David Currie's Straight Talk on Future of BGCT

[Stephen Fox]

https://www.baptiststandard.com/opinion ... -just-lost

I agree with him, It's a Big Deal.

I am proud to have invited Currie and he showed in Momma's hometown of Collinsville, Al Feb 2002. We had some straight talk then and there are pictures of our pastor and his wife's reaction.

My testimony of what ensued is in the UTenn published book The Exiled Generations, Carl Kell, editor.

[Sandy]

A couple of points on this.

Currie's reaction and perspective contains several points that explain why things are happening in the BGCT as they are. He writes from the perspective of a Baptist bureaucrat who has had his hands on various reins of power within the convention structure for way, way, way too long. He bemoans the churches that don't send any messengers, and individuals who don't get involved, but what he doesn't understand is that the narrow "core" of churches and individuals who run things, and the small circle of individuals who are constantly recycled from board to board, office to office, actually repulse churches from getting involved. It's a provincial, backward way of doing things that favors the inner circle, and operates based on a "who you know" approach, rather than a "what you're capable of doing" approach. I watched it for years, as individuals worked their way into the narrow network of prominent, well-connected individuals serving on boards and committees as long as extended term limits would allow, and then moving on, as a reward for their years of dedicated service, to a six figure denominational post in the central office in Dallas with a nice view, and a golf date on Wednesday afternoon. People were tired of that. And when it erupted into conflict that produced the SBTC, with the exit of thousands of churches to either a dual affiliation, or withdrawal altogether, most of the churches that led the charge out of the state convention were those that had been shut out for years by the exclusive, narrow leadership that had been in place in the BGCT for years. Currie and his inner circle didn't get it then. It appears that they don't get it now.

One of the churches mentioned by Currie in his response is Wilshire Baptist Church of Dallas. This is an inner-city church, but it is in the wealthy, upscale inner city district on Dallas' north side. For the entire time I lived in Texas, and went to BGCT annual meetings, there were never fewer than 10 of its members holding convention offices, or trustee posts. Their pastor, George Mason, was a constant influence in the agencies, the colleges and universities, and the executive board. People got tired of hearing from him and about him. Since the formation of the SBTC, and the initial departure of 1,000 churches, most of them leaving completely, and not remaining dually affiliated, the BGCT has continued to lose support. The SBTC has gained more than 1,200 new affiliated congregations, and an additional 1,000 BGCT congregations have dropped their BGCT affiliation altogether. Currie talks about the 200 or so churches in the CBF in Texas that will be the place where all of that former BGCT leadership will wind up. But what does it say, that 200 churches provided the majority of convention leadership, and now that they may be pushed out because of their stance on LGBT issues, it will leave the BGCT leaderless? It says that the wrong leaders have been in charge for far too long.

Now, having said all that....

Right wing politics aside, Baptist groups that continue to be opposed to LGBT inclusion also need to be quite clear about their opposition to all of the things that the Trump candidacy have brought to the table, particularly sexual assault of women. Given the level of evangelical support for Trump's candidacy, which was as far as I am concerned a complete abandonment of values in order to support a political candidate, it would be sheer hypocrisy not to step up and condemn the man's behavior, all of it that was blatantly and incredibly anti-Christian and demonic from any Biblical moral perspective, and try to put some distance between themselves. Personally, I think they've lost this battle handily, and no longer have the moral ground to be opposed on any social or moral issue. For the folks on TV and in the media, it's a book and video sales issue anyway, but all churches are going to pay for the open support of some, whether they participated or not. If you want the moral high ground in being opposed to LGBT issues, then you also need to be opposed to Trump's definition of morality. The best way to have done that would have been to stand against his candidacy, and not encouraging your people to vote for him, but since that didn't happen, they better scramble to save what's left before the well runs completely dry.

Oh, and by the way, your darling Donald is a big supporter of LGBT rights and inclusion, and has said so. What are you going to do with that, besides ignoring it and pretending it isn't so?

[Dave Roberts]

Maybe I'm showing my ignorance, but I'm not exactly certain what CBF has to do with the BGCT. It seems that many of the struggles of the BGCT are not really related to CBF. Perhaps, some churches have had an undue influence on the BGCT, but this seems to be more a Texas thing than an CBF thing.

[JE Pettibone]

[Rvaughn]

Dave, you are probably right that it is more of a Texas thing than a CBF thing. I assume the main CBF connection is the thought that moderate churches that leave the BGCT will end up in the CBF.

One thing I found interesting. Currie was responding as "counterpoint" to Roger Olson's "point" on the topic. When I looked at Olson's bio on his Patheos blog, he says that he and his wife are members of Calvary Baptist Church, and that it is a congregation in the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. He did not mention being in the BGCT, but they may be dually affiliated. Neither here nor there, other than it would seem that if the Standard chose him for the "point" he would be in the BGCT. Maybe he is.

[Sandy]