The CBF has a new, but still secret, leader?

[Sandy]

The search committee seems to be all pretty much cut from the same cloth, in terms of their CBF involvement, chaired by the ever-present, perpetually appointed George Mason. So the only guess I would venture as to who it is would be that it's not him, but his influence in CBF is pervasive. A Texas Baptist, perhaps?

[Ed Pettibone]

[Sandy]

[Ed Pettibone]

[Stephen Fox]

I understand it is imminent

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: You read the calendar well Steve. According to an ABP story toward the end of October Keith Herron CBF Moderator said "the candidate’s name will be announced Jan. 18, when the recommendation comes to the CBF advisory council. “At that time the identity of that person will become public knowledge,”

However the nominee will not be voted on until the the meeting of the full Board in February. We are getting closer.

[Jerry_B]

Whew! Almost there, can't wit to read who it is and like most everyone else go " who is that?"

[Neil Heath]

Apparently the name has been leaked, perhaps deliberately, prior to the official announcement, according to what I heard.

I've been told who it is, but I'll wait to see if my sources are correct. I will say it is a woman this time.

UPDATE: Since I posted this a short while ago, I now see ABP reports the announcement of SuziI Paynter as the candidate at a press conference today. My sources were spot on.

[Haruo]

[Haruo]

I guess ABP never heard of Helen Barrett Montgomery?

ABP wrote: "If elected, Paynter would join Sharon Watkins of the Disciples of Christ and the Episcopal Church’s Katharine Jefferts Schori as one of the few women ever to lead a national denominational organization in the United States."

As says of Montgomery (who also produced a very interesting translation of the New Testament), "In 1921 she was elected as the first woman president of the Northern Baptist Convention (and of any religious denomination in the United States)."

Though I think the Shakers may have had her beat by more than a century, and of course there were the Antinomians..........

[Haruo]

Neil, does she actually prefer her last "i" capitalized? Not having heard of her before, I initially searched for news about "SUZIL" Paynter; for once I was the beneficiary of Google's way-too-smart auto-correction bent. (Usually I'm searching for oddball spellings, and the last thing I want is for a search engine to correct my spelling!)

Not a fan of sans-serif fonts!

[Tim Bonney]

[Big Daddy Weaver]

[Tim Bonney]

[Neil Heath]

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Aaron it is good to hear from you. And I appreciate your passing along Bob Allan's explanation of his gaff.
As a seasoned journalist he should have made himself more clear.

To see the item to which Haruo referred see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Barrett_Montgomery for the way the Northern Baptist Operated in 1921, I am satisfied that she is fully entitled to the designation of the first woman to head a religious denomination in the U.S.

BTW, I just found your paper on Charles Evan Hughes. Have it bookmarked and plan to study it more closely in the near future. I am currently working with the 1st Baptist Church of Glens Falls where Hughes' Father was pastor well before there was the designation " Northern Baptist Convention ", as they search for a new pastor.


And Tim, you may recall Hughes a layman (At the time, Govenor of NY) was the first president of the Northern Baptist Convention .

Right now I have to get back to the So. Florida - Rutgers, Basket ball game.

[Tim Bonney]

[Big Daddy Weaver]

I'm fine calling Montgomery that. I think it is a very accurate description. I do think that Montgomery's role or Suzii's upcoming role should be distinguished from say the role of Joy Fenner, the first woman president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. That position in Texas is a very figurehead role with no executive powers.

As to Charles Hughes, he's one of the most fascinated and distinguished Baptists in the history of Baptists! But aside from my article that I wrote for American Baptist Quarterly a couple years back, little has been written on Hughes from a Baptist perspective. But Hughes was incredibly influential as Secretary of State and then as Chief Justice of Supreme Court, overseeing some of the most critical and widely cited decisions ever.

Hughes had an interesting relationship with Booker T. Washington that deserves further examination for sure.

[Tim Bonney]

Well I don't know a thing about Ms. Paynter but I'm sure the committee worked very hard to make a good choice. Kudos for choosing a qualified woman for the job.

[Ed Pettibone]

[Tim Bonney]

[Ed Pettibone]

[Neil Heath]

I think we'll try to attend the Greensboro meeting, too. Looking forward to seeing friends again.