Southern Baptist Convention

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States,[2][3] and the second-largest Christian denomination in the United States, smaller only than the Roman Catholic Church according to self-reported membership statistics (see Christianity in the United States).

Southern Baptist Convention
AbbreviationSBC
ClassificationProtestant
OrientationBaptist
TheologyEvangelical
PolityCongregational
PresidentJ. D. Greear
RegionUnited States
OriginMay 8–12, 1845
Augusta, Georgia, U.S.
Separated fromTriennial Convention (1845)
Separations
Congregations47,530 (2019)
Members14,525,579 (2019)
Weekly attendance = 5,250,230[1]
Official websitesbc.net
Southern Baptists
Christian denominations
in the English-speaking world

The word Southern in Southern Baptist Convention stems from it having been organized in 1845 at Augusta, Georgia, by Baptists in the Southern United States who split with northern Baptists over the issue of slavery, with Southern Baptists strongly opposed to its abolition.[4] After the American Civil War, another split occurred when most freedmen set up independent black congregations, regional associations, and state and national conventions, such as the National Baptist Convention, which became the second-largest Baptist convention by the end of the 19th century.

Since the 1940s, the Southern Baptist Convention has shifted from some of its regional and historical identification.[5] Especially since the late 20th century, the SBC has sought new members among minority groups and to become much more diverse. In addition, while still heavily concentrated in the Southern United States, the Southern Baptist Convention has member churches across the United States and 41 affiliated state conventions.[6][7] Southern Baptist churches are evangelical in doctrine and practice. As they emphasize the significance of the individual conversion experience, which is affirmed by the person having complete immersion in water for a believer's baptism, they reject the practice of infant baptism.[7] Other specific beliefs based on biblical interpretation can vary somewhat due to their congregational polity, which allows local autonomy.[8]

The average weekly attendance was 5,297,788 in 2018.[9]

History
Further information: Baptists in the United States

Colonial era
First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina

Most early Baptists in the British colonies came from England in the 17th century, after the established Church of England persecuted them for their dissenting religious views.[10] The oldest Baptist church in the South, First Baptist Church of Charleston, South Carolina, was organized in 1682 under the leadership of William Screven.[11] A Baptist church was formed in Virginia in 1715 through the preaching of Robert Norden and another in North Carolina in 1727 through the ministry of Paul Palmer.

The Baptists adhered to a congregationalist polity and operated independently of the state-established Anglican churches in the South, at a time when non-Anglicans were prohibited from holding political office. By 1740, about eight Baptist churches existed in the colonies of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, with an estimated 300 to 400 members.[12] New members, both black and white, were converted chiefly by Baptist preachers who traveled throughout the South during the 18th and 19th centuries, in the eras of the First Great Awakening and Second Great Awakening.[13]

Baptists welcomed African Americans, both slave and free, allowing them to have more active roles in ministry than did other denominations by licensing them as preachers, and in some cases, allowing them to be treated as equals to white members.[14] As a result, black congregations and churches were founded in Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia before the American Revolution. Some black congregations kept their independence even after whites tried to exercise more authority after the Nat Turner slave rebellion of 1831.[15]

American Revolution period

Before the Revolution, Baptist and Methodist evangelicals in the South had promoted the view of the common man's equality before God, which embraced slaves and free blacks. They challenged the hierarchies of class and race and urged planters to abolish slavery. They welcomed slaves as Baptists and accepted them as preachers.[16]

Isaac (1974) analyzes the rise of the Baptist Church in Virginia, with emphasis on evangelicalism and social life. A sharp division existed between the austerity of the plain-living Baptists, attracted initially from yeomen and common planters, and the opulence of the Anglican planters, the slaveholding elite who controlled local and colonial government in what had become a slave society by the late 18th century.[17] The gentry interpreted Baptist church discipline as political radicalism, but it served to ameliorate disorder. The Baptists intensely monitored each other's moral conduct, watching especially for sexual transgressions, cursing, and excessive drinking; they expelled members who would not reform.[18]

In Virginia and in most southern colonies before the Revolution, the Church of England was the established church and supported by general taxes, as it was in England. It opposed the rapid spread of Baptists in the South. Particularly in Virginia, many Baptist preachers were prosecuted for "disturbing the peace" by preaching without licenses from the Anglican church. Both Patrick Henry and the young attorney James Madison defended Baptist preachers prior to the American Revolution in cases considered significant to the history of religious freedom.[19] In 1779, Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, enacted in 1786 by the Virginia General Assembly. Madison later applied his own ideas and those of the Virginia document related to religious freedom during the Constitutional Convention, when he ensured that they were incorporated into the national constitution.

The struggle for religious toleration erupted and was played out during the American Revolution, as the Baptists worked to disestablish the Anglican church in the South. Beeman (1978) explores the conflict in one Virginia locality, showing that as its population became more dense, the county court and the Anglican Church were able to increase their authority. The Baptists protested vigorously; the resulting social disorder resulted chiefly from the ruling gentry's disregard for public need. The vitality of the religious opposition made the conflict between 'evangelical' and 'gentry' styles a bitter one.[20] Kroll-Smith (1984) suggests that the strength of the evangelical movement's organization determined its ability to mobilize power outside the conventional authority structure.[21]

National unification and regional division
Main article: Triennial Convention

In 1814, leaders such as Luther Rice were able to help Baptists unify nationally under what became known informally as the Triennial Convention (because it met every three years) based in Philadelphia. It allowed them to join their resources to support missions abroad. The Home Mission Society, affiliated with the Triennial Convention, was established in 1832 to support missions in frontier territories of the United States. By the mid-19th century, numerous social, cultural, economic, and political differences existed among business owners of the North, farmers of the West, and planters of the South. The most divisive conflict was primarily over the issue of slavery and secondarily over missions.[22]

Divisions over slavery
See also: Christian views on slavery

Slavery in the 19th century became the most critical moral issue dividing Baptists in the United States.[23] Struggling to gain a foothold in the South, after the American Revolution, the next generation of Southern Baptist preachers accommodated themselves to the leadership of Southern society. Rather than challenging the gentry on slavery and urging manumission (as did the Quakers and Methodists), they began to interpret the Bible as supporting the practice of slavery and encouraged good paternalistic practices by slaveholders. They preached to slaves to accept their places and obey their masters. In the two decades after the Revolution during the Second Great Awakening, Baptist preachers abandoned their pleas that slaves be manumitted.[24]

After first attracting yeomen farmers and common planters, in the 19th century, the Baptists began to attract major planters among the elite.[24] While the Baptists welcomed slaves and free blacks as members, whites controlled leadership of the churches, their preaching supported slavery, and blacks were usually segregated in seating.[24]

Black congregations were sometimes the largest of their regions. For instance, by 1821, Gillfield Baptist in Petersburg, Virginia, had the largest congregation within the Portsmouth Association. At 441 members, it was more than twice as large as the next ranking church. Before the Nat Turner slave rebellion of 1831, Gillfield had a black preacher. Afterward, the state legislature insisted that black congregations be overseen by white men. Gillfield could not call a black preacher until after the American Civil War and emancipation.[25] After Turner's slave rebellion, whites worked to exert more control over black congregations and passed laws requiring white ministers to lead or be present at religious meetings (many slaves evaded these restrictions).

In addition, from the early decades of the 19th century, many Baptist preachers in the South argued in favor of preserving the right of ministers to be slaveholders (which they had earlier prohibited), a class that included prominent Baptist Southerners and planters.[26]

The Triennial Convention and the Home Mission Society adopted a kind of neutrality concerning slavery, neither condoning nor condemning it. During the "Georgia Test Case" of 1844, the Georgia State Convention proposed that the slaveholder Elder James E. Reeve be appointed as a missionary. The Foreign Mission Board refused to approve his appointment, recognizing the case as a challenge and not wanting to overturn their policy of neutrality on the slavery issue. They stated that slavery should not be introduced as a factor into deliberations about missionary appointments.[27]

In 1844, Basil Manly Sr., president of the University of Alabama, a prominent preacher and a major planter who owned 40 slaves, drafted the "Alabama Resolutions" and presented them to the Triennial Convention. These included the demand that slaveholders be eligible for denominational offices to which the Southern associations contributed financially. These resolutions failed to be adopted. Georgia Baptists decided to test the claimed neutrality by recommending a slaveholder to the Home Mission Society as a missionary. The Home Mission Society's board refused to appoint him, noting that missionaries were not allowed to take servants with them (so he clearly could not take slaves) and that they would not make a decision that appeared to endorse slavery. Southern Baptists considered this an infringement of their right to determine their own candidates.[28] From the Southern perspective, the Northern position that "slaveholding brethren were less than followers of Jesus" effectively obliged slaveholding Southerners to leave the fellowship.[29]

Missions and organization
Original location of First Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia

A secondary issue that disturbed the Southerners was the perception that the American Baptist Home Mission Society did not appoint a proportionate number of missionaries to the southern region of the United States. This was likely a result of the society's not appointing slave owners as missionaries.[30] Baptists in the North preferred a loosely structured society composed of individuals who paid annual dues, with each society usually focused on a single ministry.[31]

Baptists in Southern churches preferred a more centralized organization of congregations composed of churches patterned after their associations, with a variety of ministries brought under the direction of one denominational organization.[32] The increasing tensions and the discontent of Baptists from the South regarding national criticism of slavery and issues over missions led to their withdrawal from the national Baptist organizations.[12]

The Southern Baptists met at the First Baptist Church of Augusta in May 1845.[33] At this meeting, they created a new convention, naming it the Southern Baptist Convention. They elected William Bullein Johnson (1782–1862) as the new convention's first president. He had served as president of the Triennial Convention in 1841.

Formation and separation of black Baptists

African Americans had gathered in their own churches early on, in 1774 in Petersburg, Virginia,[34] and in Savannah, Georgia, in 1788.[35] Some were established after 1800 on the frontier, such as the First African Baptist Church of Lexington, Kentucky. In 1824, it was accepted by the Elkhorn Association of Kentucky, which was white-dominated. By 1850, First African had 1,820 members, the largest of any Baptist church in the state, black or white.[36] In 1861, it had 2,223 members.[37]

First African Baptist Church, Savannah, Georgia, constructed 1856

Generally, whites in the South required that black churches be under the supervision of white ministers and associations. In practice, in churches with mixed congregations, blacks were made to sit in segregated seating. White preaching often emphasized Biblical stipulations that slaves should accept their places and try to behave well toward their masters.

After the Civil War and emancipation, blacks wanted to practice Christianity independently of white supervision.[38] They had interpreted the Bible as offering hope for deliverance, and saw their own exodus out of slavery as comparable to the Exodus.[39] They quickly left white-dominated churches and associations and set up separate state Baptist conventions.[40][41] In 1866, black Baptists of the South and West combined to form the Consolidated American Baptist Convention.[41] In 1895, they merged three national conventions to create the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc..[40][41] With eight million members, it is today the largest African-American religious organization and is second in size to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Free blacks in the North had founded churches and denominations in the early 19th century that were independent of white-dominated organizations. In the Reconstruction Era, missionaries both black and white from several northern denominations worked in the South; they quickly attracted tens and hundreds of thousands of new members from among the millions of freedmen. The African Methodist Episcopal Church attracted the most new members of any denomination.[40] White Southern Baptist churches lost black members to the new denominations, as well as to independent congregations organized by freedmen.

During the Civil Rights Movement, most Southern Baptist pastors and most members of their congregations rejected racial integration and accepted white supremacy, further alienating African Americans.[42] According to historian and former Southern Baptist Wayne Flynt, "The [Southern Baptist] church was the last bastion of segregation."[43]

Historical internal controversies

During its history, the Southern Baptist Convention has had several periods of major internal controversy.

Landmark controversy

In the 1850s–1860s, a group of young activists called for a return to certain early practices, or what they called Landmarkism. Other leaders disagreed with their assertions, and the Baptist congregations became split on the issues. Eventually, the disagreements led to the formation of Gospel Missions and the American Baptist Association (1924), as well as many unaffiliated independent churches. One historian called the related James Robinson Graves—Robert Boyte Crawford Howell controversy (1858–60) the greatest to affect the denomination before that of the late 20th century involving the fundamentalist-moderate break.[44]

Whitsitt controversy

In the Whitsitt controversy of 1896–99,[45] William H. Whitsitt, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, suggested that, contrary to earlier thought, English Baptists did not begin to baptize by immersion until 1641, when some Anabaptists, as they were then called, began to practice immersion. This overturned the idea of immersion as the practice of the earliest Baptists as some of the Landmarkists contended.

Moderates–Conservatives controversy
B.H. Carroll Memorial Building, the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary's main administrative building

The Southern Baptist Convention conservative resurgence (c. 1970–2000) was an intense struggle for control of the SBC's resources and ideological direction. The major internal disagreement captured national attention.[46] Its initiators called it a "Conservative Resurgence",[47] while its detractors have labeled it a "Fundamentalist Takeover".[48] Russell H. Dilday, president of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1978 to 1994,[31][49] described the resurgence as having fragmented Southern Baptist fellowship and as being "far more serious than [a controversy]".[50] Dilday described it as being "a self-destructive, contentious, one-sided feud that at times took on combative characteristics".[50] Since 1979, Southern Baptists had become polarized into two major groups: moderates and conservatives. Reflecting the conservative majority votes of delegates at the 1979 annual meeting of the SBC, the new national organization officers replaced all leaders of Southern Baptist agencies with presumably more conservative people (often dubbed "fundamentalist" by dissenters).[lower-alpha 1][51]

Among historical elements illustrating this trend, the organization's position on abortion rights within a decade had shifted radically from a pro-abortion position to a strong pro-life one, as in 1971, (two years before Roe v. Wade), the SBC passed a resolution supporting abortion, not only in cases of rape or incest—positions which even some Southern Baptist conservatives would support—but also as "clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother"[52]—positions not supported by the conservative wing. Also, in 1974, (the year after Roe v. Wade) the SBC passed another resolution affirming its previous 1971 resolution, saying that it "dealt responsibly from a Christian perspective with complexities of abortion problems in contemporary society" while also in the same resolution claiming that the SBC "historically held a high view of the sanctity of human life".[53] However, once the conservatives won their first election in 1980, they passed a resolution which completely reversed their prior positions on abortion, condemning it in all cases except to save the life of the mother.[54] As such, all subsequent resolutions on the issue have followed the 1980 trend of being strongly against abortion and have gone further into opposing similar issues such as fetal tissue experimentation, RU-486, and taxpayer funding of abortions in general and Planned Parenthood in particular.[55]

Recent history

In 1995, the convention voted to adopt a resolution in which it renounced its racist roots and apologized for its past defense of slavery, segregation, and white supremacy.[56][57] This marked the denomination's first formal acknowledgment that racism had played a profound role in both its early and modern history.

US President George W. Bush meets with the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006 in the Oval Office at the White House. Pictured with the President are Morris Chapman, left, Frank Page and his wife Dayle Page.

By the early 21st century, numbers of ethnically diverse congregations were increasing within the convention. In 2008, almost 20% were estimated to be majority African American, Asian, or Hispanic. The SBC had an estimated one million African-American members.[58] The convention has passed a series of resolutions recommending the inclusion of more black members and appointing more African-American leaders.[42] In the 2012 annual meeting, the Southern Baptist Convention elected Fred Luter Jr. as its first African-American president. He had earned respect by his leadership skills shown in building a large congregation in New Orleans.[59]

The increasingly national scope of the convention has inspired some members to suggest a name change. In 2005, proposals were made at the SBC Annual Meeting to change the name from the regional-sounding Southern Baptist Convention to a more national-sounding "North American Baptist Convention" or "Scriptural Baptist Convention" (to retain the SBC initials). These initial proposals were defeated.[60]

The messengers of the 2012 annual meeting in New Orleans voted to adopt the descriptor "Great Commission Baptists". The legal name of the convention remains "Southern Baptist Convention", but churches and convention entities can voluntarily use the descriptor.[61]

Almost a year after the Charleston church shooting, SBC approved Resolution 7 which called upon member churches and families to discontinue the flying of the Confederate flag.[62]

The SBC approved a Resolution 12 titled "On Refugee Ministry", encouraging member churches and families to welcome refugees coming to the United States.[63] In the same convention, Russell Moore of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission quickly responded to a pastor who asked why a Southern Baptist should support the right of Muslims living in the United States to build mosques. Moore responded, "Sometimes we have to deal with questions that are really complicated... this isn't one of them." Moore states that religious freedom must be for all religions.[64]

The SBC officially denounced the alt-right movement in the 2017 convention.[65] On November 5, 2017, a mass shooting took place at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs.[66][67] It was the deadliest shooting to occur in any SBC church in its history and in modern history, an American place of worship.[68]

Sex abuse scandal
Main article: Sexual abuse scandal in Southern Baptist churches

On February 10, 2019, a joint investigation conducted by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express[69][70] found that there had been over 700 victims of sexual abuse from nearly 400 Southern Baptist church leaders, pastors and volunteers[71] over the last 20 years.[69][70]

In 2018, the Houston Chronicle verified details in hundreds of accounts of abuse. They examined federal and state court databases, prison records and official documents from more than 20 states in addition to researching sex offender registries nationwide.[72]

The Houston Chronicle has compiled a list of records and information[73][70][74] (current as of June 2019),[73] listing church pastors, leaders, employees and volunteers who have pleaded guilty or were convicted of sex crimes.[73][74][70]

On 12 June 2019, during their annual meeting, SBC delegates, who assembled that year in Birmingham, Alabama, approved a resolution condemning sex abuse and establishing a special committee to investigate sex abuse, which will make it easier for SBC churches to be expelled from the Convention.[75][76] The Rev. J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of The Summit Church in Durham, N.C., called the move a "defining moment."[75] Ronnie Floyd, president of the SBC's executive committee, echoed Greear's remarks, describing the vote as "a very, very significant moment in the history of the Southern Baptist Convention."[75]

Theology and practice

The general theological perspective of the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention is represented in the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M).[77] The BF&M was first drafted in 1925 as a revision of the 1833 New Hampshire Confession of Faith. It was revised significantly in 1963, amended in 1998 with the addition of one new section on the family, and revised again in 2000, with the 1998 and 2000 changes being the subject of much controversy, particularly in regards to the role of women in the church.[78]

The BF&M is not considered to be a creed, such as the Nicene Creed. Members are not required to adhere to it, and churches and state conventions belonging to the SBC are not required to use it as their statement of faith or doctrine, though many do in lieu of creating their own statement.[79] Despite the fact that the BF&M is not a creed, key leaders, faculty in SBC-owned seminaries, and missionaries who apply to serve through the various SBC missionary agencies must affirm that their practices, doctrine, and preaching are consistent with the BF&M.[80][81]

In 2012, a LifeWay Research survey of SBC pastors found that 30% of congregations identified with the labels Calvinist or Reformed, while 30% identified with the labels Arminian or Wesleyan. Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research, explained, "historically, many Baptists have considered themselves neither Calvinist nor Arminian, but holding a unique theological approach not framed well by either category". Nevertheless, the survey also found that 60% of SBC pastors were concerned about Calvinism's impact within the convention.[82] Nathan Finn notes that the debate over Calvinism has "periodically reignited with increasing intensity", and that non-Calvinists "seem to be especially concerned with the influence of Founders Ministries," while Calvinists "seem to be particularly concerned with the influence of revivalism and Keswick theology."[83]

Historically, the SBC has not considered glossolalia or other Charismatic beliefs to be in accordance with Scriptural teaching, though the subject is not even mentioned in the BF&M. While officially few SBC churches are openly Charismatic, at least one Independent Baptist author believes the practice to be far greater than officially discussed.[84][85]

Position statements

In addition to the BF&M, the SBC has also issued the following position statements:

  • Autonomy of local church — Affirms the autonomy of the local church.[8]
  • Cooperation— Identifies the Cooperative Program of missions as integral to the Southern Baptist Convention.[86]
  • Creeds and confessions — Statements of belief are revisable in light of Scripture. The Bible is the final word.[87]
  • Missions — Honors the indigenous principle in missions. The SBC does not, however, compromise doctrine or its identity for missional opportunities.[88]
  • Priesthood of all believers — Laypersons have the same right as ordained ministers to communicate with God, interpret Scripture, and minister in Christ's name.[89]
  • Sanctity of life — "At the moment of conception, a new being enters the universe, a human being, a being created in God's image"; as such, it should be protected regardless of the circumstances underlying the conception.[90] As such, the SBC opposes abortion and any form of birth control which acts as an abortifacient.
  • Sexuality — They affirm God's plan for marriage and sexual intimacy as a lifetime relationship of one man and one woman. Explicitly, they do not consider homosexuality to be a "valid alternative lifestyle". They understand the Bible to forbid any form of extra-marital sexual relations.[91]
  • Soul competency — Affirms the accountability of each person before God.[92]
  • Ordination of women — Women are of equal value to men and participate on Southern Baptist boards, faculties, mission teams, writer pools, and professional staffs. However, women are not eligible to serve as pastors.[93]

Ordinances

Southern Baptists observe two ordinances: the Lord's Supper and believer's baptism (also known as credo-baptism, from the Latin for "I believe").[7][77] Furthermore, they hold the historic Baptist belief that immersion is the only valid mode of baptism.[7] The Baptist Faith and Message describes baptism as a symbolic act of obedience and a testimony of the believer's faith in Jesus Christ to other people. The BF&M also notes that baptism is a precondition to congregational church membership.[77]

The BF&M holds to memorialism,[94] which is the belief that the Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience in which believers commemorate the death of Christ and look forward to his Second Coming.[77][94] Although individual Southern Baptist churches are free to practice either open or closed communion (due to the convention's belief in congregational polity and the autonomy of the local church), most Southern Baptist churches practice open communion. For the same reason, the frequency of observance of the Lord's Supper varies from church to church. It is commonly observed quarterly, though some churches offer it monthly and a small minority offers it weekly.[95] Because Southern Baptists traditionally have opposed alcoholic beverage consumption by members, grape juice is used instead of wine (and is usually called "the cup" as a result).

Gender-based roles

The Southern Baptist Church subscribes to the complementarian view of gender roles.[96] Beginning in the early 1970s, as a reaction to their perceptions of various "women's liberation movements",[97] the SBC, along with several other historically conservative Baptist groups,[98] began as a body to assert its view of the propriety and primacy of what it deemed "traditional gender roles". In 1973, at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, delegates passed a resolution that read in part: "Man was not made for woman, but the woman for the man. Woman is the glory of man. Woman would not have existed without man."[99] In 1998, the SBC appended a male leadership understanding of marriage to the 1963 version of the Baptist Faith and Message, with an official amendment: Article XVIII, "The Family". In 2000, it revised the document to reflect support for a male-only pastorate with no mention of the office of deacon.[93][100]

In the pastorate

By explicitly defining the pastoral office as the exclusive domain of males, the 2000 BF&M provision becomes the SBC's first-ever official position against women pastors.[101]

As individual churches affiliated with the SBC are autonomous, local congregations cannot be compelled to adopt a male-only pastorate.[8] Though neither the BF&M nor the SBC constitution and bylaws provide any mechanism to trigger automatic removal ("disfellowshipment") of congregations that adopt practices or theology contrary to the BF&M,[8] some SBC churches that have installed women as their pastors have been disfellowshipped from membership in their local SBC associations; a smaller number have been disfellowshipped from their SBC state conventions.[102]

The crystallization of SBC positions on gender roles and restrictions of women's participation in the pastorate contributed to the decision by members now belonging to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to break from the SBC in 1991.[103]

In marriage

The 2000 BF&M now prescribes a husband-headship authority structure, closely following the apostle Paul's exhortations in Ephesians 5:21–33:[104]

Article XVIII. The Family. The husband and wife are of equal worth before God, since both are created in God's image. The marriage relationship models the way God relates to his people. A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. He has the God-given responsibility to provide for, to protect, and to lead his family. A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.

Worship services

Most Southern Baptists observe a low church form of worship, which is less formal and uses no stated liturgy. The form of the worship services generally depend on whether the congregation uses a traditional service or a contemporary one, or a mix of both—the main differences being with regards to music and the response to the sermon.

In both types of services, there will be a prayer at the opening of the service, before the sermon, and at closing. Offerings are taken, which may be around the middle of the service or at the end (with the increased popularity of electronic financial systems, some churches operate kiosks allowing givers the opportunity to do so online, or through a phone app or website link). Responsive Scripture readings are not common, but may be done on a special occasion.

In a traditional service, the music generally features hymns, accompanied by a piano or organ (the latter has been generally phased out due to fewer people playing that instrument) and sometimes with a special featured soloist or choir. Smaller churches generally let anyone participate in the choir regardless of actual singing ability; larger churches will limit participation to those who have successfully tried out for a role. After the sermon, an invitation to respond (sometimes termed an altar call) might be given; people may respond during the invitation by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and beginning Christian discipleship, seeking baptism or requesting to join the congregation, or entering into vocational ministry or making some other publicly stated decision.[105] Baptisms may be scheduled on specific weekends, or (especially in buildings with built-in baptisteries) be readily available for anyone desiring baptism.

In a contemporary service, the music generally features modern songs led by a praise team or similarly named group with featured singers. Choirs are not as common. An altar call may or may not be given at the end; if it is not, interested persons are directed to seek out people in the lobby who can address any questions. Baptismal services are usually scheduled as specific and special events. Also, church membership is usually done on a periodic basis by attending specific classes about the church's history, beliefs, what it seeks to accomplish, and what is expected of a prospective member. Controversially, a member may be asked to sign a "membership covenant", a document that has the prospective member promise to perform certain tasks (regular church attendance both at main services and small groups, regular giving—sometimes even requiring tithing, and service within the church). Such covenants are highly controversial: among other things, such a covenant may not permit a member to voluntarily withdraw from membership to avoid church discipline or, in some cases, the member cannot leave at all (even when not under discipline) without the approval of church leadership.[106] A Dallas-Fort Worth church was forced to apologize to a member who attempted to do so for failing to request permission to annul her marriage after her husband admitted to viewing child pornography.[107]

Statistics

Membership
YearMembership
1845350,000
1860650,000
18751,260,000
18901,240,000
19051,900,000
19203,150,000
19354,480,000
19507,080,000
196510,780,000
198013,700,000
199515,400,000
200015,900,000
200516,600,000
200616,306,246
200716,266,920
200816,228,438
200916,160,088
201016,136,044
201115,978,112
201215,872,404
201315,735,640
201415,499,173
201515,294,764
201615,216,978
201715,005,638
201814,813,234
201914,525,579
[2][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][9][1]

The SBC reports having 15.74 million members in 46,125 churches throughout the US in 2013. On average, 37% of the membership (5,834,707 members, guests and non-member children) attend their churches' primary worship services.[115]

The SBC has 1,161 local associations and 42 state conventions, and fellowships covering all fifty states and territories of the United States. The five states with the highest rates of membership in the SBC are Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee. Texas has the largest number of members with an estimated 2.75 million.[116]

Through their Cooperative Program, Southern Baptists support thousands of missionaries in the United States and worldwide.

Data from church sources and independent surveys indicate that since 1990 membership of SBC churches has declined as a proportion of the American population.[117] Historically, the convention grew throughout its history until 2007, when membership decreased by a net figure of nearly 40,000 members.[118] The total membership, of about 16.2 million, was flat over the same period, falling by 38,482 or 0.2%. An important indicator for the health of the denomination is new baptisms, which have decreased every year for seven of the last eight years. As of 2008, they had reached their lowest levels since 1987.[119] Membership continued to decline from 2008 to 2012.[120] SBC's statistical summary of 2014 recorded a loss of 236,467 members, their biggest one-year decline since 1881.[111] In 2018, membership fell below 15 million for the first time since 1989 and reached its lowest level for over 30 years.[121]

This decline in membership and baptisms has prompted some SBC researchers to describe the convention as a "denomination in decline".[122] Former SBC president Frank Page suggested that if current conditions continue, half of all SBC churches will close their doors permanently by the year 2030.[123] This assessment is supported by a recent survey of SBC churches which indicated that 70 percent of all SBC churches are declining or are plateaued with regards to their membership.[124]

The decline in membership of the SBC was an issue discussed during the June 2008 Annual Convention.[125] Curt Watke, a former researcher for the SBC, noted four reasons for the decline of the SBC based on his research: the increase in immigration by non-European groups, decline in growth among predominantly European American (white) churches, the aging of the current membership, and a decrease in the percentage of younger generations participating in any church life.[123] Some believe that the Baptists have not worked sufficiently to attract minorities.[126]

On the other hand, the state conventions of Mississippi and Texas report an increasing portion of minority members.[126] In 1990, five percent of SBC congregations were non-white. In 2012, the proportion of SBC congregations that were of other ethnic groups (African American, Latino, and Asian) had increased to twenty percent.[42] Sixty percent of the minority congregations were found in Texas, particularly in the suburbs of Houston and Dallas.[42]

The decline in SBC membership may be more pronounced than these statistics indicate because Baptist churches are not required to remove inactive members from their rolls, likely leading to greatly inflated membership numbers. In addition, hundreds of large moderate congregations have shifted their primary allegiance to other Baptist groups such as the American Baptist Churches USA, the Alliance of Baptists or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship but have continued to remain nominally on the books of the convention. Their members are thus counted in the SBC's totals although these churches no longer participate in the annual SBC meetings or make more than the minimum financial contributions.[127]

In some cases, groups have withdrawn from the SBC because of its conservative trends. On November 6, 2000, The Baptist General Convention of Texas voted to cut its contributions to SBC seminaries and reallocate more than five million dollars in funds to three theological seminaries in the state which members believe were more moderate.[128] These include the Hispanic Baptist Theological School in San Antonio, Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary in Waco, and Hardin–Simmons University's Logsdon School of Theology in Abilene. Since the controversies of the 1980s, more than twenty theological or divinity programs directed toward moderate and progressive Baptists have been established in the Southeast. In addition to Texas, schools in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama were established in the 1990s. These include the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, McAfee School of Theology of Mercer University in Atlanta, Wake Forest, Gardner Webb and Campbell Divinity schools in North Carolina and Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, to name a few. These schools contributed to the flat and declining enrollment at Southern Baptist seminaries operating in the same region of the United States. Texas and Virginia have the largest state conventions identified as moderate in theological approach.[129]

On June 4, 2020, the Southern Baptist Convention reported a drop in its membership - the 13th consecutive year that membership has declined. "Total membership in the Southern Baptist Convention fell almost 2 percent to 14,525,579 from 2018 to 2019. The decline of 287,655 members is the largest single-year drop in more than 100 years."[130]

Organization
The First Brazilian Baptist Church in Charlestown, Massachusetts

There are four levels of SBC organization: the local congregation, the local association, the state convention, and the national convention. There are 41 affiliated state conventions or fellowships.[6]

Main article: List of state and other conventions associated with the Southern Baptist Convention

The national and state conventions and local associations are conceived as a cooperative association by which churches can voluntarily pool resources[131] to support missionary and other work undertaken by them. Because of the basic Baptist principle of the autonomy of the local church[8] and the congregationalist polity of the SBC, neither the national convention nor the state conventions or local associations has any administrative or ecclesiastical control over local churches; although such a group may disfellowship a local congregation over an issue, they may not terminate its leadership or members or force its closure. Nor does the national convention have any authority over state conventions or local associations, nor do state conventions have authority over local associations. Furthermore, no individual congregation has any authority over any other individual congregation, except that a church may oversee another congregation voluntarily as a mission work, but that other congregation has the right to become an independent congregation at any time.

Article IV. Authority: While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or convention.[132]

The SBC maintains a central administrative organization in Nashville, Tennessee. The SBC's Executive Committee exercises authority and control over seminaries and other institutions owned by the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Southern Baptist Convention has around 10,000 ethnic congregations.[133] Commitment to the autonomy[8] of local congregations was the primary force behind the Executive Committee's rejection of a proposal to create a convention-wide database of SBC clergy accused of sexual crimes against congregants or other minors[134] in order to stop the "recurring tide"[135] of clergy sexual abuse within SBC congregations. A 2009 study by Lifeway Christian Resources, the convention's research and publishing arm, revealed that one in eight background checks for potential volunteers or workers in SBC churches revealed a history of crime that could have prevented them from working.[136]

The convention's statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message,[77] is not binding on churches or members due to the autonomy[8] of the local church (though SBC employees and missionaries must agree to its views as a condition of employment or missionary support). Politically and culturally, Southern Baptists tend to be conservative. Most oppose homosexual activity, and abortion with few exceptions.[7]

Pastor and deacon

Generally, Baptists recognize only two scriptural offices: pastor-teacher and deacon. The Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution in the early 1980s recognizing that offices requiring ordination are restricted to men. According to the Baptist Faith and Message, the office of pastor is limited to men based on certain New Testament scriptures. However, there is no prohibition in the Baptist Faith and Message against women serving as deacons.[137] Neither the BF&M or resolutions are binding upon local churches. Each church is responsible to search the Scriptures and establish its own policies based on how they decide to interpret the scripture.

Annual meeting
President Jimmy Carter addressing the SBC in Atlanta in 1978 (in 2009, Carter broke with the SBC over its position on the status of women).[138]

The Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting (held in June, over a two-day period) consists of delegates (called "messengers") from cooperating churches. The messengers confer and determine the programs, policies, and budget of the SBC and elect the officers and committees. Each cooperating church is allowed up to two messengers regardless of the amount given to SBC entities, and may have more depending on the amount of giving (either in terms of dollars or percent of the church's budget), but the maximum number of messengers permitted from any church is 12.

Missions and affiliated organizations

Cooperative Program

The Cooperative Program (CP) is the SBC's unified funds collection and distribution program for the support of regional, national and international ministries.[139] The CP is funded by contributions from SBC congregations.[139]

In the fiscal year ending September 30, 2008, the local congregations of the SBC reported gift receipts of $11.1 billion.[140] From this they sent $548 million, approximately five percent, to their state Baptist conventions through the CP.[140] Of this amount, the state Baptist conventions retained $344 million for their work. Two hundred and four million dollars was sent on to the national CP budget for the support of denomination-wide ministries.[140]

Missions agencies
Southern Baptist Convention Disaster Relief volunteers prepare food in Galveston, Texas, October 10, 2008

The Southern Baptist Convention was organized in 1845 primarily for the purpose of creating a mission board to support the sending of Baptist missionaries. The North American Mission Board, or NAMB, (founded as the Domestic Mission Board, and later the Home Mission Board) in Alpharetta, Georgia serves missionaries involved in evangelism and church planting in the U.S. and Canada, while the International Mission Board, or IMB, (originally the Foreign Mission Board) in Richmond, Virginia, sponsors missionaries to the rest of the world.

Among the more visible organizations within the North American Mission Board is Southern Baptist Disaster Relief. In 1967, a small group of Texas Southern Baptist volunteers helped victims of Hurricane Beulah by serving hot food cooked on small "buddy burners." In 2005, volunteers responded to 166 named disasters, prepared 17,124,738 meals, repaired 7,246 homes, and removed debris from 13,986 yards.[141] Southern Baptist Disaster Relief provides many different types: food, water, child care, communication, showers, laundry, repairs, rebuilding, or other essential tangible items that contribute to the resumption of life following the crisis—and the message of the Gospel. All assistance is provided to individuals and communities free of charge. SBC DR volunteer kitchens prepare much of the food distributed by the Red Cross in major disasters.[142]

Baptist Men is the mission organization for men in Southern Baptist Churches, and is under the North American Mission Board.

The Woman's Missionary Union, founded in 1888, is an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, which helps facilitate two large annual missions offerings: the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (for North American missions) and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering (for International missions).

Seminaries and colleges
Binkley Chapel at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

The SBC directly supports six theological seminaries devoted to religious instruction and ministry preparation.[143]

Other organizations
  • Baptist Press, the largest Christian news service in the country, was established by the SBC in 1946.
  • GuideStone Financial Resources (formerly called the Annuity Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, and founded in 1918 as the Relief Board of the Southern Baptist Convention) exists to provide insurance, retirement, and investment services to churches and to ministers and employees of Southern Baptist churches and agencies. Like many financial institutions during that time period, it underwent a severe financial crisis in the 1930s.
  • LifeWay Christian Resources, founded as the Baptist Sunday School Board in 1891, which is one of the largest Christian publishing houses in America. It previously operated the "LifeWay Christian Stores" (formerly "Baptist Book Stores") chain of bookstores, until closing all stores in 2019 (but still operates an online service).
  • Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (formerly known as the Christian Life Commission of the SBC) is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention that is dedicated to addressing social and moral concerns and their implications on public policy issues from City Hall to Congress and the courts (among other things it files amici briefs on various cases where religious liberty is potentially threatened). Its mission is "To awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation."
  • The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives, in Nashville, Tennessee, serves as the official depository for the archives of the Southern Baptist Convention and a research center for the study of Baptists worldwide. The website for the SBHLA includes digital resources.[144]
gollark: the the the word tjwld correct agree I is.
gollark: Aren't the old AMD "heavy machinery"-named ones pretty awful?
gollark: No, they're the same thing, but they make the GPUs into fancy expansion cards and sellotape a few together on the PCB so they have more cores.
gollark: Er, Krist is actually the *universe's* main currency... honestly...
gollark: They gave them a virtual environment to make them seem more human, but it has its limits.

See also

Notes
  1. The era of conservative resurgence was accompanied by the erosion of more-liberal members (see, e.g., G. Avery Lee).

References

Footnotes
  1. "Southern Baptist Convention continues statistical decline, Floyd calls for rethinking ACP process". Baptist Press. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  2. Pipes, Carol (June 7, 2016). "ACP: More churches reported; baptisms decline". Baptist Press. Southern Baptist Convention. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  3. Johnson 2010, p. 349.
  4. "Report on Slavery and Racism in the History of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary" (PDF). Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. December 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
  5. "Southern Baptist Convention", The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, Encyclopedia.
  6. "About Us: Meet the Southern Baptists". Southern Baptist Convention. Retrieved August 25, 2010.
  7. "Fact box: The Southern Baptist Convention". Reuters. June 10, 2008. Retrieved July 6, 2010.
  8. "Autonomy of local church", About us (position paper), SBC.
  9. "SBC: Giving increases while baptisms continue decline". Baptist Press. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  10. "Origins of the Particular Baptists". The Gospel Coalition. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  11. Baptist Pioneers in America, Mainstream Baptists, retrieved February 3, 2013.
  12. Baker, Robert A (1979). "Southern Baptist Beginnings". Baptist History & Heritage Society. Archived from the original on October 18, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2012.
  13. Taylor 1859, pp. 57, 60, 71, 83.
  14. "The Church in the Southern Black Community: Introduction". docsouth.unc.edu. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  15. Raboteau 2004, p. 178-79.
  16. Miller & Smith 1997.
  17. Kolchin 1993.
  18. Isaac 1974.
  19. Ketcham, Ralph L (1990) [1971], James Madison: A Biography (paperback), Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, p. 57, ISBN 978-0-8139-1265-3.
  20. Beeman 1978.
  21. Kroll-Smith 1984.
  22. 1893-1987., Armstrong, O. K. (Orland Kay) (1979). The Baptists in America. Armstrong, Marjorie Moore. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday. p. 187. ISBN 0385146558. OCLC 4983547.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. "Baptists in America: A History | Reviews in History". reviews.history.ac.uk. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  24. Heyrman 1998, pp. 10–18, 155.
  25. Raboteau 2004, p. 188.
  26. Shurden, Walter B. (January 1, 2002). "The origins of the Southern Baptist Convention: a historiographical study". Baptist History and Heritage. 37 (1).
  27. Early 2008, pp. 100–101.
  28. Cathcart, William, ed. (1883), The Baptist Encyclopedia (rev ed.), Philadelphia: William Carey University, p. 1077, retrieved April 25, 2007.
  29. Sherman, Dayne (June 24, 2012). "Southern Baptist Convention in black, white". Sunday Star. Hammond, LA. pp. 4A, 5A. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved June 24, 2012.
  30. Shurden, Walter B; Varnadoe, Lori Redwine (2002), "The origins of the Southern Baptist Convention: A historiographical study", Baptist History and Heritage, 37 (1): 71–96.
  31. McBeth 1987.
  32. McBeth 1987, p. 505.
  33. First Baptist Church building landmark restoration, Christian index, archived from the original on December 11, 2013.
  34. Raboteau 2004, p. 137.
  35. Love, Emanuel King (1888). "History of the First African Baptist Church, from its Organization, January 20th, 1788, to July 1st, 1888. Including the Centennial Celebration, Addresses, Sermons, etc". The Morning News Print. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
  36. Nutter, HE (1940), A Brief History of the First Baptist Church (Black) Lexington, Kentucky, retrieved August 22, 2010.
  37. Spencer, John H (1886), A History of Kentucky Baptists: From 1769–1885, II, Cincinnati, OH: JR Baumes, p. 657, retrieved August 23, 2010.
  38. Brooks 1922; Raboteau 2004.
  39. Raboteau 2004.
  40. "The Church in the Southern Black Community", Documenting the South, University of North Carolina, 2004, retrieved Jan 15, 2009
  41. Brooks 1922.
  42. "The Southern Baptists: Luter's turn: By electing a black leader, the church shows how far it has come", The Economist, March 17, 2012.
  43. "Social change and the Southern Baptists". The Economist. October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
  44. Tull 2000, p. 85.
  45. McBeth 1987, pp. 446–58.
  46. McBeth 1987, pp. 681ff.
  47. Hefley 1991.
  48. James et al. 2006.
  49. Steinfels, Peter (March 11, 1994). "Baptists Dismiss Seminary Head In Surprise Move". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  50. Dilday 2007, p. 2.
  51. Humphreys 2002.
  52. "Southern Baptist Convention > Resolution On Abortion". Southern Baptist Convention.
  53. "Southern Baptist Convention > Resolution On Abortion and the Sanctity of Human Life". Southern Baptist Convention.
  54. "Southern Baptist Convention > Resolution On Abortion". Southern Baptist Convention.
  55. Roach, David (January 16, 2015). "How Southern Baptists became pro-life". Baptist Press. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  56. "Resolution on racial reconciliation on the 150th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention". SBC. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved April 8, 2014.
  57. Priest & Priest 2007, p. 275; Priest & Nieves 2007, p. 339.
  58. Salmon, Jacqueline L (February 15, 2008), "Southern Baptists Diversifying to Survive: Minority Outreach Seen as Key to Crisis", The Washington Post.
  59. Pope, John (June 19, 2012), "The Rev. Fred Luter Jr. of New Orleans elected first black president of Southern Baptist Convention", The Times-Picayune.
  60. "Tuesday Evening", Annual meeting, Southern Baptist Convention, June 15, 1999.
  61. Foust, Michael (June 21, 2012), "Wrap-up: Historic meeting sees messengers elect 1st black president, approve descriptor", News, Baptist Press, archived from the original on June 27, 2012.
  62. "Resolution 7: On Sensitivity and Unity Regarding the Confederate Battle Flag". June 14, 2016.
  63. "Southern Baptists Vote to Support Refugee Resettlement After Trump Says to Ban All Muslim Immigration".
  64. "Southern Baptists Split With Donald Trump On Refugee Resettlement".
  65. Southern Baptists denounce white supremacy - CNN Video, retrieved June 16, 2017
  66. "Southern Baptist Convention > First Baptist Sutherland Springs". www.sbc.net. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  67. Dakin Andone; Kaylee Hartung; Darran Simon. "At least 26 people killed in shooting at Texas church". CNN. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  68. Weill, Kelly (November 5, 2017). "Deadliest Church Shooting in American History Kills at Least 26". The Daily Beast. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  69. Downen, Robert; Olsen, Lise; Tedesco, John (February 10, 2019). "20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  70. "More Abuse of Faith: Southern Baptist churches harbored sex offenders". Houston Chronicle. June 3, 2019. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  71. Phillips, Kristine; Wang, Amy B. (February 10, 2019). "'Pure evil': Southern Baptist leaders condemn decades of sexual abuse revealed in investigation". Washington Post. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  72. Downen, Robert; Olsen, Lise; Tedesco, John (February 10, 2019). "20 years, 700 victims: SBC sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reforms". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  73. "Abuse of Faith: Search our database". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  74. Olsen, Lise; Downen, Robert; Tedesco, John; Rubio, Jordan; Dempsey, Matt; Lee, Joyce; Gleason, Rachael. "Abuse of Faith: A Chronicle Investigation". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  75. "Southern Baptists Vote To Hold Churches More Accountable For Mishandling Abuse Claims". NPR.org. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  76. Burgess, Holly Meyer and Katherine. "Southern Baptists gathered in Alabama amid a reckoning over sexual abuse. How they addressed the crisis". The Tennessean. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  77. Comparison of 1925, 1963, 2000 versions, SBC.
  78. "Committee Response to Initial Feedback". Baptist Faith and Message Study Committee. May 26, 2000. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  79. Hankins 2002, pp. 223, 225.
  80. "imbConnecting", imbConnecting: President asks missionaries to sign BF&M affirmation (position paper), SBC, retrieved August 7, 2015.
  81. "imbConnecting", imbConnecting: IMB asking missionaries to decide about BF&M request (position paper), SBC, retrieved August 7, 2015.
  82. "SBC Pastors Polled on Calvinism and Its Effect" (Press release). LifeWay Research. June 19, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  83. Finn 2010, p. 73.
  84. "Charismatic Southern Baptists". Way of Life Literature. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  85. Two persons mentioned in Cloud's report—James Robison and Pat Robertson—though at one time were Southern Baptist, have since left the denomination.
  86. "Cooperation", About us (position paper), SBC.
  87. "Creeds", About us (position paper), SBC.
  88. "Missions", About us (position paper), SBC.
  89. Priesthood of all believers (position paper), SBC.
  90. Sanctity of life (position paper), SBC, archived from the original on October 25, 2006
  91. Sexuality (position paper), SBC.
  92. Soul Competency (position paper), SBC.
  93. Women in ministry (position paper), SBC.
  94. "Basic Beliefs: Baptism & the Lord's Supper". Southern Baptist Convention. 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2019. The Lord's Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members [...] memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His Second Coming.
  95. "LifeWay Surveys Lord's Supper Practices of SBC Churches" (Press release). LifeWay Research. September 17, 2012. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
  96. Finn 2010, pp. 68–69.
  97. "Resolution on the Place of Women in Christian Service". SBC. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  98. See Morris & Lee 2005, pp. 355–363, for a discussion of attitudes regarding gender and their relationship to ministry.
  99. "The Feminist Chronicles, 1953-1993 - 1973 - Feminist Majority Foundation".
  100. Ledbetter, Tammi Reed (October 2000), "SBC and Women Pastors, Comprehensive Report Does Not Sustain Inflated Statistics", Baptist 2 Baptist, retrieved July 19, 2007.
  101. "Comparison of 1925, 1963 and 2000 Baptist Faith and Message". Online: http://www.sbc.net/bfm2000/bfmcomparison.asp. Accessed: 7 Aug 2015
  102. Campbell, Kristen, "Baptist Church Ousted for Hiring Woman Pastor", Religion News Service, archived from the original on November 7, 2007, retrieved September 26, 2007.
  103. Campbell-Reed, Eileen R; Durso, Pamela R (2006), Assessing Attitudes About Women in Baptist Life (PDF), CBE international, archived from the original (PDF) on December 29, 2010.
  104. "Southern Baptist Convention > Commentary on Article XVIII – The Family". www.sbc.net. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  105. McClelland, Mark. The Baptist Messenger. April 4, 2011. A theological perspective on the 'invitation/altar call'
  106. "Church Membership Covenants – Legal Contracts that are NOT Biblical! | The Wartburg Watch 2020". thewartburgwatch.com. Retrieved July 22, 2020.
  107. Smietana, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, Morgan Lee, and Bob. "Former Member Accepts Acts 29 Megachurch Apology in Church Discipline Case". ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved February 11, 2019.
  108. "Southern Baptist Convention Statistical Summary – 2009" (PDF), BP news, retrieved February 13, 2011.
  109. SBC Baptisms and Churches Increased in 2011, Membership Declined: 2011 ACP, Lifeway, retrieved August 9, 2013.
  110. Historical Statistics of the US, H805, 1976 (with 2005 estimate from Convention figures).
  111. "SBC reports more churches, fewer people", Baptist Press, retrieved June 21, 2015.
  112. Southern Baptist numbers, baptisms drop, AJC, April 24, 2008.
  113. Resources, Carol Pipes, LifeWay Christian. "Report: Southern Baptist Churches up in 2016; Baptisms, Membership Decline - Word and Way". Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  114. "ACP: Worship attendance rises, baptisms decline". Baptist Press. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  115. SBC leaders lament lack of evangelistic passion evidenced by annual report, Lifeway, retrieved August 28, 2014.
  116. SBC Statistics By State Convention - 2013, Lifeway, retrieved August 28, 2014.
  117. RCS comparison 1990–2000 (PDF), Namb.
  118. Baptists 4 ethics (PDF), April 30, 2008, archived from the original (PDF) on October 28, 2008
  119. Life way, archived from the original on April 30, 2008
  120. Harris, Hamil; Hunter, Jeannine (June 22, 2012). "Southern Baptists Elect a Black Leader and Raise Hopes for Increased Diversity". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  121. "Southern Baptists Down to Lowest in 30 Years". Chrisrianity Today. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  122. Ed Stetzer (April 23, 2008). "Breaking News" (blog). Life way. Archived from the original on January 13, 2010. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  123. "Have Southern Baptists joined the evangelical decline?". Christian index. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  124. "Study updates stats on health of Southern Baptist churches – News with a Christian Perspective". News. Baptist Press. November 15, 2004. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  125. Dallas news, archived from the original on August 28, 2010
  126. Lovan, Dylan T (June 19, 2009), Southern Baptists to gather in Kentucky, The Associated Press.
  127. McMullen, Cary (June 17, 1999). "Any way you count it, fewer Southern Baptists". Palatka Daily News. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  128. "Texas Baptists affirm change in funding SBC". Archived from the original on August 26, 2014.
  129. Weiss, Jeffrey (October 31, 2000), "Moderate Baptists cut conservative seminaries' funds; Action signals their continued discontent with leadership of the nation's largest Protestant denomination", Dallas Morning News, retrieved June 25, 2012.
  130. "Southern Baptist Convention continues statistical decline, Floyd calls for rethinking ACP process". Baptist Press. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  131. SBC membership does not prohibit a church from also supporting missionaries directly or also supporting other parachurch organizations such as Wycliffe Bible Translators.
  132. "Constitution", About Us, SBC.
  133. Allen, Sheila (December 31, 2008). "Ethnic churches: Japanese church members live out faith, change lives". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on May 10, 2011. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  134. "The Top 10 Everything of 2008". Time. November 3, 2008. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  135. Ulrich, Elizabeth (June 19, 2008). "Save Yourselves". Nashville Scene (feature). Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  136. "Background checks help churches protect children". Lifeway. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  137. "Can women be pastors or deacons in the SBC?", FAQs – Frequently Asked Questions, SBC.
  138. Carter, Jimmy (June 15, 2009). "Losing my religion for equality". The Age. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  139. "What is the Cooperative Program?". Southern Baptist Convention. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
  140. Annual of the 2009 Southern Baptist Convention (PDF). Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention. June 2009. pp. 109–11. Retrieved March 21, 2010.
  141. CBADR, archived from the original on November 5, 2013, retrieved March 20, 2010.
  142. "Katrina One Year Report" (PDF). Red cross. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 21, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  143. "Southern Baptist Theological Seminaries". www.sbc.net. Retrieved June 27, 2016.
  144. "Southern Baptist Historical Library & Archive - Baptist history, Baptist Archives, church records, church history". www.sbhla.org. Retrieved February 11, 2019.

Bibliography
Beeman, Richard R. (1978). "Social Change and Cultural Conflict in Virginia: Lunenburg County, 1746 to 1774". William and Mary Quarterly. 35 (3): 455–76. doi:10.2307/1921659. JSTOR 1921659.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Brooks, Walter H. (1922). "The Evolution of the Negro Baptist Church". Journal of Negro History. 7 (1): 11–22. doi:10.2307/2713578. JSTOR 2713578.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Dilday, Russell (2007). Higher Ground: A Call for Christian Civility. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys Publishing. ISBN 978-1-57312-469-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Early, Joseph, Jr., ed. (2008). Readings in Baptist History: Four Centuries of Selected Documents. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8054-4674-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Finn, Nathan A. (2010). "Southern Baptist History: A Great Commission Reading". In Lawless, Chuck; Greenway, Adam W. (eds.). The Great Commission Resurgence: Fulfilling God's Mandate in Our Time. Nashville, Tennessee: B&H Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-4336-7216-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Hefley, James C. (1991). The Truth in Crisis. Volume 6: The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. Hannibal, Missouri: Hannibal Books. ISBN 978-0-929292-19-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Heyrman, Christine Leigh (1998). Southern Cross: The Beginning of the Bible Belt. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Hankins, Barry (2002). Uneasy in Babylon: Southern Baptist Conservatives and American Culture. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-5081-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Humphreys, Fisher (2002). The Way We Were: How Southern Baptist Theology Has Changed and What It Means to Us All. Macon, Georgia: Smyth & Helwys. ISBN 978-1-57312-376-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Isaac, Rhys (1974). "Evangelical Revolt: The Nature of the Baptists' Challenge to the Traditional Order in Virginia, 1765 to 1775". William and Mary Quarterly. 31 (3): 345–68. doi:10.2307/1921628. JSTOR 1921628.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
James, Robison B.; Jackson, Barbara; Shepherd, Robert E., Jr.; Showalter, Cornelia (2006). The Fundamentalist Takeover in the Southern Baptist Convention: A Brief History (PDF) (4th ed.). Washington, Georgia: Wilkes Publishing Company. Retrieved October 15, 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Johnson, Robert E. (2010). A Global Introduction to Baptist Churches. Cambridge University Press. p. 349. ISBN 978-1139788984.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Kolchin, Peter (1993). American Slavery, 1619–1877. New York: Hill & Wang. ISBN 978-0-8090-2568-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Kroll-Smith, J. Stephen (1984). "Transmitting a Revival Culture: The Organizational Dynamic of the Baptist Movement in Colonial Virginia, 1760–1777". Journal of Southern History. 50 (4): 551–68. doi:10.2307/2208472. JSTOR 2208472.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
McBeth, H. Leon (1987). The Baptist Heritage: Four Centuries of Baptist Witness. Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press. ISBN 978-0-8054-6569-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Miller, Randall M.; Smith, John David, eds. (1997). Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery (2nd ed.). Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-95799-5. Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Morris, Aldon D.; Lee, Shayne (2005). "The National Baptist Convention: Traditions and Contemporary Challenges" (PDF). In Roozen, David A.; Nieman, James R. (eds.). Church, Identity, and Changes: Theology and Denominational Structures in Unsettled Times. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. pp. 336–379. ISBN 978-0-8028-2819-4. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved October 25, 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Priest, Kersten Bayt; Priest, Robert J. (2007). "Divergent Worship Practices in the Sunday Morning Hour: Analysis of an 'Interracial' Church Merger Attempt". In Priest, Robert J.; Nieves, Alvaro L. (eds.). This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith. Oxford University Press. pp. 275–292. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310566.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-531056-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Priest, Robert J.; Nieves, Alvaro L., eds. (2007). "Appendix I: Timeline: Race and Ethnicity in the United States". This Side of Heaven: Race, Ethnicity, and Christian Faith. Oxford University Press. pp. 335–339. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310566.001.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-531056-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Raboteau, Albert J. (2004). Slave Religion: The "Invisible Institution" in the Antebellum South (updated ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-517413-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Taylor, James B. (1859). Virginia Baptist Ministers. 1. New York: Sheldon and Company. Retrieved October 15, 2016.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
Tull, James E. (2000). High-Church Baptists in the South: The Origin, Nature, and Influence of Landmarkism (rev. ed.). Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-705-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

Further reading
Ammerman, Nancy (1990), Baptist Battles: Social Change and Religious Conflict in the Southern Baptist Convention, Rutgers University Press.
 ——— , ed. (1993), Southern Baptists Observed, University of Tennessee Press.
Baker, Robert, ed. (1966), A Baptist Source Book, Nashville, TN: Broadman.
 ———  (1974), The Southern Baptist Convention and Its People, 1607–1972, Broadman.
Barnes, William. The Southern Baptist Convention, 1845–1953 Broadman Press, 1954.
Eighmy, John. Churches in Cultural Captivity: A History of the Social Attitudes of Southern Baptists. University of Tennessee Press, 1972.
Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists: Presenting Their History, Doctrine, Polity, Life, Leadership, Organization & Work Knoxville: Broadman Press, v 1–2 (1958), 1500 pp; 2 supplementary volumes 1958 and 1962; vol 5. Index, 1984
Farnsley II, Arthur Emery, Southern Baptist Politics: Authority and Power in the Restructuring of an American Denomination; Pennsylvania State University Press, 1994
Flowers, Elizabeth H. Into the Pulpit: Southern Baptist Women and Power Since World War II (University of North Carolina Press; 2012) 263 pages; examines women's submission to male authority as a pivotal issue in the clash between conservatives and moderates in the SBC
Fuller, A. James. Chaplain to the Confederacy: Basil Manly and Baptist Life in the Old South (2002)
Gatewood, Willard. Controversy in the 1920s: Fundamentalism, Modernism, and Evolution. Vanderbilt University Press, 1969.
Harvey, Paul. Redeeming the South: Religious Cultures and Racial Identities among Southern Baptists, 1865–1925. University of North Carolina Press, 1997
Hill, Samuel, et al. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South (2005)
Hunt, Alma. Woman's Missionary Union (1964) Online free
Kell, Carl L. and L. Raymond Camp, In the Name of the Father: The Rhetoric of the New Southern Baptist Convention. Southern Illinois University Press, 1999.
Kidd, Thomas S. and Barry Hankins. Baptists in America: A History. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2015.
Leonard, Bill J. God's Last and Only Hope: The Fragmentation of the Southern Baptist Convention. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990.
Lumpkin, William L. Baptist History in the South: Tracing through the Separates the Influence of the Great Awakening, 1754–1787 (1995)
McSwain, Larry L. Loving Beyond Your Theology: The Life and Ministry of Jimmy Raymond Allen (Mercer University Press; 2010) 255 pages. A biography of the Arkansas-born pastor (b. 1927), who was the last moderate president of the SBC
Marsden, George. Fundamentalism and American Culture: The Shaping of 20th Century Evangelicalism. Oxford University Press, 1980.
Religious Congregations & Membership in the United States, Glenmary Research Center, 2000.
Rosenberg, Ellen (1989), The Southern Baptists: A Subculture in Transition, University of Tennessee Press.
Scales, T. Laine. All That Fits a Woman: Training Southern Baptist Women for Charity and Mission, 1907–1926 Mercer U. Press 2002
Smith, Oran P. The Rise of Baptist Republicanism (1997), on recent voting behavior
Spain, Rufus B. At Ease in Zion: A Social History of Southern Baptists, 1865–1900 (1961)
Sutton, Jerry. The Baptist Reformation: The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention (2000).
Wills, Gregory A. Democratic Religion: Freedom, Authority, and Church Discipline in the Baptist South, 1785–1900. Oxford University Press, 1997
Yarnell III, Malcolm B. The Formation of Christian Doctrine (2007), on Baptist theology
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.