As the Southern Baptist Convention of 2021 has finished up, I thought that I would share a few thoughts that I had from the week. I wasn’t sure as to what all was going to go down in Nashville. Social media would have one believing that this was going to be the inspiration for the old R.E.M. song, “It’s the end of the world as we know it.”

Every year around the time for the annual convention, a “storm” seems to pop up and try to get everyone on edge. With the cancellation of last year’s meeting, there was plenty of time for things to swirl. Granted, there were a couple of things that needed to be addressed and dealt with, but for the most part, the fuss was just usual people doing their thing.

Below are some things that stood out to me from this year’s SBC…

The Numbers

This was by far the largest attended SBC that I’ve ever been to. I know that I haven’t been to many SBC meetings (I believe that this was my fifth one to attend), but I heard many commenting on how this most that they had seen in attendance in a LONG time.

The official count for SBC 2021 was 15,726 messengers, 3,856 guests, and 1,892 exhibitors. If my calculator is working correctly that is 21,474 total attendees. That’s a lot of people to get into one space. There were over 9,000 that were there on Sunday and Monday for the SEND Conference that took place.

The large number of people at this year’s meeting was so encouraging. I heard different thoughts as to why so many showed up to this year’s meeting (COVID cancelling last year, elections, location, etc). Whatever the cause, it was good to see more people taking part. I was moved to challenge more people from the church that I pastor to come to future meetings. This Convention needs more participation from the members for it to be all that it can or should be.

SEND Conference Instead of Pastors Conference

Due to some issues last year, it was decided to have the IMB and NAMB host a SEND Conference instead of the traditional Pastors Conference. I love some good singing and preaching, but I think that this was a good break from the norm. Sunday night featured worship led by Michael W. Smith with a special appearance by CeCe Winans, a timely message by Tony Evans, and Crowder to cap the night off.

Monday was filled with breakout sessions for children, youth, women, and pastors. I liked this a lot because it seemed to have something for everyone that was there. It wasn’t just catered to one area (preaching to pastors), but each group was being poured in to on each level. If we would like to see more groups involved in the annual convention, it might be good to think about having something for those who are not pastors but would be coming along with them.

The Elections

Every two years, there are elections that are held for the offices of the SBC. There is President, Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Recording Secretary, and Registration Secretary. The newly elected officers for these offices are:

I think that the slate of newly-elected officers is a good one. I was proud to see Ed Litton becoming the next President of the SBC because I have known and watched Litton closely since 2006 when I had the privilege of serving close to Mobile, Alabama myself. I have seen firsthand what kind of man that he is and the leadership that he can bring to the SBC.

The slate of officers seemed to be a good diverse group. There are representatives from many of the groups that can be found in the SBC (CBN and not). I was glad to see different ethnicities making up the leaders of the SBC once again. This is needed if we truly want to be a multi-ethnic “denomination”.

Tension Points

Anyone who knew half of anything going into this year’s annual meeting knew that there were going to be some tense points. I felt three main points of tension going into this past week.

CRT

The whole deal with Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality has blown up within the SBC ever since the annual meeting in Birmingham, Alabama in 2019 when a resolution was passed concerning CRT. These theories have caused great division and turmoil within the SBC ever since the 2019 annual meeting.

I think that things were laid out pretty clearly at this year’s annual meeting that the SBC does not hold to CRT or Intersectionality, nor should it. While these “theories” may point to some issues that are in our society, they are rooted in teachings that are drastically opposed to the Bible’s teachings.

There are still some serious racial issues in our land and sadly even in the SBC. We claim to be “people of the Book”, but there are some areas in which we have ignored “the Book” (the Bible) when it comes to racial matters. I believe that the SBC is heading in the right direction considering it all, but we have not arrived.

Sexual Abuse Coverups

When the Houston Chronicle released their article revealing about coverups that have taken place within churches across the SBC, it was bad. I was sickened to my stomach over the fact that these heinous events had taken place among churches associated within the SBC. Then, things arose about issues with some of the SBC entities and coverups possibly happening there. Where there is smoke, there is usually fire.

I know that there has been a lot of tension within the SBC since the Houston Chronicle article went public concerning the matters that it uncovered. I know that there were many who were looking to this year’s annual meeting as the final straw. If something was not seriously done to make sure that this junk doesn’t happen and justice is sought after, then they were done.

The biggest thing dealing with this issue was when the messengers of the SBC moved the oversight of an investigation over the Executive Committee (EC) to an independent third-party. The investigation was to be done by Guidepost Solutions and overseen by the EC themselves. I still do not know how the EC could think that they could oversee the investigation that is being done on them. I was glad to see that this motion passed… not so that the EC is shamed, but if there is coverup going on, then it needs to be brought into the light and dealt with.

Favorite Parts

I had a couple of favorites from this year’s SBC. The highlight of every SBC annual meeting is the commissioning service of new IMB missionaries. This year, we saw 64 missionaries sent out into the world to take the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations. This is truly what the SBC should be about – cooperating together to make more opportunities for more people to go with the gospel to the nations. I am moved deeply each time I see this.

Another favorite moment of this year’s SBC annual meeting was the “Point of Order” presented by David Bumgardner. This was the comic relief that we needed in the room at that moment. If you have not seen this, I would encourage you to watch this clip by clicking here. Just for the record, I was definitely one with my ballot waving in the air… it was HOT with 15,000+ people in the same room.

The last “favorite” that I will mention is one of the things that I love about it each year: running into old friends. This year was pretty special as I ran into a few former students from the old student ministry days. It was so good to see them and hear about all that God is doing in and through them. I was almost brought to tears each time just seeing that the seed that I sowed so many years ago had truly found some good soil.

Conclusion

SBC 2021 was a pretty good one. I was glad that I had my entire family with me to be part of this event. There were some ups and downs… good times and frustrating times… when the dust settled, I believe that we came to a point that we can go forward as “Great Commission Baptists”. We have been invited by God to be part of His plan of redemption by taking the gospel to a lost and dying world. I look forward to what He will do within and through the SBC.