Missourians reflect on SBC meeting

By Allen Palmeri
Associate Editor

INDIANAPOLIS—Despite flooding in Indiana that made it hard for some to travel along Interstate 70 to the Indiana Convention Center, Missourians enjoyed the 151st annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention June 10-11.

“I think it’s a fantastic spirit,” said Bud Lee, messenger, Calvary Baptist Church, Blue Springs. “I guess because there’s nothing so controversial on the docket everybody seems to be in a better spirit this time. I have enjoyed it. I know that there are other things around, with the floods and water and stuff, but it’s great to see the harmony that we have at this convention.”

Steve Patterson, messenger, First Baptist Church, Carl Junction, described how challenging it was for many Missourians to get to their destination on June 7.

“We made the first seven hours of the trip just fine,” Patterson said. “The next 3½ hours were between Terre Haute and Indianapolis on the back roads, because they’d closed I-70. So we were just barely creeping along before we could finally get back on the road and get back to I-70 and get on in. But it was quite a little while almost like a parking lot out near Brazil, Indiana, which is a town probably of about 30,000. It has, I think, 14 stoplights, and when you get that many semis just inching up to the stoplights and no police guidance to move them through, it was a real, real tedious time.”

Some messengers made it through eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, and western Indiana without any problems.

“We timed it right,” said Larry Raney, messenger, Immanuel Baptist Church, Hannibal.

His wife, JoAnn, said the annual meeting proved to be a blessing.

“To me, it’s the friendliness—watching people pray together, joining each other to pray,” she said. “That kinship with Baptists all across the United States I think is a wonderful thing. That’s what I enjoy.”

Tom Brack, messenger, Santa Fe Trail Baptist Church, Boonville, was impressed by the quality of child care at the convention. Brack and his wife, Paivi, have four children, ages 6, 5, 3, and 2.

“The convention staff has put together a remarkable convention this year,” he said.

Ray McDonald, messenger, East Sedalia Baptist Church, was excited about the election of Johnny Hunt, pastor, First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga., as SBC president.

“We were saved in 1973, two weeks apart,” McDonald said. “Here’s God, bringing two men into the kingdom of God at the same time.

“It doesn’t matter whether you’re on a small scale or a big scale, God uses His servants. I’ve been pastoring small churches, rural areas, 200, 250, and God raises up a Johnny Hunt. I’m glad we’ve got a man who’s strong. He’s going to bring joy to the convention.”

John Warner, messenger, Immanuel Baptist Church, Bowling Green, paid tribute to the two-year presidency of Frank Page, pastor, Taylors First Baptist Church, Taylors, S.C., by saying he did “a wonderful job. He’s just gracious and efficient.”

David Baker, messenger, First Baptist Church, Belton, said the resolution passed by messengers June 11 on regenerate church membership and church member restoration could very well turn out to be the most significant single action taken at the 2008 annual meeting.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Baker said. “I do believe we’ve been in decline at least 50 years. Per capita wise, there’s been significant decline.

“I think our emphasis has been wrong—the super church emphasis. We’re still a small-church convention, and I think we’ve emphasized the super church to the exclusion of the small churches. I think it’s one of the reasons we’re in a statistical mess.

“If our churches redo their statistics and we get an honest picture of where we are, there’s not a thing wrong with that. I think God’s taken His hand off of us to some extent.”

Baker said Hunt, as SBC president, will see the regenerate church membership problem clearly and continue to call Southern Baptists to repentance.

“I think he’s got enough popular support among the pastors to have an impact,” Baker said. “He’s not confrontational. In fact, I think he’ll be prophetic about it.”

Bill Smathers, messenger, First Baptist Church, La Plata, said it will be challenging for those who attended the various meetings in Indianapolis to go home and apply what they have been taught.

“I think repentance is the beginning of what we need,” Smathers said. “I think that there’s going to have to be a process of prayer, preparation of our churches. I think there’s going to have to be a commitment on our parts, individually and collectively, to do some of the discipline in the churches and then to go on from that place to where we need to be evangelistically and mission-wise.”

A total of 293 messengers from Missouri were present at the convention.