By Bob Allen
After advising Southern Baptist Convention presidents for 29 years as chief parliamentarian during SBC annual meetings, longtime Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister Barry McCarty is officially part of the fold.
The Christian Index reported recently that McCarty and his wife, Pat, planned to be baptized Aug. 16 as members of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, Ga. McCarty, recently named professor of preaching and rhetoric at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, served the last five years at Peachtree Christian Church in Atlanta, affiliated with the Christian Church.
Before that he was senior minister at Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, where parishioners included Harriet Miers, a controversial candidate to succeed Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the U.S. Supreme Court whose withdrawal opened the door for the appointment of Chief Justice John Roberts.
In the Christian Index article, McCarty described himself as “a longtime sojourner who wants to claim my inheritance in this tribe, among the people known as Southern Baptists.” After his involvement with Southern Baptists over so many years, McCarty said he and his wife “get it” and “want in on all of it.”
Of his reasoning for becoming a Southern Baptist, McCarty said: “If your church is having a love affair with the culture rather than lovingly speaking truth to the culture, you may need to become a Southern Baptist.”
“Southern Baptists are the strongest voice for New Testament Christianity in our generation,” he said. “I want to be part of that voice.”
McCarty’s introduction to Southern Baptists was in 1986, when SBC President Charles Stanley selected him from a list of certified parliamentarians from the American Institute of Parliamentarians. The year before, a ruling by Stanley, recommended by a pastor serving as parliamentarian disallowing amendment of nominations from the SBC Committee on Committees, prompted lawsuits in state and federal courts.
Subsequent SBC presidents retained McCarty’s services in annual contracts billed hourly typically adding up to between $10,000 and $15,000 a year. McCarty’s objectivity was questioned in 1990 when he was seen leading the singing of “Victory in Jesus” at a celebration by conservatives at the Café Du Monde in New Orleans. McCarty said the appearance was deceptive, and he just happened to be there with SBC President Jerry Vines when someone asked him to call the group to order.
McCarty said on Facebook Aug. 18 that he isn’t leaving the Christian Church because he is mad at anyone or dissatisfied with that tradition, but in order to move to a new ministry opportunity he believes is a great fit. His wife has worked the last several years at the North American Mission Board in Alpharetta, Ga., he said, and attending the recent SEND North America Conference in Nashville, Tenn., helped seal the decision.
McCarty said he is attracted to Southern Baptists because they speak “with a clear, strong voice on the great doctrines of the Christian faith” and “to the moral anarchy and madness of our culture.”