroy the cooperative spirit\u201d between NAMB and the state conventions, he contended, predicting \u201cit will not be a journey of cooperation and collaboration\u201d but of \u201ccontrol and competition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a Baptist Press interview, David Hankins, then-executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, noted that \u201cthere\u2019s a lot more important issues to the Great Commission that need to be addressed, such as holiness, prayer, sacrifice, generosity, personal growth \u2013 those kind of things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStructure is not a bright pathway to a Great Commission resurgence,\u201d Hankins said in an October 2009 meeting between 22 state executive directors and a dozen task force representatives. \u201cThe Covenant for a New Century taught us that,\u201d he said of the mid-1990s restructuring that had not sparked renewal in creating NAMB from three former SBC entities and closing the former Stewardship Commission, Historical Commission and Education Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State conventions have \u201ca coordinated presence in every region. We are in the churches. We know the pastors. We promote the denomination and raise the money,\u201d Hankins said, reminding that they receive Cooperative Program funds from the churches and then share a portion with the SBC, ranging from about 25 percent to 50 percent depending on the convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cboots on the ground-motivating-mobilizing function (of state conventions) makes us indispensable partners for a \u2018Great Commission resurgence,\u2019\u201d said Hankins, a former Executive Committee executive vice president and, earlier, vice president for policy and the Cooperative Program over the course of eight years. As a Louisiana pastor, he served as an Executive Committee trustee from 1986-1994, including two years as chairman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield, describing the Cooperative Program process in their book \u201cSBC FAQs: A Ready Reference,\u201d write, \u201cThe Cooperative Program begins with individuals and ends with ministries. Church members give financial resources to their local congregations. Churches then forward a portion of their budget to the state convention. State conventions designate a percentage of total monies received to pass on to the Southern Baptist Convention. The messengers of each state convention decide what their respective percentages will be. Money that stays within the state is disbursed among state and local ministries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Commission Giving<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the task force\u2019s final report called Southern Baptists to \u201chonor and affirm the Cooperative Program as the most effective means of mobilizing our churches and extending our reach,\u201d controversy arose over its recommendation to add \u201cGreat Commission Giving\u201d to the Annual Church Profile\u2019s categories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Chapman, the task force was \u201csubordinating CP as a mere component of \u2018Great Commission Giving.\u2019\u201d The executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland\/Delaware at the time, David Lee, described Great Commission Giving as \u201ctantamount to the local church saying to members, \u2018We would like for you to give to the general fund, but if you had rather designate your tithe for the pastor\u2019s salary or the student ministry or to buy a new bus, that will be OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four years before the GCR task force report, Hankins observed that some churches had begun to view the SBC\u2019s mission opportunities as just \u201canother option\u201d for their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their relationship to the convention and parachurch groups is \u201cas a donor,\u201d he wrote in the 2006 book \u201cOne Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists,\u201d published by B&H Academic. \u201cNo longer do they sense an obligation as the \u2018owner\u2019 of the Convention and thus responsible for its health and success. The relationship is more akin to that of a vendor whose services they contract rather than that of a company of which they are stockholders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the task force\u2019s call for state conventions to increase the percentage of Cooperative Program funds they send to the SBC, pressure was being exerted on their budgets in light of a years-long drop in CP giving by local churches along with a looming decrease in NAMB\u2019s financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Southern Baptist churches gave 10.5 percent of their undesignated receipts through the Cooperative Program in the 1980s to support state and SBC missions and ministry, according to a chart Kelley compiled from SBC data. The average fell to 8.73 percent in the 1990s; 6.8 percent in the 2000s; and 5.22 percent in the 2010s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet \u201cthe most shocking statistic,\u201d Kelley points out in his book, is that \u201capproximately 40% of SBC churches did not give a dime\u201d through the Cooperative Program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state conventions, in essence, would be providing \u201ca larger piece of a shrinking pie\u201d to the SBC under GCR, forcing cutbacks in their ministries as a result, Kelley writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In NAMB funding, meanwhile, the Baptist Convention of Maryland\/Delaware, for example, faced a $1 million loss from its $6 million 2011 budget if NAMB\u2019s Cooperative Agreements were to end. The Alabama Baptist State Convention, meanwhile, would lose nearly $650,000 from its $43 million budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the 2010 convention when it came time for the GCR task force report, debate over Great Commission Giving filled most of the allotted time before messengers voted, taking \u201call the oxygen out of the room for conversations about actual Great Commission challenges and activities in Southern Baptist life,\u201d Kelley writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 10-year initiative<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Missing from the 23-page GCR task force report was any reference to a broad Southern Baptist evangelistic initiative by NAMB, \u201cGod\u2019s Plan for Sharing\u201d (GPS) to get the gospel to every person in North America by the year 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB reported in the 2008 SBC Annual that the campaign would have \u201ca flexible, multifaceted, contextualized focus on evangelism over the next decade.\u201d The \u201cNational Evangelism Initiative,\u201d as it was first called, will be \u201ca huge task, and we are praying that this will be part of a Great Commission resurgence,\u201d NAMB stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnlike previous national campaigns,\u201d then-NAMB President Geoff Hammond wrote in a Baptist Press column that year, GPS is \u201cnot a one-year or five-year emphasis\u201d and its development \u201chas not been a top-down approach, but rather a grassroots effort.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GPS reflected \u201cinput and direction from directors of evangelism, ministry evangelism leaders, prayer evangelism leaders and state directors of mission\u201d as well as individual Christians, Hammond wrote. Each pastor in the SBC would be receiving an informational mailing about GPS, with the campaign to be promoted at various times by TV and radio ads, social media such as Facebook, print materials, door hangers and billboards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere is more synergy,\u201d Hammond stated, \u201cwhen Christians work together\u201d leading to \u201ca stronger destination when we partner together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He acknowledged that \u201cpartnership sometimes brings challenges. For starters, things don\u2019t move as quickly. Sometimes there are disagreements. Effective communication can be a challenge. God has gifted all of us with different skills and perspectives and sometimes it takes a while to arrive at a place we all believe is best. But if we work through these challenges together, we will reap the great benefits from our toil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the 2009 SBC Annual, NAMB reported that six GPS workgroups involving 97 individuals had set forth an initiative that every two years would entail \u201ca coordinated activity drawing Southern Baptists together in evangelism.\u201d Two hundred leaders had participated in training to implement the campaign in their geographical regions, and GPS brochures had been prepared in Spanish, Korean and Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Planning for GPS continued despite Hammond resigning under pressure in August 2009 after a seven-hour trustee meeting over questions related to \u201cstaffing decisions, his relationship with the board of trustees and the morale of NAMB employees,\u201d according to an on-site report by The Alabama Baptist newsjournal. Richard Harris was named interim president, having served at the mission board 28 years, most recently as senior strategist for missions advancement,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2010, NAMB reported in the SBC Annual that 41 state conventions had signed on to participate in the first GPS effort in the Easter season, titled \u201cAcross North America,\u201d which had been piloted in four parts of the country, with 300,000 homes receiving a printed gospel piece. More than 17 million copies had been ordered by state conventions by the end of 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retirements, severance packages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Kevin Ezell, a Kentucky pastor, was elected as NAMB\u2019s new president in September 2010, the mission board was soon being reshaped to implement the convention-adopted move to church planting. A retirement incentive package was accepted by 81 staff members, NAMB reported in the 2011 SBC Annual, and 28 others accepted severance packages \u2013 totaling more than one-third of its staff. \u201cWe are committed to moving the savings from this downsizing to place more missionaries and more resources into the North American mission field,\u201d NAMB stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 2015, GPS no longer appeared in NAMB\u2019s reports in the SBC Annual. The 2011 report mentioned training sessions related to GPS and other NAMB programs followed by mentions in 2013 of GPS-themed promotional materials for area crusades, block parties and other evangelistic events; 2014, the distribution of 2.4 million New Testaments; and 2015, a scaled-back campaign the previous year, \u201cServing Across North America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid the attention NAMB was receiving in prioritizing church planting and phasing out Cooperative Agreements with the states, an elephant-in-the-room question was festering, as reflected in the headline of a February 2013 column in Baptist Press:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDoes NAMB still do evangelism?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Gilbert, the mission board\u2019s then-vice president for evangelism, wrote, \u201cThat\u2019s a question I get from time to time, and the answer is, absolutely, \u2018yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB was utilizing about 13 percent of its budget for specific state evangelism efforts, including those by conventions outside the South, Gilbert wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those state conventions were receiving assistance to help pay for an evangelism staff member along with a measure of funding for outreach, he wrote. Currently, NAMB provides project-by-project block grants of about $100,000-$300,000 for evangelism efforts by non-South conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert cited the convention-wide \u201cLoveLoud\u201d media campaign in which NAMB was calling Southern Baptists to elevate their gospel witness as they help meet the needs of people facing medical issues, crisis pregnancies, involvement in foster care and adoption and the challenges of inner-city schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gilbert also pointed to the witness of disaster relief volunteers; chaplains serving in the armed forces and law enforcement; and collegiate ministries. And New Testaments with Scripture\u2019s \u201cRomans Road\u201d plan of salvation were being distributed to churches throughout North America, he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several years, beginning in 2014, NAMB\u2019s primary evangelism resource was a booklet, \u201c3 Circles: Life Conversation Guide\u201d by Florida pastor Jimmy Scroggins to help believers share their faith one-on-one. More than 1 million copies of the booklet were ordered in the months following its debut at the 2015 annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny Hunt arrives, departs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In June 2017, an Evangelism Task Force was created at the request of then-SBC President Steve Gaines, pastor of the Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church, at the annual meeting in Phoenix. Kevin Ezell made a motion for a task force to study \u201chow Southern Baptists could be more effective in personal soul winning and evangelistic preaching\u201d; messengers gave approval; and Gaines named Paige Patterson, then-president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas, to chair the 19-member group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-May 2018, the task force finalized its report. Two weeks later, SWBTS trustees terminated Patterson from his status as president emeritus and theologian-in-residence over \u201cnew information\u201d regarding his administrative handling of a sexual abuse allegation at Southeastern Seminary, where he previously served as president. Trustees did not specify the new information nor subsequent statements Patterson made that were deemed \u201cinconsistent with SWBTS\u2019s biblically informed core values.\u201d The evangelism report nevertheless moved forward without Patterson and was adopted at the SBC annual meeting in Dallas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the recommendations: that NAMB \u201chelp re-establish evangelism as a denominational priority\u201d by employing \u201csenior level leadership \u2026 tasked with involving churches, associations, and state conventions in outreach to the lost, as well as providing evangelism resources and training events on a consistent basis.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny Hunt was named as NAMB\u2019s senior vice president of evangelism and leadership just over two months later. \u201cI want to lead Southern Baptist churches to put evangelism back on the front burner again,\u201d said Hunt, the SBC\u2019s 2008-2010 president and longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy priority will be to help facilitate the present and next generation of pastors to embrace gospel conversations, soul winning if you will, witnessing as a lifestyle,\u201d Hunt told Baptist Press. \u201cAfter being a pastor the last 42 years \u2026 I have come to believe deeply that whatever is important to the pastor is what is important to the people. Evangelism must be the heartthrob of our pastors.\u201d A podcast, \u201cEvangelism with Johnny Hunt,\u201d was launched alongside his numerous speaking engagements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB partnered with a \u201cWho\u2019s Your One?\u201d initiative by J.D. Greear following his election as SBC president, with a resource kit for churches to encourage believers to build a relationship with an individual and pray that he\/she would turn to Christ as Lord and Savior during the coming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hunt added his voice to the effort, saying, \u201cI pray that the Who\u2019s Your One? movement encourages Southern Baptists to get back to our roots as a Gospel-focused people.\u201d Various promotional items included T-shirts and a \u201cWho\u2019s Your One?\u201d frisbee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also part of the campaign was a one-day simulcast for Baptist associations across the country, numbering more than 1,000, with Greear telling Baptist Press, \u201cAssociations have always served as a valuable partner in cooperation, mobilizing churches together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May 2022, however, Hunt resigned when an independent Guidepost Solutions investigation into sexual abuse within the SBC, commissioned by the Executive Committee, listed an allegation that Hunt had abused a pastor\u2019s wife in 2010 in a beachside condo. Hunt initially denied the allegation but in an open letter to his former church five days later he acknowledged, \u201cI allowed myself to get too close to a compromising situation with a woman who was not my wife.\u201d On March 19, 2023, Hunt filed suit against the SBC, the Executive Committee and Guidepost Solutions seeking unspecified damages for defamation and invasion of privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB\u2019s 11-member evangelism team is now led by Tim Dowdy, a former trustee chairman and 30-year pastor of the Atlanta-area Eagles Landing First Baptist Church in McDonough. The staff includes directors for outreach to the next generation, collegians, women and ethnic populations; directors for personal evangelism and renewal retreats for pastors and wives; and four administrative personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GCR in the courts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In NAMB\u2019s relationships with smaller state conventions, however, several disputes made headlines \u2013 and one reached the U.S. Supreme Court and could return there again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB went to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals court reversed a district court\u2019s dismissal of a 2017 lawsuit by Will McRaney, former executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland\/Delaware (BCMD), which terminated him in 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB has denied McRaney\u2019s allegations of improperly influencing his dismissal and engaging in \u201clibel and\/or slander\u201d to impede his subsequent speaking opportunities. The suit seeks unspecified punitive damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McRaney, a former evangelism professor at New Orleans Seminary, and NAMB were at odds over the mission board\u2019s GCR-assigned prerogative to conduct SBC-funded church planting in the two-state convention. In December 2014, NAMB sent the convention a \u201cone year notice for termination\u201d of cooperation and funding. McRaney was dismissed six months later and the Maryland-Delaware relationship with NAMB was maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A First Amendment issue came to the fore when a federal district court in Mississippi initially cited legal precedent in April 2019 barring the government from interfering in church or religious matters, dismissing McRaney\u2019s suit, derailing it as a civil suit. Also in question is whether the ruling improperly views the SBC as a hierarchical denomination exercising authority over churches and state conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McRaney took the ruling to the 5th<\/sup> U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which in July 2020 overturned the lower court\u2019s stance on the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine. NAMB appealed to the Supreme Court, which sent the case back to the lower court in February 2021. When his suit was again dismissed in August 2023, he filed another appeal the following month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also Update 2 below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McRaney taught at NOBTS from 1996-2007 and was the Florida Baptist Convention\u2019s evangelism and church planting strategist from 2007-2013. He currently is lead pastor of Island Church in Tierra Verde, Fla., and president of the leadership training Bullock Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Unilaterally directive\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2020, frustration with NAMB was voiced by six state convention executive directors from outside the South in a letter to Ezell and Ronnie Floyd, then-president of the Executive Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver the past ten years, NAMB has grown increasingly centralized and unilaterally directive in its strategies, its personnel and funding processes, and its relationships with state conventions,\u201d the leaders from California, New Mexico, Ohio, the Northwest, Alaska and Hawaii wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State conventions are left with \u201clittle or no role in the assessment, supervision, or evaluation of church planters or statewide personnel,\u201d they wrote concerning the latest \u201cStrategic Cooperative Agreements\u201d set forth by NAMB to qualify for the greatly reduced block grant funding under GCR compared to the sustaining support they had received through the former Cooperative Agreements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state leaders wrote that their conventions may find it necessary, among other things, to retain a larger portion of Cooperative Program gifts to support work in their states or reduce the funds they send to NAMB through the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering to create \u201ca more robust state missions offering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An unflinching reply by NAMB\u2019s trustee chairman and two vice chairmen caused the state leaders to react that the tone of the three men \u201cillustrates the breakdown of the relationship and partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mediation was requested by the six leaders in accord with Executive Committee bylaws. EC trustee officers and executive staff held separate meetings with both sides in the fall of 2020. They also interacted with leaders of other state conventions, resulting in an Executive Committee white paper, \u201cCooperation Is the Way Forward,\u201d the following January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is very important that each of us remember Jesus desires for us to walk in unity together,\u201d the white paper stated in the first of several \u201cadvisements,\u201d citing Jesus\u2019 prayer for unity in John 17. \u201cWe appeal to all parties to walk in unity together as a testimony to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooperation \u201cwill never be any greater than our relationships,\u201d the white paper continued. \u201cCooperative relationships demand a commitment to communicating honestly, clearly, and consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouthern Baptists are deeply concerned for the overwhelming lostness that clearly exists across the non-south regions of North America,\u201d the white paper noted. \u201cWe encourage NAMB to find every way possible to push more resources into these areas through increases in financial resources, missionaries, evangelism strategies, and more strategic partnerships and platforms with every Southern Baptist body and with Southern Baptist churches in these areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe SBC also strongly desires for associations and state conventions to cooperate with NAMB in these efforts,\u201d the white paper stated. \u201cEach state convention has value; therefore, please do all you can to allocate resources through the Cooperative Program as we work together to advance the gospel across the entire globe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB trustees adopted a resolution in February 2021 stating that the mission board remained committed to \u201cthe missional mandate provided to NAMB by an overwhelming majority of SBC messengers at the 2010 SBC annual meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trustees stated that NAMB intends to cooperate with churches, Baptist associations and state conventions but noted that \u201cdisagreements over missional strategy and structure can and will sometimes occur in a large faith family like the SBC.\u201d The resolution encouraged \u201cour ministry partners and all Southern Baptists to communicate any strategic concerns to NAMB directly, with grace and love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added dissent<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2020, messengers at the Alaska Baptist Resource Network\u2019s annual meeting voted to retain the percentage of Cooperative Program funds (22.79 percent) that otherwise would go to NAMB beginning in 2022 \u201cuntil such time as there is a collaborative, cooperative and mutually agreed upon strategy with the North American Mission Board.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lack of input into NAMB\u2019s church planting efforts in the state prompted the action, Alaska Baptist leaders stated, even as the mission board reported spending $8.3 million in GCR funding to plant churches there since 2010.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2022, the Alaska Baptist Resource Network reached an agreement with NAMB to cooperate on several church revitalization and student outreach projects. \u201cThere have been positive steps toward rebuilding the relationship, but there is still much more to do,\u201d said Randy Covington, the network\u2019s executive director and a former International Mission Board missionary in eastern Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the Northwest Baptist Convention encompassing Oregon and Washington, the executive director, Randy Adams, entered the race for SBC president in 2021, contending that \u201cfailures in accountability, self-dealing, top-down centralized strategies and broken partnerships\u201d were \u201cdestroying much of our mission capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a February 2020 interview, Adams cited GCR as a key factor why \u201cevery metric that (Southern Baptists) use to measure our effectiveness is moving in the wrong direction. \u2026 Baptisms are down about 30 percent over the past decade. Our four lowest years since 1947 are 2015, \u201916, \u201917 and \u201918,\u201d each lower than the year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe need to listen to the people on the local field,\u201d Adams told the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention\u2019s texanonline.net news outlet. \u201cThey live with their choices more so than people more remote from the situation. \u2026 We know the people. We know the issues.\u201d Without mentioning NAMB by name, he advocated \u201cgoing from a top-down approach to more of a bottom-up approach in terms of strategy development and implementation. Which is what we used to do, by the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue with NAMB, as Adams put it in a March 2021 Baptist Press interview, is \u201cthem telling us what they\u2019re going to do, not asking us what we need. And not necessarily working with us (but) setting up their own system in our conventions, autonomous and separate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams pressed his case in an eight-page \u201cSBC News\u201d tabloid distributed at the 2021 annual meeting in Nashville. He received 673 votes from the 14,283 cast by messengers, or 4.6 percent, in a four-nominee field that included Al Mohler. In a runoff, Alabama pastor Ed Litton topped Georgia pastor Mike Stone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018What are we waiting for?\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether the Great Commission Task Force\u2019s church-planting vision and NAMB\u2019s implementation are \u201ctearing away at the fabric of cooperation\u201d that has marked the SBC, as Chuck Kelley asserts in \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d the next juncture for debate will be June\u2019s annual meeting in Indianapolis when messengers will hear from the Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force appointed by SBC President Bart Barber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The abandoned Cooperative Agreements that had linked the North American Mission Board with state conventions in evangelism and church planting served as \u201cthe engine that drove the growth and expansion of Southern Baptists across the nation for decades,\u201d according to Kelley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(W)ith state by state strategic plans,\u201d Kelley writes, \u201cSouthern Baptists created a regionally-based national strategy for reaching North America with clearly defined roles for the state conventions, including their local churches and associations, and the Home Mission Board\u201d (replaced by NAMB in 1997).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGreat Commission strategies in every state convention were funded by both the giving of churches in the state convention and the giving of all churches in the Southern Baptist Convention through CP (the Cooperative Program) and the Annie Armstrong Offering,\u201d Kelley recounts. \u201cStronger conventions received a smaller percentage of budget support from CP. Newer conventions received a higher percentage of support for their budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All churches had \u201cskin in the game\u201d for supporting, strengthening and promoting the Cooperative Program, Kelley notes. \u201cMost importantly, as Baptists began expanding outside the South, it provided early logistical support for new churches and emerging state conventions at their most vulnerable phase of development.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Dockery, then-president of Union University in Tennessee, writing in 2010 of \u201cthe changing global context around us,\u201d noted, \u201cLearning to work afresh in cooperative ways will be essential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must see other Christ-followers, in various Southern Baptist contexts, as co-laborers together in the gospel. We must look for commonalities rather than rivalries,\u201d Dockery, now president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas, wrote in his chapter, \u201cConvictional Yet Cooperative,\u201d in the B&H book, \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith fresh eyes, a cooperative spirit, and genuine convictional grounding regarding doctrinal matters, the future of the SBC can be very bright. We will need conviction and cooperation, boundaries and bridges, and denominational structures that will be open to the fresh winds of God\u2019s Spirit,\u201d Dockery wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hankins, the former Louisiana Baptist Convention executive director and Executive Committee vice president, reminded that Baptist leaders \u201chave a heavy responsibility\u201d to carry on Southern Baptists\u2019 hallmark of cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When those who \u201creceive and employ the resources provided by the churches\u201d \u2013SBC and state convention officers and trustees and denominational employees \u2013 \u201care known for their spirit of working together across all levels of Baptist enterprise, it builds confidence among the churches,\u201d he wrote in the 2006 book, \u201cOne Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn the other hand, if the churches observe a spirit of competition or criticism between or within the state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention, it lowers their enthusiasm for the Cooperative Program process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis does not mean there can be no disagreements or that constructive criticism cannot be offered or that one convention has to please the other in every decision that is made,\u201d Hankins wrote. \u201cIt does mean that adversarial, competitive, \u2018us versus them\u2019 attitudes and actions ought to be avoided. \u2026 To act as if there is no obligation to talk about matters of concern could be prima facie evidence that the partnership really doesn\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronnie Floyd, who chaired the Great Commission Task Force, voiced a reminder about the centrality of the local church in Baptist life in comments emailed for this report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe work of the SBC does not determine the growth of our churches,\u201d said Floyd, the convention\u2019s 2014-2016 president and 2019-2021 president\/CEO of the Executive Committee. \u201cEach Southern Baptist church is responsible and accountable to God for penetrating the lostness in their region and making disciples of all the nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA large entity like the North American Mission Board or a state convention can serve and assist our churches in their Great Commission work and always keep the need before the churches,\u201d Floyd said. \u201cHowever, the North American Mission Board or a state convention cannot and does not determine if a church grows or does not grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe pastor and people in each church determine their commitment to reaching their town or city, their state, and our nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though written in 2010, the introductory words of the GCR task force report remain applicable in 2024:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn every generation, Southern Baptists have been called to reclaim our identity as a Great Commission movement of churches. Now is the time for this generation to answer the same call \u2013 to make an unconditional commitment to reach the nations for Christ, to plant and serve Gospel churches in North America and around the world, and to mobilize Southern Baptists. A world of lostness is waiting \u2013 what are we waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

–end–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE 1 \u2013 2\/9\/24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force members \u201chave read an enormous amount of material and are knee-deep in interviewing individuals who were involved with the formation and implementation of the GCR report,\u201d chairman Jay Adkins said in a Feb. 2 Baptist Press news story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Great Commission Resurgence Special Report (above), go to the subhead \u201cImportant Insights\u201d for the section on the six-member task force appointed by SBC President Bart Barber in response to a motion at last June\u2019s annual meeting in New Orleans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley had a Zoom meeting with the task force on Jan. 4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have no idea where they will end up, but we had an excellent conversation,\u201d said Kelley, author of the 2023 book \u201cThe Best Intentions: How a Plan to Revitalize the SBC Accelerated Its Decline.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey asked good questions and made thoughtful comments,\u201d Kelley said in a Feb. 7 email exchange for this update.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UPDATE 2 \u2013 2\/9\/24<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amid media attention occasioned by the Great Commission Resurgence Special Report released on Jan. 30, former state executive director Will McRaney circulated a seven-part series, \u201cIs the New NAMB Really Working?\u201d written in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McRaney\u2019s Feb. 7 email distribution linked to the series he drafted a year after his termination as executive director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland\/Delaware (2015) and a year before he filed suit against the North American Mission Board (2017). Details of various junctures in the court case are in the \u201cGCR in the courts\u201d section of the Great Commission Resurgence Special Report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Numerous parts of the McRaney\u2019s series reflect the rancor\/antagonism between him and NAMB, with the mission board responding to McRaney in a Baptist Press story at https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/namb-responds-to-mcraney-lawsuit\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sections of McRaney\u2019s series were titled: Part 1: Introduction; Part 2: Baptisms; Part 3: Church Planting; Part 4: Partnership; Part 5: Financial Stewardship; Part 6: Character; and Part 7: Oversight & Accountability. It can be accessed as Is the NEW NAMB Really Working? Introduction | Will McRaney<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

McRaney, in an email exchange for this update, stated that he \u201cdid not want my state convention to neglect its mission field by removing themselves from church planting to allow NAMB to have 100% control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod called us. The SBC and (the Maryland\/Delaware convention) had a partnership in the work, not a \u2018we send you our money and you do the work in our mission field,\u2019\u201d McRaney said. \u201cI wanted a good partnership but I was not going to not do my job or stick my head in the sand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McRaney led the BCMD from 2013-2015 after seven years as the Florida Baptist Convention\u2019s evangelism and church planting strategist and 11 years as professor of evangelism at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOURCE NOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnleashed\u201d NAMB \u2013 \u201cPenetrating The Lostness: Final Report of the Great Commission Task Force of the Southern Baptist Convention,\u201d Component Four: Reaching North America,\u201d June 15, 2010, http:\/\/www.baptist2baptist.net\/PDF\/PenetratingTheLostness.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 historic juncture \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions: How a Plan to Revitalize the SBC Accelerated Its Decline,\u201d 2023, p. 83.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trevin Wax \u2013 \u201cThe Great Commission Resurgence Debate: A guide to what the Southern Baptist Convention is arguing over today,\u201d June 15, 2010, https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/ct\/2010\/juneweb-only\/34-21.0.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 \u201cNo other decade in SBC history\u2026.\u201d \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 corporate approach, \u201cepic evangelism crisis\u201d \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 190.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 \u201cGreat Commission Regression,\u201d \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. vii.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley not opposing GCR in 2010 \u2013 Email answer to Art Toalston query, Jan. 8, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley 10-year time frame for evaluation \u2013 Email answer to Art Toalston query, Jan. 8, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley, \u201cThe New Methodists: Reflections on the SBC Today,\u201d Powerpoint, 2009, https:\/\/www.icloud.com\/attachment\/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FASmgoLoV7LSa9fg3vR6JNEeg8c4aAcjCAMgtJepU4AvcpYnqiWpoNk9w%2F%24%7Bf%7D%3Fo%3DAso6egCd3z_TCYz3B-3KbMhdcG1y3XUtlG6012T4XP5V%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogrgX0yCdrsjz13nOTVI7nEQrDmI5utKqF-rpx3k-MbeISdBC55r-VzDEYufa66dUxIgEAKgkC6AMA_26NKgpSBKDxzhpaBGg2T3BqJHwAJl9dOHYY_582n6P8aYZnCERWQOYDkyO8xt2Xu0TylE68TnIkG-O8cuo_tEWX7DgKU7wDM8oJ1DZWMpGccS4hLUrT-9YvSo8G%26e%3D1706665360%26fl%3D%26r%3D57A2B361-1E72-4AE2-840E-BA53171905B8-1%26k%3D%24%7Buk%7D%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3DC7604245-1677-43C5-9DB9-2838258744EE%26p%3D152%26s%3DqTrLIV-D4ylCCUJphouuwBxIsTs&uk=rYU6HQIOAC3YVSny30h3HQ&f=The%20New%20Methodists%20%28Athens-2%29.pptx&sz=32956822<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text of GCR evaluation motion provided by Jon Wilke, EC media relations director, Nov. 8, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jay Adkins and Bart Barber – \u201cAdkins to lead GCR Evaluation task force study,\u201d Baptist Press, Sept. 13, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/adkins-to-lead-gcr-evaluation-task-force-study\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jay Adkins \u2013  \u201cIMB trustees meet, SBC24 theme announced, and an interview with Jay Adkins,\u201d \u201cSBC This Week,\u201d Sept. 28, 2023, https:\/\/sbcthisweek.com\/imb-trustees-meet-sbc24-theme-announced-and-an-interview-with-jay-adkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bart Barber on GCR declaration \u2013 \u201cGCR: Tone, focus, clarity of declaration questioned by non-signers,\u201d Baptist Press, May 5, 2009, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcr-tone-focus-clarity-of-declaration-questioned-by-non-signers\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bart Barber then-and-now statement \u2013 email received Dec. 13, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Church planting chart in \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 120-121. Art Toalston confirmed the church planting totals from SBC Annuals for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Information for 2010 was in the 2014 Annual. Chuck Kelley provided information for 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB chart with replanting totals \u2013 2023 SBC Book of Reports, p. 213.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB church planting budget \u2013 Chuck Kelley, \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 131-132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10,000 church plants, 10 percent of SBC baptisms \u2013 Kevin Ezell bio, https:\/\/www.namb.net\/about\/kevin-ezell\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

15,000 goal \u2013 2013 SBC Annual, North American Mission Board report, p. 177.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin Ezell: More church planters needed \u2013 2018 SBC Annual, p 189; 2020 SBC Annual, p.151; 2023 SBC Annual, p. 207.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

23 percent of non-South baptisms \u2013 \u201cChurch planting \u2018Class of 2022\u2019 pushes Southern Baptists past 10,000 churches planted since 2010,\u201d May 23, 2023, https:\/\/www.namb.net\/send-network\/resource\/church-planting-class-of-2022-pushes-southern-baptists-past-10000-churches-planted-since-2010\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

67 percent still growing — \u201cGrowing Southern Baptist churches more likely in Northeast, among newer churches,\u201d Baptist Press, Sept. 22, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/growing-southern-baptist-churches-more-likely-in-northeast-among-newer-churches\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB Multiplication Pipeline \u2013 2018 SBC Annual, p. 191.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Record Annie Armstrong offerings \u2013 \u201cNAMB\u2019s Annie Offering Exceeds $70 million, new all-time high giving milestone,\u201d Baptist Press, Oct. 2, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/nambs-annie-offering-exceeds-70-million-new-all-time-high-giving-milestone\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB budget \u2013 received from NAMB representative Jan. 12, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 new church plants drifting from SBC, \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 122.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB statement received from NAMB spokesperson, Dec. 8, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Statements from Danny Akin received by email to Art Toalston, Nov. 27, Dec. 12 and 26, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ACP data re. church plants since 2017 \u2013 \u201cGrowing Southern Baptist churches more likely in Northeast, among newer churches,\u201d Baptist Press, Sept. 22, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/growing-southern-baptist-churches-more-likely-in-northeast-among-newer-churches\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baptisms and worship attendance up in 2022 \u2013 \u201cSouthern Baptists grow in attendance, and baptisms, decline in membership,\u201d Baptist Press, May 9, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/southern-baptists-grow-in-attendance-and-baptisms-decline-in-membership\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 baptism increase in parenthesis \u2013 \u201cBaptisms rebound, but negative trend continues in Southern Baptist churches,\u201d Baptist Press, Jan. 23, 2024, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/baptisms-rebound-but-negative-trend-continues-in-southern-baptist-churches\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 long-term baptisms and attendance decline \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 117-118.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelly \u2013 gap between church planting funds and results \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 190-191.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelly\u2019s 1939 comparison \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d also pp. 190-191.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 GCR proponents love Jesus, \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 192.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 don\u2019t look for heroes or villains, \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 197.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 NAMB can try new ways, but also evaluate, \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 132.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 acknowledge decline, summit conference, new cooperative agreements \u2013 email exchanges with Kelley, Sept. 27, Nov. 21 and Dec. 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 return NAMB to evangelism assignment — \u201cThe Dilemma of Decline: Southern Baptists Face a New Reality,\u201d Colter & Co. Press, 2020, p. 52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 restructure NAMB, \u201cDilemma of Decline,\u201d p. 52.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kevin Ezell \u2013 established churches must lead the way —  \u201cSouthern Baptists grow in attendance, and baptisms, decline in membership,\u201d Baptist Press, May 9, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/southern-baptists-grow-in-attendance-and-baptisms-decline-in-membership\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Elliff Facebook post regarding worship attendance, Dec. 11, 2023, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.elliff.9<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Elliff on worship attendance at large and small churches, text message to Art Toalston, Dec. 27, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim Elliff on Baptists who rarely attend worship \u2013 \u201cSouthern Baptists, an Unregenerate Denomination,\u201d June 7, 2022, https:\/\/www.ccwtoday.org\/2022\/06\/southern-baptists-an-unregenerate-denomination\/?fbclid=IwAR0EGbl8612x9tAtSvxo8lAbXl7WN2fjpD5fNbzgq6oIc1SQ7yErcHinTy4<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny Akin \u2013 \u201cAxioms for a Great Commission Resurgence,\u201d April 16, 2009, https:\/\/www.danielakin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/acts-14-8-axioms-for-a-great-commission-resurgence-outline-ds5.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny Akin, \u201cbloated bureaucracies\u201d \u2013 Baptist Press, \u201cGCR: Tone, focus, clarity of declaration questioned by non-signers,\u201d May 5, 2009, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcr-tone-focus-clarity-of-declaration-questioned-by-non-signers\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny Akin sermon receives input from Mohler, Hunt, Rainer \u2013 \u201cGCR: Akin discusses its history, intent,\u201d Baptist Press, May 5, 2009, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcr-akin-discusses-its-history-intent\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Mohler\u2019s 2009 GCR motion, 2009 Southern Baptist Convention Annual, p. 56.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 <\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Al Mohler \u2013 lead-up to the convention \u2013 \u201cGCR: Signers of document say \u2018Great Commission Resurgence\u2019 needed,\u201d Baptist Press, May 5, 2009, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcr-signers-of-document-say-great-commission-resurgence-needed\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thom Rainer \u2013 Conservative Resurgence, less evangelistic — in a chapter titled \u201cA Resurgence Not Yet Fulfilled\u201d in the multi-author book \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d 2010, published by the B&H Publishing Group of Lifeway Christian Resources, p. 38.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thom Rainer concern first voiced in 2005 \u2013 Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield, \u201cSBC FAQs: A Ready Reference,\u201d B&H Academic, 2018, p. 48.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny Akin \u2013 Florida Baptist Witness interview \u2013 \u201cGCR: Akin discusses its history, intent,\u201d Florida Baptist Witness, May 5, 2009, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcr-akin-discusses-its-history-intent\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.D. Greer blog \u2013 \u201cWhy the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCR) recommendations are good for churches of all sizes,\u201d jdgreear.com, May 3, 2010, https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20180210192525\/https:\/\/jdgreear.com\/blog\/why-the-great-commission-resurgence-task-force-gcr-recommendations-are-good-for-small-churches\/<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jerry Rankin \u2013 envisioning GCR \u2013 \u201cTo All Peoples: The Great Commission and the Nations,\u201d chapter in \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d p. 222.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeff Iorg \u2013 envisioning GCR \u2013 \u201cNorth America as a Mission Field: The Great Commission on Our Continent,\u201d chapter in \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d pp. 229, 238, 243.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danny Akin \u2013 envisioning GCR \u2013 \u201cAxioms for a Great Commission Resurgence,\u201d chapter in \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d pp. 357-358.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.D. Greear, envisioning GCR \u2013 \u201cGreat Commission Multiplication: Church Planting and Community Ministry,\u201d chapter in \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d pp. 325, 341-342.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morris Chapman \u2013 GCR critic \u2013 \u201cPERSPECTIVE: The downside of the GCTF recommendations \u2013 would likely harm the SBC and its Executive Committee,\u201d Baptist Press, June 2, 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/perspective-the-downside-of-the-gctf-recommendations-would-likely-harm-the-sbc-and-its-executive-committee\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Hankins \u2013 holiness, prayer\u2026. \u2013 \u201cState execs offer GCRTF their vision, views about SBC,\u201d Baptist Press, Oct. 28, 2009,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/state-execs-offer-gcrtf-their-vision-views-about-sbc\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

David Hankins \u2013 structure not pathway to resurgence, boots on the ground \u2013 \u201cA Revival of Cooperation for a Great Commission Resurgence,\u201d an address on behalf of State Convention Executive Directors to the Great Commission Task Force, Oct. 27, 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooperative Program described \u2013 Keith Harper and Amy Whitfield, \u201cSBC FAQs: A Ready Reference,\u201d B&H Academic, 2018, p. 18.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Honor Cooperative Program \u2013 \u201cPenetrating The Lostness: Final Report of the Great Commission Task Force of the Southern Baptist Convention,\u201d Component Three: Encouraging Cooperative Program Giving and Other Great Commission Giving,\u201d June 15, 2010, http:\/\/www.baptist2baptist.net\/PDF\/PenetratingTheLostness.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morris Chapman \u2013 on Great Commission Giving \u2013 \u201cPERSPECTIVE: The downside of the GCTF recommendations \u2013 would likely harm the SBC and its Executive Committee,\u201d Baptist Press, June 2, 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/perspective-the-downside-of-the-gctf-recommendations-would-likely-harm-the-sbc-and-its-executive-committee\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Lee on Great Commission Giving \u2013 \u201cGCRTF VIEWPOINT: Cooperation missing \u2013 states excluded except to raise funds for national entities,\u201d Baptist Press, March 19, 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcrtf-viewpoint-cooperation-missing-states-excluded-except-to-raise-funds-for-national-entities\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Hankins \u2013 churches see SBC as \u2018another option \u2013 \u201cOne Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists,\u201d B&H Academic, 2006, p. 174 on Kindle version downloaded Jan. 10, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

States asked to send more — \u201cPenetrating The Lostness: Final Report of the Great Commission Task Force of the Southern Baptist Convention,\u201d Component Three: Encouraging Cooperative Program Giving and Other Great Commission Giving,\u201d June 15, 2010, http:\/\/www.baptist2baptist.net\/PDF\/PenetratingTheLostness.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 CP charts from\u201970s to 2010s \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 59.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 40 percent of churches not giving through CP \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 188 & 164.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley — larger piece of a shrinking pie \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 60.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maryland\/Delaware $1 million loss under GCR \u2013 \u201cGCRTF VIEWPOINT: Cooperation missing \u2013 states excluded except to raise funds for national entities,\u201d Baptist Press, March 19. 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcrtf-viewpoint-cooperation-missing-states-excluded-except-to-raise-funds-for-national-entities\/<\/a>  and \u201cMd.\/Del. Baptists Celebrate 175 years,\u201d Baptist Press, Dec. 7, 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/md-del-baptists-celebrate-175-years\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alabama loss of Cooperative Agreement funds \u2013 \u201cGCRTF VIEWPOINT: \u2018It would devastate us,\u2019 Ala. evangelism director says,\u201d Baptist Press, March 15, 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gcrtf-viewpoint-it-would-devastate-us-ala-evangelism-director-says\/<\/a> and \u201cAla. pares budget, affirms CP unity,\u201d Baptist Press, Nov. 19, 2010, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/ala-pares-budget-affirms-cp-unity\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 oxygen out of the room \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 172.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decade-long NAMB evangelistic effort \u2013 2008 SBC Annual, pp. 183-184.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GPS described by Geoff Hammond \u2013 \u201cGod\u2019s Plan for Sharing in a changing North America,\u201d Baptist Press, Nov. 21, 2008, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/gods-plan-for-sharing-in-a-changing-north-america\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six workgroups, 97 individuals \u2013 2009 SBC Annual, p. 178.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geoff Hammond resigns, 7-hour trustee meeting \u2013 \u201cNAMB\u2019s president 3 others resign after long day of trustee deliberations,\u201d The Alabama Baptist, Aug. 11, 2010, https:\/\/thealabamabaptist.org\/nambs-president-three-others-resign-after-long-day-of-trustee-deliberation\/#:~:text=Geoff%20Hammond%20resigned%20his%20position%20as%20president%20of,than%20seven%20hours%20of%20deliberation%20by%20NAMB%20trustees<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

41 state conventions participating in GPS \u2013 2010 SBC Annual, p. 201.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB downsizing \u2013 2011 SBC Annual, p. 189 and \u201c99 leaving NAMB as part of downsizing,\u201d Baptist Press, July 15, 2022, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/99-leaving-namb-as-part-of-downsizing\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GPS phase-out \u2013 2011 SBC Annual, p. 190; 2013 SBC Annual, p. 178; 2014 SBC Annual, p. 184; 2015 SBC Annual, p. 209.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Al Gilbert \u2013 NAMB still engaged in evangelism \u2013 \u201cFIRST-PERSON: Does NAMB still do evangelism?\u201d Baptist Press, Feb. 27, 2013, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/first-person-does-namb-still-do-evangelism\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 Circles \u2013 2015 SBC Annual, p. 208.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Steve Gaines names Evangelism Task Force \u2013 2017 SBC Annual, p. 84 and \u201cPersonal soul-winning, evangelism task force named,\u201d Baptist Press, June 15, 2017, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/personal-soul-winning-evangelism-task-force-named\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangelism task force finalizes report \u2013 \u201cSBC evangelism task force finalizes recommendations,\u201d Baptist Press,\u201d May 16, 2018, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/sbc-evangelism-task-force-finalizes-recommendations\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paige Patterson terminated at SWBTS \u2013 \u201cSWBTS: Paige Patterson terminated \u2018effective immediately,\u2019\u201d Baptist Press, May 30, 2018, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/swbts-paige-patterson-terminated-effective-immediately\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evangelism task force releases report \u2013 \u201cEvangelism task force releases report, recommendations,\u201d Baptist Press, June 11, 2018, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/evangelism-task-force-releases-report-recommendations\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny Hunt, new NAMB VP for evangelism \u2013 \u201cJohnny Hunt to lead evangelism, leadership group,\u201d Baptist Press, Aug. 26, 2018, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/johnny-hunt-to-lead-namb-evangelism-leadership-group\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho\u2019s Your One?\u201d campaign \u2013 2020 SBC Annual, p. 150, 153; \u201c\u2018Who\u2019s Your One?\u2019 Emphasis Launched,\u201d Baptist Press, June 8, 2019, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/sbc-life-articles\/whos-your-one-emphasis-launched\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greear simulcast to associations \u2013 \u201cGreear to launch \u2018Who\u2019s Your One?\u2019 with associations,\u201d Baptist Press, Jan. 4, 2019, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/greear-to-launch-whos-your-one-with-associations\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny Hunt resigns \u2013 \u201cHunt resigns from NAMB, named in Guidepost report,\u201d Baptist Press, May 22, 2022, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/hunt-resigns-from-namb-named-in-guidepost-report%EF%BF%BC\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny Hunt admits improper conduct \u2013 \u201cFormer SBC president Johnny Hunt admits improper conduct but denies abuse claims,\u201d Baptist News Global, May 27, 2022, https:\/\/baptistnews.com\/article\/former-sbc-president-johnny-hunt-admits-improper-conduct-but-denies-abuse-claims\/<\/a> and \u201cIt Was Not Abuse Nor Was It Assault: Johnny Hunt responds to Guidepost Report. Admits to Improper Consensual Encounter,\u201d Church Leaders, May 31, 2022, https:\/\/churchleaders.com\/news\/425789-johnny-hunt-differs-from-guidepost-report-it-was-not-abuse-nor-was-it-assault-but-admits-to-improper-consensual-encounter.html<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Johnny Hunt sues \u2013 \u201cJohnny Hunt sues SBC, EC and Guidepost,\u201d Baptist Press, March 19, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/johnny-hunt-sues-sbc-ec-and-guidepost\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current NAMB evangelism staff \u2013 Email circulated by NAMB, \u201cNAMB Apologetics Resources: Defending the Faith,\u201d Dec. 12, 2023, https:\/\/namb.hs-sites.com\/namb-apologetics-resources-defending-the-faith?ecid=ACsprvsgexfr7v6gwL7nYvVtr4fPvD3vKcVuw_HV4Z_avxwJHGQeSzwIzvvftzDuGmrKlkRxsw2H&utm_campaign=Evangelism%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=285994926&_hsenc=p2ANqtz–SokYbWUhu8hWBenlB2qonuWmtqjbDfNizPPBIoz61jCnLTl6O5NyknwbAgG3f27Te4gfX4UWMJ6CKWtIoB7gDnfwEeg&utm_content=285994926&utm_source=hs_email<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will McRaney-NAMB dispute, Supreme Court appeal \u2013 \u201cSupreme Court denies N AMB petition, case remanded to District Court,\u201d Baptist Press, June 28, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/supreme-court-denies-namb-petition-case-remanded-to-district-court\/print\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB letter of termination to BCMD \u2013 \u201cMcRaney v. NAMB: Newly released materials appear to show intent to harm,\u201d The Baptist Message, Nov. 11, 2022, https:\/\/www.baptistmessage.com\/mccraney-v-namb-newly-released-materials-appear-to-show-intent-to-harm\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2nd<\/sup> dismissal of McRaney suit \u2013 \u201cFederal judge dismisses McRaney case against NAMB, cites First Amendment,\u201d Baptist Press, Aug. 15, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/federal-judge-dismisses-mcraney-case-against-namb-cites-first-amendment\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will McCraney to appeal 2nd suit dismissal \u2013 \u201cLEGAL DIGEST: McRaney files appeal; FCA chapter reinstated after discrimination,\u201d Baptist Press, Sept. 15, 2023, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/legal-digest-mcraney-files-appeal-fca-chapter-reinstated-after-discrimination\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Letter by 6 non-South execs \u2013 \u201c6 state conventions speak out on NAMB cooperative agreements,\u201d The Christian Index, Aug. 27, 2020, https:\/\/christianindex.org\/stories\/6-state-conventions-speak-out-on-namb-cooperative-agreements,4742<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mediation by Executive Committee requested \u2013 \u201cUrging cooperation, SBC EC issues white paper to NAMB, state executives,\u201d Baptist Press, Jan. 28, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/urging-cooperation-sbc-ec-issues-white-paper-to-namb-state-executives\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EC white paper \u2013 Ibid., text of the white paper accessed via a link in the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NAMB trustee resolution re. EC white paper \u2013 \u201cNAMB trustees unanimously affirm cooperation, mission strategy of leadership,\u201d Baptist Press, Feb. 4, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/namb-trustees-unanimously-affirm-cooperation-mission-strategy-of-leadership\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaska votes to withhold CP funds \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 111-112 and \u201cAlaska Baptists vote to withhold CP funds,\u201d Baptist Press, Oct. 2, 2020, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/alaska-baptists-vote-to-withhold-cp-funds\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaska Baptists & NAMB to have joint projects \u2013 Email from Randy Covington, Dec. 1, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Adams enters SBC presidential race \u2013 \u201cRandy Adams announced as nominee for SBC president,\u201d Baptist Press, Jan. 20, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/randy-adams-announced-as-nominee-for-sbc-president\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Adams\u2019 SBTC interview \u2013 \u201c\u2018We need a lot more transparency\u2019: Randy Adams on SBC challenges, nomination,\u201d texanonline.net, Feb. 18, 2020 (2020 is correct), https:\/\/www.texanonline.net\/articles\/sbc\/we-need-a-lot-more-transparency-randy-adams-on-sbc-challenges-nomination\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Adams\u2019 Baptist Press interview \u2013 \u201cAdams calls for transparency, \u2018new chapter\u2019 in BP interview,\u201d Baptist Press, March 12, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/adams-calls-for-transparency-new-chapter-in-bp-interview\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Adams publishes tabloid \u2013 \u201cAdams publishes campaign tabloid, declines specifics of funding,\u201d Baptist Press, June 14, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/adams-publishes-campaign-tabloid-declines-specifics-of-funding\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Randy Adams loses SBC presidency bid \u2013 \u201cLitton elected SBC president in runoff,\u201d Baptist Press, June 15, 2021, https:\/\/www.baptistpress.com\/resource-library\/news\/litton-elected-sbc-president-in-runoff\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 tearing away SBC fabric \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d p. 131.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chuck Kelley \u2013 Cooperative Agreements \u2013 \u201cThe Best Intentions,\u201d pp. 77-78, 81.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Dockery \u2013 bright future for SBC \u2013 chapter titled \u201cConvictional Yet Cooperative\u201d in \u201cGreat Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God\u2019s Mandate in Our Time,\u201d B&H Academic, 2010, p. 400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David Hankins \u2013 spirit of cooperation among leaders \u2013 \u201cOne Sacred Effort: The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists,\u201d B&H Academic, 2006, pp. 188-190, on Kindle version downloaded Jan. 10, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ronnie Floyd \u2013 the centrality of churches \u2013 email comments Nov. 13, 2023, in response to questions emailed from Art Toalston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Great Commission Task Force final report, \u201cPenetrating The Lostness,\u201d Introduction, adopted June 16, 2010 by the Southern Baptist Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley quotes in this report: pp. vii, 59-60, 83, 103, 118, 120-122, 131-132, 164, 172, 188, 190-192, 197.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kelley quotes in order of appearance in report: 83, 103, 190, vii, 131-132, 122, 118, 190-192, 197, 132, 59, 188, 164, 60, 172, 131, 77-78, 81.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Great Commission Resurgence getting a 10-year evaluation, Jan. 30, 2024 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY NASHVILLE \u2013 A six-member task force and a former seminary president are focal points of an evaluation of Southern Baptist missions in North America. The Great Commission Resurgence Evaluation Task Force appointed by SBC President Bart Barber will relay its evaluation at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-388","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=388"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/388\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":453,"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/388\/revisions\/453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arttoalston.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}