sbc stuff

I grew up going to Southern Baptist churches, and am grateful for the ways I was loved and taught. I did most of my MDiv work at Southwestern Baptist Seminary. It has saddened me to have to distance myself from the Southern Baptist Convention, but we have been moving in different directions for many years now.

I often find myself explaining to people that I love the history and theology of Baptists, but that I no longer feel any connection to Southern Baptists. The SBC has such a negative image in our culture these days; in my opinion, it is deserved.

I rarely get into these discussions, but saw some stuff coming out of the SBC national meeting this week that helps explain my feelings.

In his opening address, SBC Executive Committee president Morris Chapman said, 

"Southern Baptists believe that the local church in New Testament times was autonomous, and thus our local churches are autonomous."

Later a proposal was referred to the executive committee that would amend the SBC's constitution to disallow affiliation by churches that have female senior pastors. So much for church autonomy.