Leflore Baptist Association

Meaningful Meetings

Meetings…the word itself often causes a slight moment of anxiety for most of us, yet our lives are inundated with these calendar-filling, time-consuming assemblies. An estimated 11 million meetings are held every day in the US, and over the past few years, I’ve become convinced that many of those are related to Southern Baptist life!

While sitting still, thinking hard, and planning wisely for hours on end isn’t really my favorite way to spend a day, I’ve come to acknowledge that meetings really are a necessary inconvenience and many times a downright joy. I recently returned from the Southern Baptist National Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, where a recorded 16, 818 folks met to share what is being done to spread the Gospel and remain true to Scripture. It was a downright joy to be a part of sending 83 new International Mission Board missionaries around the globe. It was a downright joy to hear of the increase in salvations and baptisms all across the U.S. And it was a downright joy to connect with folks who are on the front-lines, loving Jesus and loving others.

There was also much business to take care of. The vote that drew the most attention this year was the Law Amendment, named after Mike Law who authored the constitutional amendment. The amendment states that a church will be “in friendly cooperation that affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.” The amendment failed to get a two-thirds majority required to change the constitution, leaving some to think that this means the Southern Baptist Convention has approved the idea of women pastors. This is not true. Many of those who voted against the amendment did so because they felt this issue is already addressed in our Articles of Faith, which states, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The fact that Southern Baptist still believe Scripture affirms men in the role of pastor was proven when 92% of the nearly 11,000 voting messengers voted to withdraw fellowship with First Baptist Church Alexandria, Virginia, for their practice of ordaining both men and women for the position of pastor.

Once again, I left the national meeting proud to be a part of the Southern Baptist family. We are not perfect by any means, but we have a deep desire to be biblical and mission-minded. Next year’s SBC National Convention will be held in Dallas, Texas, June 9-11. If you’ve never had the opportunity to go, consider marking your calendar now. I can guarantee you this is a meaningful meeting worth attending!

His,

Bentley Hill