The Southern Baptist Convention is so big and its empire so far-reaching that it’s hard to get true perspective on its scope and trends. One of the few snapshots to give insight is the Book of Reports, published just prior to each year’s SBC annual meeting.
This year’s Book of Reports, clocking in at 218 pages, documents several surprising reminders. One of those is that for the second year in a row, the SBC Executive Committee has gone on record opposing the Law Amendment that would codify a restriction on women preaching or being given the title “pastor.”
Another find for those who dig through its pages is documentation that the six SBC seminaries are not, as often claimed, bucking the trend of declines in American theological education. At least not in terms of educating SBC-affiliated students.
Mark Wingfield
A third find is just how little detail some SBC entities can get away with reporting. A Book of Reports is only as valuable as what it reports. On that count, the six seminaries appear far more accountable than the two mission boards.
That’s true, in part, because the seminaries get funded based on how many SBC students they enroll — a per-student allocation. Missionaries are not funded the same way. The two mission boards are given millions of dollars to fund their enterprises however they see fit. And they are allowed to report however they see fit.
Thus, the SBC North American Mission Board is able to report it “currently has 3,299 missionaries and 3,300 endorsed chaplains.” No comparative data are offered to show historical trends or even a breakdown of where those “missionaries” serve or what they do.
Likewise, NAMB reports: “In 2023, 77% of the applicants who completed NAMB’s online church planter pre-assessment scored high enough to receive an invitation to one of our in-person assessment retreats, and of those who attended, 70% were approved for moving forward as a church planter. In 2023, NAMB hosted 47 assessment retreats and conducted 371 assessments of candidates. But we continue to need more qualified applicants.”
With no data on how many applicants there were, the 77% figure is meaningless. But it sounds good.
The International Mission Board reports: “At the end of 2023, Southern Baptists have more than 3,500 adults, along with their 2,700 children, who serve in long-term missions around the world.” Although the Book of Reports doesn’t provide detail on those places of service, the IMB’s website does offer more.
NAMB similarly offers a map of church planters on its website. We’ve got to assume those are some of the “missionaries” it references in the Book of Reports.
NAMB’s report includes two charts, one a graph showing historical data on church plants and the other a graph showing denomination-wide trends on baptisms, already reported by the denomination itself.
On church plants, the primary task NAMB focuses on, the graph shows slight advances from 2022 to 2023, from 600 to 639. Those numbers remain half what they were as recently as 2009. The annual report gives no perspective on how many of those recent church plants have survived.
Seminary data more complete
In contrast to the two mission boards, the seminaries are required to give much more detailed information, not only about enrollment but also about degree programs and a measure known as FTE or full-time equivalent.
Those data show together the six seminaries have experienced a 23% decrease in FTEs for SBC-approved students in two years — from 2020-2021 to 2022-2023. That number was 8,212 and now is 6,356.
The data also show over a three-year average, the six SBC seminaries combined produced 779 master of divinity degree graduates annually — a number theoretically sufficient to replace pastors who retire each year. Previous Lifeway data show about 1% of pastors of evangelical churches step away from the pulpit every year. With 47,000 churches in the SBC, that would create about 470 new openings, apart from pastors who leave one church to go to another.
Based on this data, it does not appear the SBC has the same kind of clergy shortage some other denominations report.
Another interesting fact is that one-fourth of the students enrolled in SBC seminaries are not Southern Baptists. That has been a trend for several years.
Purpose of Book of Reports
The SBC Book of Reports, in concept, provides information for those people who are elected as “messengers” from their churches to the annual meeting to make informed votes and ask informed questions on matters of debate.
But in reality, there is precious little time allocated for any substantive questions or debate during the two-day meeting. Typically, after each agency report, time is allotted for one or two questions. Almost never is anyone able to ask a probing question about the report that results in a more detailed answer. Thus, messengers to the SBC annual meeting engage mainly in a one-way conversation. They listen.
The convention itself becomes an extended report more than a deliberation on the work of the entities.
Todd Benkert speaking to messengers at the 2021 SBC annual meeting.
There is a workaround, however. Any messenger may go to a microphone during the time allotted for introduction of new business and make a motion requesting an entity to do a certain thing or study a certain thing or report a certain thing. But someone else can move to cut off debate by “calling the question,” which has happened quite a lot.
To help ease that early shutoff, the Committee on Order of Business will propose a new standing rule this year — that will have to be voted on — that requires allowing at least two people to speak for a motion and two people to speak against a motion before anyone can move to cut off debate.
Allowing actual debate is only part of the problem, however. The longtime pattern in the SBC when a messenger makes a motion requesting something of a denominational entity is for the presiding officer to refer that motion to the trustees of the very entity it concerns. And then those trustees must report back at the next convention.
Seldom, if ever, does this result in any kind of change.
There’s a notable exception this year in the IMB’s response to “matters referred by the convention.” Last year, someone asked the IMB to print prayer requests from the Tuesday Sending Ceremony in the Wednesday SBC Bulletin. After consideration, the IMB has agreed to do that.
However, two other motions referred to IMB trustees questioning why missionaries are required to get COVID vaccines did not produce any change.
The response reported this year is typical in its vaguery: “As a self-insured entity which cares deeply for the medical needs of our personnel, as well as a commitment to our SBC-mandated task of taking the gospel to unreached peoples in international settings, IMB carefully and consistently considers the medical, moral, biblical and ethical ramifications of any health care decisions required of our field personnel; how those decisions can impact the accessibility of the gospel to people who otherwise might be separated from God for eternity; and the catastrophic financial costs which could impair the stewardship of funds intended for gospel advance. IMB leaders commit to continued careful consideration of any health care requirements in light of these factors.”
As you can tell, that’s neither a yes nor a no. Someone worked hard to write a paragraph that says nothing.
Executive Committee referrals
The SBC Executive Committee received 13 referrals from last year’s convention. Only one of the 13 has produced an actionable report. That is to appoint a group to consider the missionary implications of hosting an annual meeting in Salt Lake City.
For all others, the Executive Committee declined to study or do the thing requested or has pushed a decision to a future date. Despite having a year to work on these, four referrals to the Executive Committee have not yet been considered at all and are slated for meetings yet to happen.
One of those cans kicked down the road was a request to require SBC entities “to submit the information found in (IRS) Form 990 to the convention.” This motion arose from specific concerns about NAMB and the opaqueness of its finances. SBC entities report certain financial information each year but not at the level of detail required by IRS Form 990 — which all SBC entities are exempt from filing because they are classified as “churches” by the IRS.
“Were such information published, it would reveal the compensation of top executives and show primary sources of income and primary expenditures of income, as well as the flow of funds between various nonprofits.”
Were such information published, it would reveal the compensation of top executives and show primary sources of income and primary expenditures of income, as well as the flow of funds between various nonprofits.
The Executive Committee remains noncommittal on this request. The Book of Reports states: “The SBC Executive Committee reports that the Committee on Convention Finances and Stewardship Development discussed the matter during its September 18-19, 2023, and February 19-20, 2024, meetings and will consider the matter again during its June 10, 2024, meeting.”
On another current hot-button issue, the Executive Committee declined to weigh in on a theological matter. The motion was “to clarify whether the Baptist Faith and Message requires closed Communion.”
Closed Communion means a church limits participation in the Lord’s Supper to those who are members of that local church. Guests — even members of other Southern Baptist churches — are not allowed to participate. The question is relevant in light of the current dispute over churches that allow women to serve in roles with the title “pastor” because both ponder how strictly the SBC should enforce the ideals in its doctrinal statement.
The Baptist Faith and Message states: “The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate his second coming.”
This referred motion seemed to want someone to parse the phrase “members of the church.” The Executive Committee did not take the bait, however.
“If the Executive Committee doesn’t interpret the Baptist Faith and Message, who does?”
Its response: “The SBC Executive Committee reports it declines to provide additional clarification regarding Article VII of the Baptist Faith and Message regarding Communion. Historically, the SBC Executive Committee does not offer interpretation on the convention’s consensus statement of faith.”
And yet, the Executive Committee does interpret the Baptist Faith and Message regularly by deciding what constitutes a “cooperating” church allowed to affiliate with the SBC. If the Executive Committee doesn’t interpret the Baptist Faith and Message, who does?
Virginia pastor Mike Law addressing the 2023 SBC annual meeting in New Orleans.
The Law Amendment
Which leads to the most notable item in this year’s SBC Book of Reports. That is that trustees of the Executive Committee have gone on record for a second time opposing the Law Amendment. This proposed constitutional amendment is up for a second and final vote this year. It would amend the Constitution to codify an interpretation of the Baptist Faith and Message that women may not serve in any role with the title “pastor,” preach in churches or be ordained as ministers.
Lest anyone be confused, the Executive Committee is not in favor of women being ordained and preaching. But they also don’t think this rises to the level of a constitutional mandate.
The Executive Committee “reaffirms its previously adopted position … and affirms Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 which states, ‘While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.’ The Executive Committee deems our doctrinal convictions are most appropriately stated in our adopted statement of faith rather than in our Constitution and therefore opposes a suggested amendment to SBC Constitution, Article III, which would unnecessarily restate the Baptist Faith and Message.”
“Historically, the SBC Executive Committee does not offer interpretation on the convention’s consensus statement of faith.”
But remember the earlier line as well: “Historically, the SBC Executive Committee does not offer interpretation on the convention’s consensus statement of faith.”
That ambiguity is why proponents of the Law Amendment want it placed in the Constitution. They believe the Baptist Faith and Message is not being correctly interpreted and enforced.
And that, in turn, relates to one other matter referred by last year’s convention that the Executive Committee declined to act on.
The motion was to amend Article III of the SBC Constitution to replace “closely identifies” with “in accordance with” in language about how churches are required to adhere to the Baptist Faith and Message. Currently churches are required to “closely identify” with the Baptist Faith and Message — wording some ultra-conservatives believe leaves wiggle room for practices such as ordaining women.
The Executive Committee declines to get involved in this, “given that the messengers to the SBC annual meeting in … 2023 approved the formation of the president-appointed Cooperation Group to consider such matters and report back to the 2024 convention of messengers.”
The Cooperation Group recently reported that it finds the Constitution’s wording sufficient. The group said: “The phrase ‘closely identifies with’ recognizes the freedom of the messenger body to interpret its statement of faith and to apply doctrinal standards to the seating of messengers, as they so choose in accordance with the governing documents.”
And thus, the circle remains unbroken. You can read about it in the Book of Reports; you just may not be able to ask a question about it.
Related article:
SBC Cooperation Group offers four recommendations, says Constitution is clear enough