‘SBC ship foundering,’ says Conservative Southern Baptist Randy Adams.
Adams faults national leadership strategy for collapse of the Southern Baptist Convention’s mission efforts.
Choice in Orlando for SBC is between the Status Quo SBC Elite Albert Mohler and Reformer Randy Adams.
Giving to the Southern Baptist Convention is 34 percent lower today than in 2010, according to stats adjusted for inflation. The financial decline of the Southern Baptist Convention is associated with long term decline in baptisms, church plants and other metrics analyzed by Randy Adams. Adams is a candidate for Southern Baptist Convention president. He is running against Status Quo, SBC Elite candidate Albert Mohler.
Adams details the stunning financial stats. Cooperative Program Mission Gifts are down since 2010 and costs are rising sharply. Adams wrote, “Actual dollars given have declined by 11 percent, but because the dollar purchased more in 2010 than it does in 2020, our CP missions support is 34 percent less in terms of purchasing power. That is real and serious decline, and I believe it was greatly aided by the shift toward Great Commission Giving.”
Other stats mirror the decline. Adams cited church plants down 50 percent since 2010. Baptisms down 30 percent since 2010. IMB missionaries down 33 percent since 2010.
The only increases noted were the church planting budget: up 213 percent and the cost per church plant up a stunning 531 percent.
Why such a sharp increase in cost per plant and a decrease in total plants when the budget was up over 200 percent?
Adams pointed to the national leadership as the problem.
Adams wrote, “This ‘national strategy’ has nearly eliminated the voice of Associations and State Conventions outside the South. It has greatly lessened work in the South, as well. But in most of the non-South this included eliminating funding for associations, most evangelism personnel, Baptist Collegiate Ministry, and has even reduced funding for church planting missionaries. I believe the huge drop we’ve seen in church plants, a 50-percent drop, despite increasing the church planting budget by more than $50 million dollars, is due to nationalizing our strategy and limiting the input of local leaders.”
The Southern Baptist Convention’s Annual Meeting in Orlando this summer is pivotal for the future of the SBC. The presidential race highlights a Reformer like Adams against the status quo, SBC Elite candidate Albert Mohler.
Doubt Mohler is the SBC Elite candidate? Then take a look at this map. It shows that Mohler is connected (and knows the “heart”) of many of the problematic leadership in the SBC. Mohler mentored progressive Russell Moore and almost everyone else.
If there is a problem in the SBC, and the adoption of Resolution 9 which embraced Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as “Analytical Tools” useful for Christians, then the fault should be laid squarely on Albert Mohler.
So, why should Southern Baptists trust Mohler to clean up the very mess he made?
A mess that put Kevin Ezell at the North American Mission Board (NAMB). And remember, NAMB is the organization that is planting fewer churches—and spending over 500 percent more per plant in the process.
Is this good stewardship?
Can you trust the SBC Elites to reform themselves?
That means an outside, reform candidate is the only answer.
2 thoughts on “Southern Baptist Convention in collapse”
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Adams wrote, “This ‘national strategy’ has nearly eliminated the voice of Associations and State Conventions outside the South. It has greatly lessened work in the South, as well. But in most of the non-South this included eliminating funding for associations, most evangelism personnel, Baptist Collegiate Ministry, and has even reduced funding for church planting missionaries.”
Maybe the SOUTHERN Baptist Convention would make more sense if it was only in the South then? Who is driving more wokeness? Is it the Yanks? Cut them out. Spin it into an NBC and an SBC.
I missed this excellent post. It demonstrates what I have believed has been happening all along but could not prove.
Additionally, this info shows that there has been a great transfer of wealth from the traditional SBC pew-sitting member to the “woke” church via church planting. I have viewed the website of scores of these new churches and most NEVER mention Baptist, Southern Baptist nor the Baptist Faith and Mission. Many clearly play fast and loose with biblical traditions and alter them to the serve the Social Justice Warrior tradition.
The information you have in this post MUST be presented to the wider SBC membership. It must be explained that not only is their SBC funding being diverted from their its purposes but that it is being used to for training our youth in the false teachings of Social Justice. Of course, have an organization pay for its own demise is nothing new…the Social Justice Warriors have taken over our universities using our tax dollars and our student debt, our K-12 education system using our tax dollars, etc., etc., etc. (We trusting Christians are paying for our own demise)
I think we can all agree that the SBC failing is one thing. For the SBC to become an agent for false teachings is another. The SBC can not serve 2 masters and the Social Justice master will not tolerate competition.