Baptist TwentyOne – Great Commission Resurgence Panel from Southeastern Seminary on Vimeo.
Baptist21 was privileged to host a GCR Panel discussion with members of the GCR Task Force at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The panelists included Danny Akin, Al Gilbert, J.D. Greear, Ronnie Floyd (Via Skype), and Albert Mohler and Johnny Hunt (via video recording). The panelists were clear and direct in answering tough questions that have been raised since the release of the report.
Future B21 Events: B21 would also like to make everyone aware of a panel discussion that we will host at this year’s SBC in Orlando. For more information and registration. Register today and tell others about it.
In addition, B21 will host “Men on Mission” in Missouri May 10 with Darrin Patrick, Alvin Reid, Bruce Ashford, and Kenny Qualls. Click here for more information and here for Registration.
Special Thanks: Baptist21 wants to extend a special thanks to the Media Services department at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Mike Hawley, the Director of Media Services, along with Jon Rice and Ryan Phillips worked very hard to make sure this chapel service went well. We asked a lot of them to weave in skype and video answers and this chapel would not have gone smoothly without their help. Baptist21 is indebted to them.
What is “B21 Men on Mission” A one-day event covering the topics of men in the Church and men on mission.
Why this topic? There seems to be a tendency for men in our culture to be complacent and take the path of ease, or to be grown children who are consumers and those who are limited on commitment. However, God’s mission calls them instead to something radically different, courage, commitment, and action. Come hear godly, experienced ministers lay out God’s mission for men, especially young men, in the world and in service to His Church.
When is this event? Monday MAY 10 (Noon to 5pm)
Where is this event? First Baptist Church Arnold, Missouri (about 30 minutes from St. Louis, MO)
Who is speaking at this event?
In addition lunch and free books will be made available for those who register
Also don’t forget the “B21 Lunch Panel @ SBC2010″ with Matt Chandler, Ed Stetzer, Albert Mohler, Danny Akin, David Platt, and Jimmy Scroggins – for more information about this event click here and to register for this event click here
Scott Thomas, President and Director of Acts29, will join the B21 Panel @ the Advance the Church Conference. Baptist21 is excited to partner with Advance the Church by hosting a Panel lunch discussion during the Monday lunch hour of the up-coming Advance Conference and we are thankful that these men would give of their time to help us think through issues of Church Planting and Revitalization. REGISTER FOR THE B21 PANEL
Note: You must be registered to attend the Advance Conference, to attend this panel, so REGISTER for Advance
About the B21 Panel
B21 Panel Lunch @ ATC Topic: Church Planting vs. Church Revitalization.
When: The panel will be held Monday April 26 during the lunch session of the Advance the Church Conference (Roughly 12-1:30)
Where: In the “Bay” at the Summit Church
Who will be on the Panel:
This event will cost $6 which will include admission and a lunch from Chic Fil A
AN UPCOMING B21 EVENT: IN ADDITION TO THIS PANEL, CHECK OUT AN UPCOMING B21 EVENT IN MISSOURI WITH ACTS29 VICE PRESIDENT DARRIN PATRICK – REGISTER FOR THAT FREE EVENT
Submit a Question for the panel Below
Baptist21 would like to draw our reader’s attention to three GCR Articles of note. These three articles highlight important issues that are at stake and they are worth time reading as we think through how to be Southern Baptists in the 21st Century. The first article is by the State Executive of the Baptist Convention of New York. The second article is by Doug Baker, editor of the Baptist Messenger. The final article is from Jerry Rankin, President of the International Mission Board. Baptist21 is very thankful for the boldness of these men.
GCRTF VIEWPOINT: Denominational employees should stop defending … a paycheck
Posted on Apr 16, 2010 at BaptistPress | by Terry Robertson
EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y. (BP)–The Southern Baptist Convention is falling far short of fulfilling the Great Commission and that fact is painfully clear in the Baptist Convention of New York. If nothing else, I believe the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force report should serve as a wakeup call for New Yorkers and Southern Baptists that we are not getting the job done. Rather than minor adjustments to our structure, bold changes are needed and needed now! The growing number of lost people in North America is within and immediately surrounding the territory served by the BCNY. Our multi-state territory, once home to the Great Awakenings, is now home to more than 500 people groups and a record-high percentage of unsaved. I’m ready for a new approach, bold ideas and a better plan. I believe the progress report is on the right track. The current system is broken and denominational employees should stop defending what is not working just to keep a paycheck. And I count myself among that number. You cannot simultaneously have your heart in the mission and your head in the sand.
Notable Quote: “It’s time for Southern Baptists to be more concerned with reaching the lost than maintaining jobs, state convention structures and cooperative agreements.”
Editor’s Journal: CP: Its genius and risks
By Douglas Baker • April 19, 2010 •
Here is an excerpt from that article, it is well worth the read:
The Cooperative Program has been the SBC’s trellis for 85 years. It has developed and supported some of the finest theological seminaries in the world with tuition rates so low that pastors can actually graduate without debilitating debt. Many state convention-supported colleges and universities have blazed a path toward academic renewal grounded on a Christian worldview as they educate the nation’s future leaders. Long before adoption was the viable force it is today throughout the SBC, children’s homes were caring for orphans state by state. Baptist hospitals were founded on a Christian ethic of healthcare where the teachings of Jesus shape approaches to healing with an unapologetic pro-life approach. The elderly are treated with dignity through the work of retirement homes and senior adult care facilities. State conventions continue to quietly serve local churches in ways that build a network of congregations in friendly cooperation with one another for the purposes of planting new churches and revitalizing dying congregations. The North American Mission Board is home to the largest all-volunteer disaster relief force in the nation. Ask United States government agencies to identify the most effective disaster relief force in North America, and they will point to Southern Baptist disaster relief administered under the auspices of Baptist state conventions without hesitation. The SBC’s International Mission Board facilitates and supports a growing army of servant leaders who are strategically deployed like no other missionary force in the history of Christianity.
Today, the CP stands in danger of destruction through the sheer abandonment of many who see it not like a trellis to a vine, but like a welfare system in a non-productive economy. To be sure, the Cooperative Program has many visible cracks, resulting in a withering vine. Yet, is the answer to repair or replace the trellis? The answer depends on your perspective.
Later in the Article: The Cooperative Program was not designed and must not remain (as it is for some) a way of avoiding the danger, risk and inconvenience of active, personal ministry in and through a local church. Too often, the offering in the envelope becomes the means to assuage a guilty conscience. Worse still is the church that is unaware that it is denominationally enslaved to the point that they are, for all practical purposes, immobilized by simply giving money (and often lots of it) when personal sacrifice is demanded of every disciple of Jesus. Some Southern Baptist congregations have fallen prey to a dangerous dichotomy that enables them to feel self-assured before God through donated money that is not directly connected to Christian evangelism and missions. Certainly, the missional understanding of what money given by the church is to accomplish is ultimately the prerogative of each local congregation. Nevertheless, few Christians across the modern evangelical spectrum ever even think about leaving the comforts of home to relocate to a dangerous field of service. If the statistics are accurate, it takes nine Southern Baptist congregations to produce one International Mission Board missionary. This amounts to little more than financing a fantasy and naming it missions.
New Paradigm of Missions Support
By Jerry Rankin
I want to reiterate that in a critical assessment of the Cooperative Program there is no intention to do away with this effective and miraculous system of support for missions and a plethora of appropriate ministries. No mission agency has such a foundation of solid funding to send and support missionaries. No other denomination can do so much based on voluntary allocations from autonomous local churches without coercion or required donations…
Later in the Article –
NAMB cooperative agreements provided only $50 million to the states, but the state conventions received and retained $343 million in CP receipts. $307 million was received, retained and utilized by state conventions in the 14 mainline states of the Bible Belt, while only $36 million was received by the other 28 state conventions throughout the country.
The 14 mainline states have 37,509 of our reported 45,560 churches. That means these states kept and used 89.5 percent of Cooperative Program receipts by the states to use for programs in the most evangelized portion of our country where 82 percent of our churches are already concentrated! And appeals are being written of how their work will suffer if they don’t receive additional subsidies from the NAMB cooperative agreements.
Should NAMB be giving back even more resources to these states? Are they really going to become destitute if the cooperative agreements are phased out? This is why we need a strong, focused, well-funded North American mission board that creates a new paradigm of missions and church planting in the cities and pioneer areas of our country. Mainline states need to reassess what they are doing and how they could partner in a more significant way with pioneer states to channel their excessive resources to what is really missions. They need to explain what they are doing collectively with the $307 million they continue to receive before complaining about all they cannot do with NAMB subsidies withdrawn.
I believe the current reality of CP funding has diminished credibility in the system and been a disincentive to giving. There is no way we can say the priority of our current system is missions when more CP funds are used by the 14 most evangelized states that is going to the SBC and pioneer state conventions combined.
TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK HERE
TO READ MORE OF RANKIN’S STUFF ON THE GCR AND SBC CLICK HERE
Reminder: Baptist21 will be hosting a GCR Panel with members of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force next Wednesday at Southeastern Seminary. Submit a Question for that Event and make plans to attend.
Matt Chandler and Albert Mohler have been added to the B21 Panel Luncheon. They will join Danny Akin, David Platt, Jimmy Scroggins, and Ed Stetzer on this panel. We are grateful and indebted to these men that they would graciously give of their time to discuss the SBC, its future, and the Great Commission Resurgence.
What is the focus of the b21 panel: This will be a forum discussing the present and future of the SBC. There will be a major focus on the work and report of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. This is a significant time as we discuss how to best cooperate together in the Mission of God. Key questions will be raised for each panel member and there will be a time of Q & A.
When is the b21 panel: June 15th 11:30 am – 1:30 pm (during the lunch break of this year’s Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando immediately following President Hunt’s address). Lunch will be provided.
Where is the b21 panel: The panel will be on site at the Convention in Orange County Convention Center (OCCC), West Building in Rooms 311B-H
Who is on the b21 panel:
Why hold the b21 panel: This is a pivotal year for the SBC with the report coming from the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. This could be a “tipping point” for our future. We want to have significant leaders help guide us in thinking through these issues.
How much is the b21 panel: There will be a $7 charge that will accompany registration for the event. This $7 will include lunch and books.
Possible Topics at b21 panel: These are some possible topics that will be covered. In addition, there will be a future blog asking for your questions as well.
This is going to be a key year for the future of the SBC. We urge you to make plans to be in Orlando for it. We hope this panel will provide an exciting venue at the SBC for you to connect with others, receive resources, and gain insight from key leaders.
IN ADDITION CHECK OUT THE OTHER B21 EVENTS COMING UP AND REGISTER FOR THEM TODAY:
B21 Panel @ Advance the Church, Monday April 26 at noon (further details) – Panel discussing Church planting vs. Revitalization, featuring Ed Stetzer, J.D. Greear, Johnny Hunt, and Tyler Jones. REGISTER FOR THE EVENT HERE (160 Capacity) – $6 charge for admission and lunch. MUST BE REGISTERED TO ATTEND THE ADVANCE THE CHURCH CONFERENCE TO ATTEND THE B21 LUNCH
GCR Chapel @ SEBTS, April 28, 10am Binkley Chapel (further details) – GCR Task Force members Danny Akin, J.D. Greear, Al Gilbert, and by video Albert Mohler, Johnny Hunt, and Ronnie Floyd will discuss the GCR. NO REGISTRATION NEEDED.
B21 Mini-Conference in Missouri, May 10, FBC Arnold (further details) – Topic is “Men on Mission” featuring Darrin Patrick, Alvin Reid, Bruce Ashford, and Kenny Qualls. The first 45 registered will receive Dr. Reid’s new “Evangelism Handbook.” REGISTER
