Rudy Gray recently offered some reflections on his year as president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Gray is pastor of Utica Baptist Church in Seneca. He is a certified Christian counselor and the author of four books. He has written a column for the Courier, “At Home,” since 2000 and contributes regularly to Pulpit Helps magazine. He has been a pastor in South Carolina for more than 34 years. As he winds up his term as SCBC president, here are his thoughts –
– on the work of South Carolina Baptists
Rudy Gray in the sanctuary of Utica Baptist Church.One of the most rewarding aspects of serving as president this past year has been simply learning more about our work in South Carolina. I have been impressed by what God is doing on our three universities’ campuses. Enrollments are up at all, and there is definitely a commitment to build a strong Christian worldview at our institutions.
I got to know some dedicated and hard-working people at the Baptist Building. It was a delight to visit Connie Maxwell and see the good work that is going on there. I had the privilege to get to know Ben Davis better, and I have been blessed by the friendship we have developed. I visited Martha Franks a couple of times this year to see Agnes Rainey, a special person in my life when I was a student at Anderson University. She died a few months back, and her family asked me to conduct the funeral. She had such a positive and encouraging impact on my life at just the right time. I believe we have people like her in all our institutions today.
– on the role of the church
I believe the business of the church is to make disciples. A disciple is a learner. God’s people should be learning more and more about God’s truth so they can more effectively bring honor to Jesus Christ. Our churches are called to make disciples. We must be reaching people with the gospel, but we must also be teaching people God’s truth. I like what my friend Tony Beam says: “We need to be making disciples, not counting converts.” Our churches must be places where people are learning – not simply facts or information – but doctrine that leads to godly living.
– on the future of the denomination
Our entire denomination seems to be in a period of transition. After talking with Baptists of various ages and perspectives, I am convinced we will probably be a different denomination in about 10 years or so. What we will look like will depend on our leadership and our cooperation. We need leaders who will preserve what works from our past and leaders who will lead us to new ways of doing God’s work today.
There is certainly a growing voice regarding church planting. With some, whether younger or older, it comes from genuine biblical convictions. For others, it is simply a way of funneling dissatisfied members from existing churches into a new church. There is a growing desire to be personally involved in missions. This is good, but we must also be good stewards of our resources. Our missions giving should not suffer because of our mission trips.
Our denomination is no stronger than its churches. The fact that we have so many Baptists today who are more interested in the local church than the denomination is an encouraging sign. However, our denomination exists as an example of churches cooperating together in order to accomplish ministry that we cannot do as a single church. I was concerned a few years ago about what appeared to be a centralizing of our denomination. The Executive Committee, the various Baptist buildings in our states, seminaries, universities, mission boards and other national or state entities do not exist for themselves. They are who they are and what they are for the churches. In SBC life, as far as I am concerned, the local church is the highest rung on the ladder. I believe all our ministries in the future will need to be more church-friendly and less independent if we are going to remain spiritually vibrant as a denomination.
Denominationalism is radically changing. It is my hope and prayer that we will emerge from our transition time a more spiritual, stronger, leaner and more effective denomination. But, in the final analysis, the key for a godly denomination lies in a genuine biblical theology, a firm commitment to discipleship, a devotion to helping families grow stronger and healthier, and a clear understanding that there is nothing greater in our SBC than our churches.
At a meeting of state convention presidents earlier this year, we shared ideas about the health and future of the SBC. My comment to the group was, “We must win America first if we are going to win the world.” The greatest mission-sending country in the world must first be strong at disciple-making within our own borders.