J. D. Greear was elected on the first ballot On Tuesday June 12th to be
the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Greear,
pastor of The Summit Church in North Carolina, was elected with 68 percent of
the vote. Former seminary head Ken Hemphill received 31 percent.
Greear’s presidential platform had six points: Gospel above
all, cultural and racial diversity, intentional, personal evangelism, church
planting and revitalization, college mobilization and engaging the next
generation in cooperative mission.
Although the position is mostly symbolic, the SBC’s 15
million members hope Greear’s strategy can reverse 11 years of membership
declines.
The SBC has lost 1.3 million members since 2006, according
to the denomination’s Annual Church Profile and baptisms have also dropped by
over a quarter in the past decade, down to 254,000 last year.
Delegates hope Greear’s focus on renewing church
planting and personal evangelism will bring growth or at least
slow down the decline.
Greear also faces a public relations challenge after weeks
of intense scrutiny of the SBC over the role of women
in the church and abuse allegations.
Greear, who describes himself as a complementarian,
a belief that men and women are equal in God’s eyes but have different gifting
and church roles, also will be presiding over increasing tension with egalitarians,
the view that women can be pastors.
There were calls at this convention for author and
speaker Beth
Moore to be nominated as SBC president. Meanwhile, the
Tennessean reports that a motion may be proposed during the meeting to change
SBC bylaws to explicitly bar women from the presidency.
There is also the continuing saga over Dr.
Paige Patterson, the former president of Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary, who was fired earlier this month over alleged instances
of covering up abuse.
Greear studied at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
under Patterson and recently released a statement condemning abuse and
addressing the backlash against his mentor.
Another challenge for the youngest SBC president in 37
years is a growing generational divide in the SBC. Many believe he can be
a bridge-builder between younger, reformed and Calvinist leaders and
“traditionalists” who believe in an Arminian view of salvation.
In addition to salvation, the schism can also be seen in
denominational politics and practices. Dr. Jeremy Roberts, lead pastor of
Brushy Creek Baptist Church in Taylors, SC and a seminary professor, told
ChurchLeaders.com that the older generation frowns upon the Ethics and
Religious Liberty Commission because it has highlighted social justice issues
over evangelism.
While at the same time the North American Missions Board
(NAMB) has shrunk their evangelism department significantly resulting in the
precipitous decline in baptisms and a lack of emphasis on evangelism from state
conventions and NAMB.
During Greear’s 16 years at the helm of Summit Church,
worship attendance has grown from 610 in 2002 to just under 10,000, according
to the SBC. Total baptisms increased from 19 in 2002 to 631 in 2017 at the
church’s nine campuses.
Summit has planted 248 churches to date, including 208
outside the U.S., with a goal of starting 1,000 churches in 50 years, according
to North Carolina’s Biblical Recorder newsjournal.
Source:
Bob Ditmer has worked in Christian media for more than 20
years including positions with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries and
Focus on the Family.
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