What is at Stake at the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention?
Why you should attend and what you can do to help reform the SBC
Disclaimer
This newsletter is explicitly written to Southern Baptists about the 2024 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Still, any Christian may be interested to learn about efforts to preserve one of the largest, most conservative religious bodies in the world.
To those “in the know”, it may seem trivial to outline what the SBC is and why it matters, but the reality is that there has been a growing non-denominational fervor in the SBC for decades. No matter the reasons, it remains the case that millions of Southern Baptists who faithfully follow God and serve their local church fail to understand the structure or importance of the SBC. The goal of this piece is to educate Southern Baptists on the SBC and recruit them to attend the 2024 convention in Indianapolis this June to reaffirm our commitment as Baptists to the authority of Scripture.
What is the SBC and why does it matter?
Comprising nearly 50,000 churches and 14 million members, the SBC is the largest, most conservative Protestant denomination in the United States. The SBC is not a religious body or denomination in the typical sense. Rather, the SBC comprises fully autonomous churches that choose to work together for “the furtherance of the Kingdom of God”. These churches are bound together by their:
Affirmation of a faith and practice that closely identifies with the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BFM 2000) and
Agreement to operate according to the SBC Constitution, which lays out the rules for the SBC’s annual convention
At the annual convention, messengers from member churches across the country gather to discuss and vote on standard business matters including the election of SBC entity officers, the budget, and resolutions. The Convention is the biggest opportunity for Southern Baptists to chart the course for their denomination.
The SBC has done incredible work in spreading the Good News of the Kingdom of God across the world, meeting the needs of millions through disaster relief efforts, providing tens of thousands of Baptists with excellent training at its seminaries, and so much more.
Context for the 2024 Convention
Despite the incredible work the SBC has done in the past, the strategic advantages of the SBC will be lost if the SBC continues its liberal trajectory. In the recent past, the SBC has flirted with critical race theory, and in the present, it is flirting with egalitarianism.
In 2019, the SBC passed a resolution affirming critical race theory and intersectionality as “analytical tools” in the church’s toolbox. Fortunately, in 2020, the six SBC seminary presidents course corrected by releasing a joint statement on how critical race theory and intersectionality are incompatible with the Christian worldview and with the BFM 2000.
In the present, egalitarianism has been treated as a matter of deliberation in the local church. Aside from the strong theological arguments against egalitarianism, it is clear from history that compromising on complementarianism almost always leads to a compromise on homosexuality. This chart from American Reformer shows the time gap between a denomination’s affirmation of women as pastors and its affirmation of homosexual pastors:
Why is this pattern so strong? Well, the same interpretive principle that concludes the prohibition of women from pastoral roles only applies to the first century is the same one that concludes the prohibition on homosexuality only applies to the first century. Therefore, the adoption of egalitarianism is indeed a slippery slope that leads to Biblical infidelity. The 2024 convention is an opportunity for Southern Baptists to reaffirm their commitment to Biblical authority and move forward in unity by laying the last nail in the coffin of egalitarianism.
Law’s Amendment: The “Big Vote” of the 2024 Convention
In 2022, Mike Law, a pastor from Arlington, VA, realized egalitarianism had crept into the SBC when he saw multiple women serving as “pastors” in his nearby vicinity. Southern Baptists fully affirm the autonomy of the local church, but to do ministry as a Southern Baptist entails confessional commitments (in this case, to the BFM 2000), as does any form of Christian cooperation. Let’s be clear: all men and women are equal, created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and uniquely gifted for service in the church (1 Peter 4:10). However, the BFM 2000 makes it clear (because the Bible makes it clear) that “the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture”. However, according to the SBC Constitution, SBC churches are only required to have a faith and practice that “closely identifies” with the BFM 2000.
Therefore, in 2023, Mike Law introduced an amendment that would codify the reservation of pastoral roles to men in the SBC Constitution. As Law notes in his letter to the SBC Executive Committee, the SBC has been clear on this issue for decades. However, it is still necessary to amend the SBC Constitution since it is fully binding on Southern Baptist churches in a way that the BFM 2000 is not.
Amendments to the SBC Constitution have to be approved by two-thirds of the convention for two years in a row before they go into effect. Law’s Amendment passed with 80% support at the 2023 convention, but it needs at least two-thirds approval this year as well to go into effect.
Mobilization is Key
Getting Law’s Amendment passed this year is a sheer numbers game. The executives and employees of the SBC entities tend to be more liberal than your ordinary Baptists on this issue. This gives the liberal wing a built-in advantage when it comes to convention attendance since the SBC entities send employees to represent them at the convention (often at little to no cost to the employees). So, despite the Law Amendment passing with flying colors at the 2023 convention, we need to ensure higher levels of turnout this year to ensure it passes.
Here are the attendance numbers for the last 10 years of the convention:
Convention attendance is primarily influenced by location and the importance of the agenda. In my estimation, based on the location of the 2024 convention and the significance of its agenda, we should seek to mobilize enough messengers to cross around 14,000 total messengers.
What information do I need to know about the convention?
The 2024 Southern Baptist Convention is June 11-12th in Indianapolis, Indiana. The SBC Annual Meeting website provides all the logistical information you need to know, including lodging options, how to make a motion, etc. Hotels in the immediate vicinity have been fully booked, but you can be put on a waiting list for when additional rooms are secured. You could also book a hotel further away, rent a house/apartment for a few days, or email sbc2024housing@gmail.com for a list of people who have volunteered to host others!
For information on how many messengers your church gets and how to become a messenger, check out this link. All SBC churches qualify for 2 messengers and potentially up to 12. To become a messenger, you must be a member of your church and follow your church’s process for messenger approval. Typically, the church body votes to approve messengers or gives pastors the authority to approve messengers. Since most people are not clamoring to go to the convention, you will likely be approved as long as you are in good standing with the church body.
How can I help?
Attend the convention
That’s the best thing you can personally do to ensure we have the numbers to pass the Law Amendment.
Maximize your church’s attendance
Make sure the messengers you bring with you are on the same page. Recruit people in your church who have the right instincts and would be able and willing to go if they just knew what was going on.
Financially support the conservative messenger fund
If you feel led to financially support these efforts, fill out this form and use the “Extra Information” section to get connected to the people operating the fund. This will help conservative messengers get to the convention who otherwise would not be able to afford it.
Educate friends/pastors you know in other SBC churches
Maybe your friend’s dad is a pastor, you switched churches a few years ago, or you are in a collegiate ministry that is connected to multiple Southern Baptist churches. Think about who is in your sphere of influence that would be receptive to this message.
Repost convention material on your social media or get people you know who have platforms to talk about the convention
We often underestimate our influence over other people. Don’t be obnoxious, but share this information with other people to give them an opportunity to fight for the SBC.
“I want to attend the convention but I am unable to afford it”
If you are unable to afford to go to the convention, here are some options for you:
Ask your church if there is room in the budget to cover or partially cover travel/lodging/food for the convention
Apply for a scholarship for conservative messengers
Raise support to go to the convention from some key people who are invested in you/the SBC
Conclusion
To be clear, the reform of the SBC does not end with the death of egalitarianism. Reforming the SBC is a generational goal. Ahead of us lies the modification of SBC entity rules for increased transparency and accountability, electing new leadership, and so much more, but affirming Biblical authority by reserving pastoral roles to men is the first step in the right direction.
Other Resources
Why and How to Mobilize Baptists for Indianapolis - Mark DeVine
Southern Baptists are instinctually averse to activism, but DeVine shows how attending the convention is an act of service for the millions of lives that will be influenced by the SBC, both inside and outside of the church
This could also be an opportunity for thousands to regain touch with the convention and Baptist culture
How Many Female Pastors are in the SBC? - Kevin McClure
Some have argued the Law Amendment is not necessary because there are few churches in the SBC with female pastors. In reality, McClure’s team estimates 1,844 female pastors serving across 1,225 SBC churches.
William Wolfe Interview - Contra Mundum
This interview does a fantastic job of giving context for the 2024 convention and explaining the major factions of the SBC