Doesn’t mean there’s life, though.

I’m sure Danny Akin’s thoughts and expressions are genuine. And if so, he and those sharing his sentiments may yet provide hope for ‘The Convention’ and its future. Problem is, he just restated , nearly verbatim, what Stetzer’s research has pointed out. I didn’t see Dr. Stetzer’s article as a ‘doomsday’ prophecy as much as merely stating fact and giving us all a great big “IF, THEN” scenario… “IF we continue to lose young leaders, infight, and fail to focus on the gospel, THEN there is little hope.” ‘The Convention’ can survive, or manage, just like a declining, dying or dead church. As long as 12 people continue to show up and pay the electricity bill each month, and someone is there to preach, it will ’survive.’

Unfortunately, I don’t think that’s enough for the bulk of biblical followers of Christ… and I’m not sure that they’ll hang around long enough to find out if the exodus, fighting, and focus are going to change and right the ship.

By the way, the article was very good. Thanks for the effort and the link.

Danny is one of the SBC’s best and brightest, though we are probably in disagreement over the future of the SBC, it will be because of men like him that it will survive…if it does.

And, yes, I believe it is the answer to many prayers.

As always I appreciate your insights. You have restated clearly.

Were not these the concerns written about a mere 3 years ago on Lifeway’s Young Leaders’ Forums? Didn’t we express our thoughts then that ‘The Convention’ was going the way of the dinosaur and that loosely-knit cooperative fellowships of like-hearted churches - some even crossing denominational barriers - were going to emerge?

Dr. Ed’s points - loss of young leaders; the hurtful, abusive infighting that appears to be the exception rather than the rule; and a return of focus on the Gospel - were the topics and thoughts of young leaders just a few years ago. Has anything changed?

I believe, just as I did then, that biblically sound local congregations will form partnerships with other churches with the same heart for their communities in order to reach the lost for Christ. Theses fellowships will replace the denominational construct we have now (kinda like the WCA.) What that does for theological education, cooperative missions effort (domestic & foreign,) and resources (like Dr. Stetzer and others….) I haven’t a clue.

Post-Denomination - On one hand, it has a scary, ominous feel like its lurking, waiting. On the other hand, isn’t it the result of the reform prayed for?

The Merritt situation was sad to me, but it was just more of the same.

I’ve done a lot of work in non-profit organizations from food banks in Washington DC to children’s homes in New Orleans and all points in between. And I find this to be true. Every organization is called into being by a real or deeply felt need. But, from the point of its birth, its primary purpose is the continuation of its own existence. What happens if the need is actually met? Does the organization go away? What happens if someone else creates a better way to meet the need? The problem comes with ownership, or a sense that we “own” something. That’s why the ruling class of Southern Baptists after 1979 was so upset. They felt that something they owned was taken from them. That’s why the ruling class in Southern Baptist life today is so keen on rule making and line drawing. They own it and they want to keep it. But it is in the clutching that the precious gift is lost.

The fate of the creative class in SBC life is sadly and aptly demonstrated by the response to Jonathan Merritt’s climate change statement. Bang, Bang Maxwell’s silver hammer came down upon his head. If that is how those in charge receive creative thinking, they write their own death sentence for the denomination they serve.