Church Family,
I pray you are growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord today!
I do not often write about the more extensive workings of Great Commission Baptists (SBC), but there have been issues in the news over the last few weeks that may have caught your attention and raised concern. You may be wondering, “What’s going on?”
Controversy at the EC
The first issue relates to the sexual abuse investigation of the Executive Committee (EC) ordered by the Convention this past summer in Nashville. The EC represents the interests of the Convention between annual meetings. Concerning accusations have surfaced this past year about the EC’s handling of sexual abuse cases. Messengers in Nashville approved a motion directing the EC to cooperate with an open investigation into its processing of such cases, which included a requirement to wave attorney-client privilege.
In its first meeting since the Nashville Convention, the EC voted in a split decision against following the Convention's motion in an unprecedented action. A majority of EC members wanted to pursue a model for the investigation that would avoid waiving attorney-client privilege. This decision set of a firestorm. A key issue at stake was whether a convention entity could thwart the expressed directive of the Convention. It is my understanding that no entity has explicitly defied a messenger-approved motion in this way. This vote was concerning to many, especially coming on the heels of the Nashville Convention, where several apparent efforts by the EC to expand its authority were voted down by messengers.
In the wake of the storm, the EC reconvened in several called sessions. Eventually, enough votes were swayed to change the decision and approve moving forward with the messenger’s motion. The sexual abuse investigation has started, and its findings will be made public before the 2022 annual meeting.
Resignations
The second issue surrounds the fallout at the EC from this decision. A handful of committee members have resigned. The attorneys who have represented the EC for decades gave notice that they will not continue due to the waiver of attorney-client privilege. Lastly, Ronnie Floyd, the executive committee president, resigned. In the wake of Nashville and the EC's change of decisions to follow the messenger's motion, which Floyd did not support, the resignation was not surprising. Floyd had served in this role for just over two years. The EC is beginning the search process for a new president.
What does all this mean?
I heard someone say recently, “Things are not as good as the annual meeting makes them out to be, nor are they as bad as they appear on social media.” This seems right. First, all should agree that it is good that the investigation into the EC’s handling of sexual abuse cases is moving forward. If missteps have been made in this area, shine the light and bring correction. Second, every faithful Great Commission Baptist church can celebrate that our mission efforts are going forward. We are a convention of tens of thousands of churches supporting thousands of missionaries worldwide, thousands of church planters in North America, and six biblically faithful seminaries. This dust-up around the EC and future actions of the committee need to be monitored, but the reasons we cooperate with other churches remain unchanged.
If you want to read further, I recommend Baptist Press’s coverage.
For His Glory,
Pastor Thomas