The Way Forward for the Southern Baptist Convention: A Very Personal Word from Albert Mohler
Southern Baptists will soon be gathering in Nashville, and the one big question looming over the Convention will be this — how do we move forward?
This meeting comes as several issues have been building in intensity for years, while others have erupted more recently. Some of the intensity is because the issues are genuinely important. But the fact is that many Southern Baptists left the Convention meeting in Birmingham in 2019 with real concerns about the future. It did not help the SBC that there could be no annual meeting in 2020. We must pray for Southern Baptists to show up in Nashville and deal with difficult issues and emerge stronger, and we must do so in a way that honors the Lord.
Back in 2019, I had been approached by many Southern Baptists, who asked me to be willing to be nominated as president of the Southern Baptist Convention. After prayer and conversation over several months, I came to the conclusion that allowing my nomination would be the right thing to do. I have spent my life serving Southern Baptists, and I will never decline an opportunity to serve Southern Baptists.
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The crucial factor in my decision was the case that many people made to me about why I should allow my nomination at that time. I said yes, in hope that I could offer statesmanship, a steady hand, denominational experience, theological conviction, and a calm spirit to all Southern Baptists. I love Southern Baptists, and I think my decades of commitment make that clear. I love the way Southern Baptists work together. I love the basic common sense and bedrock beliefs that mark Southern Baptists as a people. I believe in our doctrine, I believe in our polity, I believe in our mission, and I believe that God has a great purpose for the SBC going forward.
Much has changed in our world in the last two years, but my willingness to be nominated as SBC president remains. I do not have to serve Southern Baptists in this way, but if I can be of service to Southern Baptists at this critical juncture, I will consider that service to be a great honor and a precious stewardship. If I did not believe I would help in a unique way, I would not allow my nomination. I move ahead in the sincere hope that I can help Southern Baptists to be faithful in our generation and ready to be even more faithful in the generations to come.
How? Beyond the formal responsibilities of the SBC president as detailed in our constitution and by-laws, there are several steps I would take, if elected, to help move Southern Baptists forward, together.
