A tsunami of change is coming to the Baptist family of congregations.
With the hard-right pivot of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, a significant number of centrist SBC congregations are facing a difficult decision about their future. These churches have been loyal to the denomination throughout the conservative takeover/resurgence. They have endured the increasingly dismal reports of declining membership, layoffs of denominational employees and recall of international missionaries. They’ve cringed as the leaders of the takeover were exposed as deeply flawed and morally corrupt. They’ve been embarrassed by revelations of institutional financial mismanagement and coverups of sexual abuse.
Bill Wilson
What became crystal clear in New Orleans this summer for these churches was that the extremist approach of complementarianism to women in nearly any leadership role where men are present is a bridge too far.
For clarity, one need only listen to Mike Stone’s description of how women are excluded from nearly any leadership role in his understanding of congregational leadership: “We have male leadership, the pastoral staff, the ministerial staff, our deacon ministry, as well; we do not even allow women to teach in our couples’ classes. Anytime there are adult men in the group, we have men that are leading in that capacity.”
While Stone was defeated in his quest to become president of the SBC, his philosophy won the day as the body thoroughly embraced an amendment to the SBC Constitution radically narrowing acceptable female leadership. If approved again next summer at the SBC annual meeting, this extremist approach to female leadership will become the norm and a litmus test for defining those churches that are in “friendly cooperation” with the denomination.
Such an extremist creedal approach has created great angst in many churches that suddenly see how far the SBC has drifted from the voluntary cooperation that defined the convention for its first 145 years (1845 to 1990). The heavy-handed spirit of forced doctrinal purity runs counter to the foundational Baptist commitment to local church autonomy and soul freedom.
As leaders like Beth Moore, Steven Furtick, Russell Moore and Rick Warren walk away from the SBC, it signals to centrist SBC churches that the SBC has left them behind for the false god of doctrinal purity.
Thus, the dilemma.
“These churches do not see any of the alternative Baptist organizations as compatible with their belief system.”
These churches do not see any of the alternative Baptist organizations as compatible with their belief system. The American Baptist Churches USA, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Alliance of Baptists or any of the African American denominational bodies are seen as poor fits for these churches.
Will they start another new Baptist denomination?
I doubt it. No one has much energy for recreating a denomination, and those who have tried have not proved especially successful. Unlike the vast majority of churches in the major denominations, nondenominational churches are increasing in numbers and vitality.
One possibility is that many Baptist churches will enter a fuzzy season of semi-independence that leans toward an affiliation model rather than denominational model. Stepping away from absolute allegiance to a single denominational entity, they will seek out others who share general convictions and methods.
This has been the emerging pattern for nearly 30 years, as local churches have increasingly found more help and fellowship in groups like Leadership Network, Fresh Expressions, MissioAlliance, The Willow Creek Network, World Vision, The Gospel Coalition, Ascent, City to City, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Habitat for Humanity and The Church Network than they have in their traditional denominational bodies.
This is a huge shift from a congregation being defined in a top-down hierarchical way by denominational bodies to churches being self-defined and then laterally seeking partners who help them accomplish the goals God has placed upon their collective hearts.
Think of this as a shift from joining with others based on our identity to joining with others based on our affinity for ministry. Such groups frequently span theological lines and cross denominational boundaries for the sake of a larger agenda and seldom press a heavy creed or insist on doctrinal uniformity.
The freedom such groups offer is a breath of fresh air for churches accustomed to the hard-nosed sorting that has come to define American denominational life.
“The more a group requires lockstep uniformity around doctrine or practices, the less likely its success.”
In an affinity approach to affiliations, congregations seek out others who share large goals, without requiring doctrinal uniformity to relate to one another. In fact, the more a group requires lockstep uniformity around doctrine or practices, the less likely its success.
Get ready for a third alternative to emerge in the Baptist family. What will it be called? Will it even have a name? How will it operate and who will lead it. Will it be one entity or a loose grouping of entities?
There’s no telling, but it certainly seems something substantial is coming. If the SBC affirms its lurch to the hard-right next year, then an accountability mechanism will be necessary. Thousands of SBC churches will be called out and disciplined for operating as they have for decades. The increasingly discouraging metrics of the SBC will spiral further down and local churches will want to get far away from the judgmental spirit, vitriol and name-calling that was on display in New Orleans.
Jesus predicted such a thing would happen when he noted in Luke 5:37 that “no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins and will spill out, and the skins will be ruined.”
The bursting of the old models and the formation of the new is our opportunity to watch the birth of something new and important. It promises to be interesting.
Bill Wilson is the founding director and senior advisor at Center for Healthy Churches. He currently chairs the board of the ABP Foundation, which supports Baptist News Global.