The 11-point report of the South Carolina Baptist Convention’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force is now public property.
The previous edition of The Baptist Courier revealed the results of seven months of diligent work by the panel in a two-page spread that was accompanied by a page one article and related Commentary.
KirklandAll who had a hand in the making of the report now are waiting to see how South Carolina Baptists will respond to it.
Underway is what task force chairman Ralph Carter has referred to as “a million dollar march to reverse the giving trends of the last few years,” as each church is urged to increase its Cooperative Program contribution level by 1 percent for the coming year.
Members of the task force will take the lead in talking with pastors throughout the state to build support for the GCR report and its mission by pledging $1 million in increased CP giving by the time the convention meets in November.
At the Aug. 9 meeting of the task force, the most-talked-about item of business, according to the chairman, was “the need to begin working feverishly toward getting pledges from pastors to up their CP giving by 1 percent.”
Prior to approval of the GCR report by the 35-member task force, leaders at every level of state convention work — from the Executive Board of the SCBC to the seven ministry partners — agreed to cuts in CP funding necessary to fund a “50/50 equivalency of division of CP funds between the state convention and the International Mission Board.” This is a temporary “fix” to get funds faster to the mission field while working toward a true equal split of CP funds with the SBC in five years.
The campaign to gain wide acceptance of, and strong financial support for, the Great Commission Resurgence in our state is now at the all-important grassroots level. As chairman Carter said in a statement to the Courier, this must include all Baptist churches of every size. “We can’t do this on the backs of a few churches,” he told the Courier. “It is going to require all of us doing our part.”
Carter has said he is pleased so far with the response of Baptist pastors in the state. He also is encouraged by “very favorable” responses by the state’s network of directors of missions.
An important question is yet to be answered. Will we fuss and fight over the report or rally around it?
The South Carolina Baptist Convention is in dire need of a cause that pulls us together rather than pushes us apart. Chairman Carter said up front that Baptists will not agree on every point contained in the report. Documents such as the GCR report, which must count on widespread support, result from some compromise. In this instance, South Carolina Baptists should keep any pettiness in the background. Front and center should be the opportunity to play a vital role in accomplishing an important work for our Lord — that is, more effectively penetrating the spiritual darkness that exists in our world.
When the GCR report was released, I was certain that reaction would be immediate with a large number of letters to the editor of the Courier. So far, it has not happened. I do know that South Carolina Baptists — at least those who care about the denomination — are talking about the report.
The report cannot escape, and should not be immune to, criticism over what its 11 recommendations do, or in some instances, what they fail to do. But at some point, the perceived flaws or weaknesses in the parts must be viewed in the light of the sacred purpose and the potential effectiveness of the whole. Chairman Carter is calling on South Carolina Baptists to act on faith rather than give way to complaints and criticisms. I believe that messengers to the convention will take his lead.
The GCR document can be effective at achieving quick results for the sake of the goals of the Great Commission Resurgence. It is, however, only a beginning. The report itself admits that.
The churches hold the key to the success of the GCR’s South Carolina phase. Increased giving through the Cooperative Program is the best way to ensure continued support for the resurgence. It is the only feasible way. It is a sound way of getting the necessary money to arrive at a true 50/50 split of CP money between the SCBC and SBC in five years, if that remains the goal of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.
The ministry partners of the SCBC have demonstrated their willingness to put the GCR aim of more money for the IMB on a fast track through cuts in our own budgets for up to five years. To continue the practice of reduced funding to proven ministries beyond the years spelled out in the report would hinder ministries important to — even vital to — the work of our Lord.
The goal of getting each church to increase CP giving by 1 percent for next year takes the Great Commission Resurgence to the place where it must succeed or fail — to the grassroots level of convention life, which is our churches. Without an increase in contributions from our churches, nothing we do as a denomination can work for long — especially the Great Commission Resurgence.