What Happens When Denominations Gather for Their National Meetings?
Denominational Messengers Vote with Heart. Delegates Votes with Instructions.
Rundown:
FTI Blog Post 110 is an article on how people vote at national denominational gatherings with implications for how they should vote. This post is the week before my own denomination gathers for their annual meeting in Indianapolis with references to how I voted when I attended as a Messenger.
Denominational Messengers Vote with Heart. Delegates Vote with Instructions
Are the people who attend your denomination’s legislative gatherings Messengers from their churches, or Delegates who come to represent a predetermined perspective on issues?
In deciding how to vote on various issues, is it according to positions they hold, principles they follow, or the movement of the Holy Spirit in their lives?
Or is it based on instructions they receive or their perception on how they are expected to vote?
The first time I attended an annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention was in 1959 in Louisville, KY. Although I was only nine years old, I was a baptized member of a church in Baltimore, MD.
I qualified to be a messenger from that church to the SBC meeting. Eligible to vote on matters before the convention.
I attended with my parents. My father was pastor of our church, and active in denominational activities.
But how did I know the best way to vote on various issues? Was I at nine years old a messenger or a delegate? Did my father instruct me on how to vote?
More about this later.
My Parents Owned an “Ami”!
The first time I was aware of my parents attending the SBC annual meeting was in 1955. As they left to travel to Miami for the meeting, they stopped by my kindergarten class to tell me “Goodbye.”
I had not turned five years old yet. I did not understand a lot of things. When I asked them where they were going, they said Miami.
I said, “Your Ami? Where is that?”
My mother replied, “Miami.”
“You own an Ami? Wow! What is that?”
Mom laughed. She was not going to be able to explain it to me.
“No, George,” laughing, “The name of the town is Miami.”
I never got it. In my mind they drove off to go to a meeting in their Ami.
Attending the SBC Became a Habit
Louisville was not the only time I went to an SBC annual meeting. I attended 20 times between 1959 and 1995.
Several were memorable to me. In 1959 my father was elected to the trustees of the Home Mission Board—now the North American Mission Board. His involvement with missions had a tremendous impact on his ministry and mine.
In 1964 my father was chairperson for local arrangements for the SBC meeting in Atlantic City, NJ. I worked behind the scenes with him and met many key leaders in SBC life. Some who later played a significant role in my ministry.
In 1972 my father was again chairperson for local arrangements for the SBC annual meeting in Philadelphia. That year my father was elected second vice president.
In at least one way that was bittersweet. Dad was well known by many influential people in SBC life. He was a strong candidate for one of the vice presidents.
What was bittersweet is that the other candidate was a prominent and gifted African American pastor. The SBC was not ready in 1972 to elect a non-White pastor to a key office. My father probably got a lot of “not that person” votes.
Back to What Happened in Louisville in 1959
My father saw my status as a messenger as a teaching opportunity. He mentored me regarding church and denominational life. During this convention he carefully explained everything taking place.
Many votes were routine. I could vote the way my father did, but he encouraged me to make up my own mind. I was a messenger free to vote my heart, and not a delegate with instructions as to how to vote.
It became tough when the election for president took place. Dad told me to listen carefully to the nomination speeches and then make my own decision.
I was anxious about my vote. I knew this was important. I asked my father several questions, but I still could not decide for whom to vote.
Finally, I sheepishly asked my father if he would tell me for whom he was voting. Reluctantly he did. I was relieved. That was the same person I was leaning toward.
I was always a messenger and never a delegate. This was true every time I attended an SBC annual meeting. I voted with heart, and never as instructed.
Reflections from George:
I will not attend the SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis next week. I have not attended the annual meeting since 1995. It is too depressing to see how my denomination has lost its way. How its Great Commission and Great Commandment effectiveness diminished.
It broke my heart. Too few people understood then and still do not understand what was lost from this important denominational movement.
I read this week the recommendations of the task force to study the effectiveness of the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR). A plan originally approved around 2010 and implemented the next year. Their recommendations show they either do not understand or they do not have the courage to recommend what it will take to have a fresh start in the SBC movement by making major changes in the GCR.
Reactions:
You are invited to share some reactions (comments) to these case studies and my reflections. Here are three questions to guide your reaction:
How is it going in your denomination?
How much is your denomination impacted by splits?
By the rapid rise of the non-denominational movement?
Well said. Sadly too many have no idea what it means to be a messenger. They function as delegates being coached on how they should vote. So much has been lost because of those who have co-opted the SBC with an independent fundamentalist philosophy. It is sad.