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...as of today, so elected by IMB trustees.

Baptist Press had two stories up but they have disappeared. Here's ABP's:



Platt: pastor, Calvinist, PhD, no overseas mission experience (save for short term trips), token church Cooperative Program support, very strong Lottie Moon and direct IMB support, highly esteemed by younger SBs, generational change (his predecessor is 70, he is 35).

Most would say his selection is not unexpected but far from a safe choice.

Don't know anything about him. Guess that proves how far out of the SBC loop I am.

I support the choice.

From Joseph Patrick...aka Gerry Milligan

William, I originally posted this under the title "Schizophrenia" which is how I am viewing the election of David Platt.

The election of David Platt has caused some questions to mind...First, I have no doubt that he is a Man of God and an effective pastor. Those are givens. But when First Baker Cauthen and then Keith Parks retired there was a great deal of concern among active missionaries that whomever took over be "one of them." That practice was not completely accomplished with Tom Elliff, but he had been a missionary "briefly" according to many active missionaries.

Now, with the election of David Platt, I await what missionaries on the field are saying. For me, (and I am long gone from the field) I hope that he will revitalize what seems to be stagnant (no matter what the INFLATED figures say on the "Fast Facts" section of the IMB website.)

Since I posted this I have read Bart Barber's three blogs concerning this election and Paige Patterson's blog. It does not look as if he would be a unanimous choice in the Ft. Worth area.

Someone help me out, do I get the impression that a Calvanist has been elected to lead a world-wide effort to evangelize the world?

Grace and Peace Joseph Patrick (aka Gerry Milligan)
Joseph Patrick

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The bottom line in the SBC, before and after the conservative resurgence, is that the executive positions at the denominational agencies and institutions, especially the higher level, high dollar salaried executive positions, go to people who have the best developed network of influence. David Platt is one of the "up and coming" individuals who laid the groundwork for this with his book and video business. It's kind of like it is in church, where a half hour of golden voiced preaching gets you a unanimous vote of call. If you're on the mission field, it is out of sight, out of mind, and you don't have the means or ability to lobby the trustees. Cauthen and Parks had large networks of pastors and influential institutional leaders to push their cause. Most missionaries on the field today don't have that, unless they happen to come from one of the prominent congregations and their pastor uses his influence.

That being said, this is an administrative post, and the real management work goes on at a lower level, where there are plenty of former missionaries involved. The head of the agency doesn't necessarily need a high level of mission service to do the promotional and representation that is required of his position. Basically, it still requires the skill of preaching.

I've seen zero evidence to substantiate the charge that the statistics cited by the mission board are not accurate. I have several friends and former classmates who serve on the international mission field under the IMB in several places around the world, and what they say supports the information that the IMB puts out.

I guess we'll see. Wrangling an organization this size, this spread out has gotten the best of many, many enthusiastic and passionate pastors moving from local church work to denominational work. Will he be patient enough to slog through the red tape or will his enthusiasm get the best of him?

Also, his para church ministry Radical (radical.net) is going to continue, at least according to the video message he posted this evening. How is that going to work? Is the current Radical the future of IMB?

As I said, I guess we'll see.

From Joseph Patrick...aka Gerry Milligan

Sandy, you said, "I have several friends and former classmates who serve on the international mission field under the IMB in several places around the world, and what they say supports the information that the IMB puts out."

I know that we have had this discussion before, but I still do not see nor do I hear from the field where 4800 missionaries led 138,000 souls to the Lord last year. In fact, something like that would probably earn foot high headlines at Baptist press.

As Jerry B said, we shall wait and see.

Grace and Peace,
Joseph Patrick...aka Gerry Milligan

Well, you wouldn't expect a mega church pastor to give up his cash cow, now, would you? It's difficult to self-promote if you're not in the book and video business.

I'm guessing this is a stepping-stone position. I'm guessing he's getting into position to move into Lifeway when Rainer retires, or across the street at the executive office when Frank Page retires.

My mod friends would ordinarily be pleased to hear that their old nemesis, Paige Patterson, wrote that Platt was not his choice. According to mod/libs a tiny cabal controls all in the SBC.

Here's what's coming in the SBC for IMB:

Emphasis on alternative funding mechanisms. Platt's church gave only a token offering to the Cooperative Program and a huge amount to Lottie Moon and another huge amount direct to IMB for special projects. The church also gave a sizable amount directly to the SBC Executive Committee for distribution according to the CP allocation formula. Essentially, these practices are designed to cut out the state convention which in Platt's state, Alabama, like all state conventions keeps most of every CP dollar.

IMB gets only about 30% of their budget from the CP these days. To expand the field personnel numbers around the world necessitates some alternative funding sources.

I don't think Platt's calvinistic beliefs will generate any changes in the work and policies of the IMB. He is not a rabid Calvinist.

State Convention executives and employees will begin to speak more of the death of the CP, since they are dependent on it for survival. The seminaries, NAMB, IMB all have alternative funding streams.

The IMB has a trustee board of almost 100 people and, since it is the plum trustee assignment, these are people who are better connected in their states and in SBC life that others. That this group took a risk in calling such a young, SBC radical says something about what they think is important at this stage, smooth, slow denominational sailing or risk with the chance of far greater reward. They chose the latter route. There were many, many safe choices.

From Joseph Patrick...aka Gerry Milligan

Sandy said, "Do you get individual reports from all 4,800 missionaries on the field? I only hear from a few, who are friends of mine, but from what they tell me, if you add it up collectively, across the spectrum of countries where SBC missionaries work, 138,000 really isn't all that big of a number. One of my friends, in Brazil, has been there through two 4 year terms, and in that time, in their area of the country, the number of churches has doubled, and many of their new church plants are over 500 in attendance, in a very short period of time. It's not just 4,800 missionaries doing the work."

Sandy, I receive electronic updates from many colleagues who are still IMB missionaries, also I receive updates from the Arabian Peninsula Partnership, Middle East Partnership, MICN and C&MA missionaries and OM missionaries. Generally the reports are requesting prayer for believers. Recently the number one request from a team of Frontiers missionaries was to find one person of peace.

I know that there are some being saved via IMB personnel, but when you have 4842 missionaries you must consider that at any one time one fourth (about 1200) are on home leave. Also, there are several hundred in administrative positions who are not engaged with evangelism. To me, these are "Chamber of Commerce" figures which would not stand up to close scrutiny if looking at DIRECT imb involvement. But will admit that I am wrong with definitive evidence.

Grace and Peace Joseph Patrick...aka Gerry Milligan

I'm calling Sandy slightly out-of-touch on Platt. You sound about 5 years behind the SBC curve on this.

Look to my blog (I may repost here) for how this should be viewed.

I"m curious as to why Southern Baptists want to fund the national mission boards but not the ministry of the state conventions? When I was still in the ABC/USA we had churches that were doing just the opposite. They were wanting to fund the regional organizations and not the national bodies.

West Virginia was one of the few ABC regions I had marked on my ABPS profile that I would not go. I figured I might as well have stayed in the SBC as go to the West Virginia region. At times I'm not sure what keeps the region in the ABC as conservative as it is.

Jason, if you want to contribute, say something.

Platt was a great pick, maybe the best choice for leadership out of the younger crop of SBCers to choose from.

He is real... not political... evangelistic... on top of the heartbeat of the younger generation of the next group of SBC leaders.

Of course that next generation is going to have to be welcomed with more than lip service and a few token spots.

IMB President is not a token position and to choose Platt took a spiritual choice not seen to often in the last decade.

Good for the IMB Trustees.

David, our generation of SBCers were focused on denominational politics as a means of institutional control and power. Our kid's generation, those that have an interest in SBC stuff, is more focused on end results than the machinery that leads to such. Platt, for example, has been prominent in SBC stuff but almost totally apolitical. His church partners with the IMB to do global missions but has given meager financial support to the CP which undergirds the state convention and panoply of SBC entities.

These guys are different and don't look at SBC stuff through the CR lens like all of us here.