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NEW Leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention are increasingly dropping the “Southern” part of their Baptist name, calling it a potentially painful reminder of the convention’s historic role in support of slavery. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/09/15/southern-baptist-name-great-commission-baptist/
I believe the first pastor this summer to start talking about this publicly was @blalockmarshall, pastor of South Carolina’s First Baptist Charleston, who decided to adopt the name “Great Commission Baptist” after he met with Black pastors in July in an effort to build bridges.
President of the convention @jdgreear said hundreds of church leaders in several Southern states have contacted him and said they will use the alternate name. He said theme of next year’s annual gathering for the denomination will be “We are Great Commission Baptists.”
“Our Lord Jesus was not a White Southerner but a brown-skinned Middle Eastern refugee.” @jdgreear said. “Every week we gather to worship a savior who died for the whole world, not one part of it. What we call ourselves should make that clear.”
The shift takes place at the end of a summer of racial unrest. For Southern Baptists, the change also reflects a long-standing desire to remove confusion when the convention launches churches in the Northern United States and overseas.
A recommendation allowing Southern Baptist institutions to call themselves “Great Commission Baptists” was narrowly approved in 2012, but most leaders chose not to do so.
Now, you'll see people like @DannyAkin @ronniefloyd and first vice president @mausberry talk about it.
Now, you'll see people like @DannyAkin @ronniefloyd and first vice president @mausberry talk about it.
The Southern Baptist Convention formed in 1845, splitting from Northern Baptists over Southern support for missionaries who owned enslaved people. It's considered the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with 14.5 million members.
Atlanta pastor @JawnO, who left the SBC this summer, said the name forces the convention to talk about why it identified as “Southern.”
“It was never about geography,” he said. “The convention was one bad marketing meeting away from being the ‘Confederate Baptist Convention.’ ”
“It was never about geography,” he said. “The convention was one bad marketing meeting away from being the ‘Confederate Baptist Convention.’ ”
In 1995, the convention issued a formal apology for its complicity in slavery and racism. Gary Frost, a Black pastor, stood on that stage of the convention and accepted the apology. “We’re not holding on to symbols of the past," he said.
Historian @JemarTisby said using a different name could be seen as duplicitous or misleading. “I don’t know the denomination as a whole has done a good job of teaching its sordid history,” he said. “Changing the name now might make that even harder.”
Historian @nathanafinn said he was ambivalent about using a different name for years until this summer, when he jumped on board. “I’m not embarrassed to be a Southerner,” he said. “It’s about what that word conjures up for people, especially people of color.”
Anyway, you have to read the whole article, link here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/09/15/southern-baptist-name-great-commission-baptist/
Sometimes I'm nice and I'll email an article to a non-subscriber, but really, a subscription is cheaper than netflix https://subscribe.washingtonpost.com/acquisition/?promo=gse_di_aug20&view=1&utm_source=acquisition&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=nat_gse-dr&utm_keyword=exact_subscription&utm_content=&campaignid=203048676&adgroupid=78962853264&adid=356271019836&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTpakeUleEy6omiQ8sXcjoCJJyKCTQdlNsHsGrdWYq_6S_iyJRdmmAxoCU8wQAvD_BwE#/offers/promo/gse_di_aug20/view/1?utm_source=acquisition&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=nat_gse-dr&utm_keyword=exact_subscription&utm_content=&campaignid=203048676&adgroupid=78962853264&adid=356271019836&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTpakeUleEy6omiQ8sXcjoCJJyKCTQdlNsHsGrdWYq_6S_iyJRdmmAxoCU8wQAvD_BwE
Sometimes I'm nice and I'll email an article to a non-subscriber, but really, a subscription is cheaper than netflix https://subscribe.washingtonpost.com/acquisition/?promo=gse_di_aug20&view=1&utm_source=acquisition&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=nat_gse-dr&utm_keyword=exact_subscription&utm_content=&campaignid=203048676&adgroupid=78962853264&adid=356271019836&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTpakeUleEy6omiQ8sXcjoCJJyKCTQdlNsHsGrdWYq_6S_iyJRdmmAxoCU8wQAvD_BwE#/offers/promo/gse_di_aug20/view/1?utm_source=acquisition&utm_medium=google&utm_campaign=nat_gse-dr&utm_keyword=exact_subscription&utm_content=&campaignid=203048676&adgroupid=78962853264&adid=356271019836&gclid=CjwKCAjwzIH7BRAbEiwAoDxxTpakeUleEy6omiQ8sXcjoCJJyKCTQdlNsHsGrdWYq_6S_iyJRdmmAxoCU8wQAvD_BwE
