Johnny Hunt announces SBC theme
Registration for messengers and local hotels is open for the June 15-16 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. SBC president Johnny Hunt has selected “LoveLoud through the Great Commission” (1 John 3:18) as the theme for this year’s sessions. Registration for the Orlando annual meeting once again will provide churches with the online opportunity to register their messengers at www.sbc.net to avoid waiting at the counter upon arrival at the convention.
GCR Task Force process discussed
Regular processes of the Southern Baptist Convention will be followed if the convention’s messengers approve the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force’s recommendations, according to responses to a question during the Executive Committee’s Feb. 22-23 meeting in Nashville, Tenn. The exchange occurred in the context of a discussion of how the Executive Committee would implement a portion of the task force’s vision calling for a transfer of 1 percent of the Cooperative Program allocation budget from the Executive Committee to the International Mission Board. The reallocation would involve approximately $2 million. Currently, the Executive Committee receives 3.4 percent of CP funds for its work on behalf of the SBC. Under companion GCRTF proposals, the EC allocation would be reduced to 2.4 percent and its work in promoting the Cooperative Program and biblical stewardship would be terminated. As envisioned by the task force, such promotion would be handled exclusively by the state Baptist conventions.
Chapman calls for sacrificial giving
The Cooperative Program is the greatest missions funding mechanism in the history of Christendom and must be supported by sacrificial giving, Morris H. Chapman said in his final address to the Executive Committee in Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 22. The Southern Baptist Convention has a need for “highly respected and greatly loved pastors who will stand up and declare the Cooperative Program for the missions and theological educational lifeline that it is and ask all pastors to do the same in their churches,” Chapman said. As he departs his role as Executive Committee president, Chapman said his prayer will be that the Cooperative Program will reach greater heights than ever since its inception in 1925.
NAMB president search to gear up
The search for the next North American Mission Board president will accelerate since the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force issued its preliminary report during the SBC Executive Committee’s Feb. 22 meeting in Nashville, Tenn. That word from Ted Traylor, chairman of NAMB’s presidential search committee, was delivered during the quarterly meeting of the mission board’s trustees Feb. 17. “At our next search committee meeting in March, we’ll start looking high and low for God’s man for NAMB,” Traylor said.
Ken Starr named Baylor president
Ken Starr, the former independent prosecutor whose investigative work led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, has been selected as president of Baylor University. Some observers have questioned Baylor’s decision to hire Starr as president of the world’s largest Baptist university when he has never been a member of a Baptist church. Baylor’s student newspaper reported Feb. 16 that Starr plans to join a Baptist church in Waco by June 1.