News & Commentary About All Things Baptist

David Neff, the editor of the flagship evangelical magazine, has written a powerful essay concerning the recent gathering of Christian Right leaders at Paul Pressler’s ranch in Brenham, Texas.  I previously penned a post on that event (see here).

Neff begins:

The 150 evangelical leaders who met behind closed doors on January 14 to anoint a Republican candidate for President were wise not to have invited me.

I believe that Christians have an urgent duty to engage the social, economic, and moral threats to a healthy society. That requires a wide variety of political action. However, one thing it doesn’t call for is playing kingmaker and powerbroker.

By conspiring to throw their weight behind a single evangelical-friendly candidate, they fed the widespread perception that evangelicalism’s main identifying feature is right-wing political activism focused on abortion and homosexuality.

Neff notes that it is extremely difficult to imagine progressive Christians holding a similar, secretive meeting to decide which candidate to back in a Democratic primary.

And now the money quote:

When evangelicals are confined to a partisan kennel, it is easy to think we are exercising real power. In fact we are, to use the old Soviet phrase, serving as “useful idiots.”

Neff cites the example of Billy Graham.  President Richard Nixon famously snookered Graham as the Watergate tapes later revealed.  Graham “got got.”

Too bad more evangelicals don’t have the good common sense of David Neff.

When evangelical leaders make television appearances and talk exactly like a GOP strategist, I’d say Houston, we have a problem.

Over the weekend, some 150 evangelical activists met to discuss GOP primary politics at the ranch of Paul Pressler in Benham, Texas.  Pressler, a retired Texas Court of Appeals judge, is best known for his role as the architect of the 1980s takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention that put fundamentalists in power and ousted moderates from the denomination.

It’s not surprising to see Pressler inject himself into GOP politics.  Clearly, he enjoys the behind-the-scenes role of strategist and Kingmaker.

But trouble is brewing in the aftermath of the get-together at Pressler’s Benham Ranch.  The conservative Washington Times reports:

A civil war is breaking out among evangelical leaders over allegations of a rigged election and ballot stuffing at a Saturday gathering of religious and social conservatives.

At the meeting about 150 religious conservative activists at the Benham, Texas, ranch of Nancy and Paul Pressler, Rick Santorum supporters claimed the former Pennsylvania senator was chosen on the third ballot as the consensus candidate to try to stop Mitt Romney’s march to the Republican presidential nomination.

The meeting was called to avoid a continued division within social conservatives’ ranks.

What’s up?  Well, according to the Washington Times, some pro-Newt Gingrich evangelicals are now “accusing Catholic participants of conniving to rig the vote”!!!

Here’s more:

They said they were conned into leaving after the second ballot on Saturday. They said pro-Santorum participants held a third ballot which Mr. Santorum won with more than 70 percent of the vote — far higher than the nine-vote margin he won on the first ballot.

“My view is that the vote was manipulated,” said a prominent social conservative who asked not to be named.

Now, a prominent evangelical political organizer is saying to others confidentially he has evidence that in a least one instance a participant was seen writing Mr. Santorum’s name on four separate ballots and putting them in the ballot box.

These pro-Newt Evangelicals – interestingly described as both “evangelicals” and “fundamentalists” by the Washington Times – are calling for a RECOUNT!

Of course, this is not the first time that Paul Pressler has been linked to allegations of voter fraud.  John Baugh, Texas Baptist layman and founder of the Sysco Corp., devoted a chapter titled “Voting Fraud” in his book Battle for Baptist Integrity to these allegations of voting irregularities.  Former Southern Baptist leader Grady Cauthen chronicled additional fraud allegations in his book What Happened to the Southern Baptist Convention? (For more background, see here)

No word yet on whether Pressler and other organizers will publicly deal with these allegations.

The Brody File has the complete vote breakdown for the three ballots.

A church-state controversy is brewing in Athens, not the home of my Dawgs but Athens, Texas.

Here’s the lede from Associated Baptist Press:

ATHENS, Texas (ABP) – An East Texas town is being dubbed Ground Zero in this year’s round of skirmishes known collectively as the Christmas Wars.

Attention turned to Athens, Texas, about 50 miles southeast of Dallas, after the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation asked Henderson County commissioners to remove from the courthouse lawn a nativity scene seen as an unconstitutional establishment of religion by government.

Typical nativity controversy.  At least a couple of these pop up each year around the nation.

The Freedom From Religion organization is arguing that:

When the county hosts this manger scene, which depicts the legendary birth of Jesus Christ, at the seat of its government, it places the imprimatur of the county government behind the Christian religious doctrine.

Meanwhile, the county’s attorney contends that the nativity display is constitutional because it includes other symbols and thus has a secular purpose.

What are those symbols?  Santa Clause and snowmen.

Sorry, but surrounding Baby Jesus with a “festive atmosphere” doesn’t mean your government-sponsored nativity display is any less unconstitutional.

Kyle Henderson, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Athens, Texas has weighed in on this controversy in his own backyard.  Henderson has long been involved in Texas Baptist life and most recently chaired a committee that studied how to increase participation and attendance at the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

So what did the Baptist pastor have to say?

Here’s a snippet:

1. Our county officials have followed our constitutional protections and legal precedent in affirming that the displays put up by Keep Athens Beautiful meet the standards of protected, secular speech and therefore are not a governmental support of religion.

That’s a very lawyer-esque statement coming from Pastor Henderson.  I gotta admit, it makes me cringe each and every time I come across a minister characterizing a nativity as “secular speech.”

In what way does this nativity qualify as “secular speech.”  What is the secular dimension of a display depicting the birth of Jesus Christ?

What struck me the most – the reason I decided to cut short my blogging absence and take a break from working on the dissertation – was Henderson’s rationale for affirming the decisions of his local government.  Check it out:

These constitutional protections were put into place because Baptist and other minority groups were persecuted, harassed, taxed, beaten, exiled and put to death for their beliefs. At the founding of our country we were a minority. The law protected our ability to teach that people should come to faith in Christ and be baptized as believers. We had to do this in the face of the opposition of the “majority.” Majority rule can be a terrible thing, that is why we have the Constitution and the legal system, to protect the rights of all people. We should not stand up because we have the majority and can intimidate others, but we should stand up because we believe every citizen has the right to freely express their opinion.

Now, I’m pretty sure that Baptists in particular weren’t harassed, beat down, and banished in their quest for religious liberty, they weren’t doing so in order to put a NATIVITY display ON GOVERNMENT PROPERTY (alongside snowmen).

Henderson makes an appeal to the Constitution.  He makes an appeal to Baptist history.  But what Henderson doesn’t offer is an explanation as to why a local government should sponsor a nativity display on government property?

Is this display in Athens, Texas constitutional?  Maybe.  If the county officials allow the presence of other religious symbols and/or turn the courthouse lawn into a true public forum, then the answer is yes.  According to the article, that has not yet happened.

Can we really say though that their intent was non-religious?  That the display depicting Jesus’ birth was not an endorsement of the Christian faith?  That somehow the presence of snowmen made the display sufficiently secular?

What message was this courthouse display communicating?

Christians, and Baptists especially, are most faithful when we don’t secularize the symbols of our faith even for the sake of legal argument.  We are most faithful when we don’t use government to communicate the message that “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” !

The Baptists of yesteryear knew this to be true.

Dr. Jim Denison is the theologian-in-residence for the Baptist General Convention of Texas and former pastor of the Dallas megachurch Park Cities Baptist.

Denison is also a regular columnist for Associated Baptist Press.  Denison’s columns are normally not controversial and contain a bit of cultural analysis with a few devotional thoughts.  This week’s column dealing with the scandals surrounding GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain and legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is very different.

Check out this passage from Denison’s column (bold emphasis mine):

What does Scripture say about these scandals?

First, God’s word tells us what to do when we have been wronged: “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you” (Matthew 18:15). It would have been best for the alleged abuse victims at Penn State and the NRA to go directly to those who wronged them. If they were refused resolution, they should then have informed others and finally made the matter public if necessary (vs. 16-17).

Now, try to digest that for a moment if you can.  Denison is arguing that the biblical approach per Scripture (“been best”) would have been for the young boy who was sodomized in that Penn State locker room to first confront his rapist Jerry Sandusky PRIOR to informing anyone including the police.

According to Denison, Sandusky’s VICTIMS should privately seek resolution with Sandusky.  ONLY “IF…refused resolution,” should the VICTIMS “have informed others.”  Denison adds that the ABUSE then should only be made public “if necessary.”

So, Denison’s “biblical” instructions to the victims of sexual abuse is: Confront your abuser and if refused resolution, it’s then o.k. to tell someone and only make public “if necessary.”

Really?  A child is expected to confront his adult abuser?  That’s twisted.

When I posted this quote on Facebook and Twitter, a number of friends including Baptist pastors, theologians and at least one Bible scholar replied that they were either shocked or disturbed by Denison’s application of Matthew 18.

One reader left this comment over at ABP:

To suggest that a raped child should approach his attacker and confront him upon his abusive behavior is both a gross misunderstanding of Scripture and ridiculous misunderstanding of the psychology involved in an attacker/victim relationship.

I agree. It is indeed disturbing to see a Baptist leader such as Denison interpret and apply the Bible in such a gross way that (if this awful advice were followed) would have the effect of revictimizing sexual abuse victims.

Check out this week’s Top 10 in Baptist life.

1. Prominent Black Southern Baptist pastor Dwight McKissic penned a defense of Herman Cain this week over at the popular blog SBCVoices.com.  McKissic writes, “The liberal media, conservative Republicans who support rival candidates and African-American civil rights leaders who strongly support the Democratic Party and liberal causes, have unwittingly formed an unholy trinity to defeat and destroy the presidential aspiration of Herman Cain.”

McKissic explains that Herman Cain “could be the second coming of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ronald Wilson Reagan all wrapped into one. The Texas pastor concludes, “LEAVE HERMAN CAIN ALONE! STOP THE MADNESS!.” Later in the comment thread, McKissic warns that “If no evidence comes forth that points toward Cain’s guilt, he will become the 21st century Emitt Till, if he loses.”

WOW.

2. Several Southern Baptist leaders from Lifeway’s Thom Rainer to Southern Seminary’s Albert Mohler have weighed in on the Penn State scandal involving beloved coach Joe Paterno.  Rainer and Mohler both called on ministers to not follow the example of JoePa and instead report all allegations to the police.

Most notably, Rainer, Mohler and other Southern Baptist leaders have stayed silent on a similar controversy involving Southern Baptist megachurch pastor Jack Graham and Prestonwood Baptist Church.  As this ABP article notes, Graham and Prestonwood fired a minister in 1989 accused of sexual abuse but – like JoePa – failed to call the police.

3. North Carolina Baptist adopted a resolution this week endorsing an amendment to the state’s constitution that would ban same-sex marriage.  Surprise Surprise.

4. Former Baptist Press reporter turned Fox News personality launched this week “Fox News and Commentary with Todd Starnes.”  Starnes’ three-times-daily one-minute segments air Monday through Friday on Fox News Radio.  If good ole-fashioned fair & balanced journalism Fox-style is your thing, check out Todd.

5. Baptist Women in Ministry is back in Kentucky.  The state group has been resurrected after ten years thanks to a group of women led by Becky Caswell-Speight of Louisville’s Broadway Baptist Church.

6. Religion reporter Bob Smietana recently profiled the Baptist Center for Ethics’ new immigration documentary Gospel without Borders. The article reveals that the film has received a positive reaction so far and has been sent out from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to every diocese in the United States.

7. The SBC’s chief ethicist Richard Land has come to the defense of Texas Governor Rick Perry who has been attacked by his GOP opponents for allowing undocumented Texas high school students to pay the in-state tuition rate at Texas public colleges and universities.  Land said he thinks this arrangement is correct.  Now, if Land could only help Perry remember his lines at the next GOP debate…

8. Myers Park Baptist Church has gone solar.  The progressive Baptist congregation in Charlotte, North Carolina has installed 20 solar panels on its roof.  The cost for the church?  Nothing.

9. The search committee which will decide who will succeed Daniel Vestal as Coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has been named.  The committee appears quite diverse and is being chaired by George Mason, pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.

10. A team representing the Baptist World Alliance just concluded exploratory talks with the Orthodox Church about the possibility of a formal international dialogue.  According to the report, participants left the talks “with the understanding that the Ecumenical Patriarch would examine the proposal developed…and determine whether to remit it to the Orthodox Churches with a view to securing their participation in the proposed Baptist/Orthodox international dialogue.”

Here’s my annotated Top 10 list for this week in Baptist life.  Check ‘em out.

1. Mercer University has adopted a domestic partner benefit policy that will provide access to health care and other benefits to employees and their partners regardless of sexual orientation.  News of Mercer’s policy comes just days after Georgia Baptist-affiliated Shorter University adopted a policy requiring all employees to sign a “personal lifestyle statement” that forbids homosexual relationships (termination is a possibility for those employees who break the pledge according to Shorter’s president).

2. With regard to Shorter University’s new policy, John Pierce here at Baptists Today writes, “no one should act surprised when Fundamentalists act like Fundamentalists.  So true.  Read the rest right now.

3. Truett-McConnell College – another Georgia Baptist school – made history this week as each faculty member signed the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention’s “confession,” during a public ceremony.  Inerrant Algebra? Plenary Verbal Music anyone?  Head to Cleveland, Georgia.

4. As popular Protestant historian-theologian Diana Butler Bass called on evangelicals and mainliners to put the “protest” back in Protestant in the lead up to Reformation Sunday, Neville Callam, the General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, questioned whether Baptists should reconsider celebrating the Reformation!  Callam seems to suggest that Protestant observance of Reformation Sunday hinders ecumenical efforts and dialogue.

5. Baptist theologian Steve Harmon called on Baptists to “[remember] the Reformation rightly” and “eschew ecclesiastical triumphalism and false stereotypes of Catholic doctrine.”  Most notably, Harmon’s call to remember the Reformation rightly lacked any mention of the positives of the Reformation.

6. Meanwhile, Baptist historian Nathan Finn remembered the Reformation by offering his thanks “for the Protestant heritage we Baptists enjoy.”  Finn continued, “We stand with Luther and Calvin on justification by grace alone through faith alone. We stand with the Anabaptists on a believer’s church committed to radical discipleship and confessor’s baptism.”

7. A lawsuit filed by First Baptist Church, Mission, Kansas and St. Pius X Catholic Church against the City of Mission, Kansas was settled this week.  The Catholic and Baptist churches filed suit last December to challenge the city’s transportation utility fee.  The churches contended that the fee was a tax and thus the churches were owed an exemption.  As part of the settlement, the city of Mission voted to exempt from its “driveway tax” churches and other organizations who are exempt from property taxes under Kansas law.

8. An op-ed published on the Associated Baptist Press website and penned by Wake Forest University divinity student Zac Bailes stirred up a little online ruckus.  Bailes’ op-ed concerned the Mississippi Baptist Convention’s  (MBC) support of the controversial Personhood Amendment.  This amendment, according to a law professor at (ironically) MBC-supported Mississippi College, would likely outlaw not only abortion but also any form of birth control that has efficacy after fertilization occurs such as IUDs, the morning after pill and other popular forms of birth control (pill, patch, shot) as well as various types of fertility treatments.

William Perkins, the editor The Baptist Record, the official news journal of the Mississippi Baptist Convention, responded to Bailes’ op-ed with an odd, long-winded rant against Associated Baptist Press [note: Perkins has contributed an article to ABP in the past]. Perkins, who described himself as “[knowing] a little bit about Christian journalism,” accused ABP of having “no professional integrity.”  Interestingly, in addition to reporting on the Mississippi Baptist Convention for a living, Perkins is regularly quoted on various pro-life news websites as the “spokesman” for the Mississippi Baptist Convention.  Speaking of ethics and integrity…

9.  For more on the controversial Personhood Amendment and and the aforementioned Mississippi College law professor who opposes the amendment, check out this blog post titled “The Beauty of the Personhood Amendment” by Southern Baptist (TX) pastor Dr. Bart Barber.  My lengthy thoughts about the amendment are included in the comment section.

10. Ircel Harrison has an interesting post over at EthicsDaily.com titled “Five Strategies to Give CBF a Solid Future.” While I don’t always agree with Harrison’s take, I commend him for publicly discussing the CBF’s future.  He’s about the only person who is doing so on a regular basis.  As I pointed out in last week’s post titled “Of Baptists and Budgets: The Financial Woes of Texas Baptists and Cooperative Baptists,” since the 2006-2007 fiscal year, CBF has been forced to cut its budget by nearly 28% and laid off 25% of its staff.  Those numbers alone are reason enough for more folks to join Harrison in this much needed public discussion about the finances and future of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship!

This news comes via a column at EthicsDaily.com by Dr. Colin Harris, professor of religious studies at Mercer University.

From Harris:

Recently, two Georgia universities, with roots deep in the rich heritage of Baptist higher education, have responded in rather different ways to this challenge….In rather stark contrast, Mercer University announced the adoption of a domestic partner benefit policy, which will provide access to health and other benefits to employees and partners regardless of sexual orientation.

Mercer President Bill Underwood indicated that this expansion of benefits “brings Mercer into line with other leading private universities in our region, including Emory, Duke, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Tulane, Furman, Rollins, Elon and Stetson. … It is also consistent with our established policy of not discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation.”

He added, “While I understand that some will be concerned about providing access to health and other benefits for these loved ones of our colleagues, I am persuaded that it is the right thing to do.”

Harris doesn’t indicate when exactly Mercer adopted this policy and I haven’t seen any other news coverage.  However, news of this policy comes just days after Georgia Baptist-affiliated Shorter University adopted a policy requiring all employees to sign a “personal lifestyle statement” that forbids homosexual relationships.  Employees who do not abide by the pledge “may be subject to termination,” according to Shorter’s president Donald Dowless.

Be sure to read Harris’ entire column.  He offers a few thoughts on the ethical thinking behind both policies

In recent weeks, two important Baptist groups in moderate Baptist life met to discuss and conduct business.  Last week, the Coordinating Council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship met at First Baptist Church, Tucker, Georgia.  This week, the Baptist General Convention of Texas held its annual meeting in Amarillo.  Both groups were once again confronted with declining financial receipts.

Baptist General Convention of Texas

Texas Baptists in Amarillo approved a flat budget for the upcoming 2012 fiscal year of 33.85 million.

Just four years ago, Texas Baptists adopted a 50.1 million budget for the 2008 fiscal year.  However, after a rough first quarter marked by a a significant budget shortfall, the BGCT was forced to implement cutbacks and lower its budget to approximately 46.82 million.  The following November 2008, messengers made more cuts and approved a 45.76 million budget, down 8 percent from the previous year.

From May 2008 – September 2009, the BGCT budget was reduced 20 percent according to treasurer Jill Larsen.  Many personnel were also cut between 2006 and 2009.  According to Larsen, the BGCT counted 406 employees in 2006.  That number was down to 272 in 2009.  More staff cuts were made in 2010.

The 33.85 million budget adopted this week for the upcoming 2012 fiscal year was 32% less than the 2008 budget.

Watching parts of the Texas Baptist meeting via an online live stream, I heard treasurer Jill Larsen explain to the crowd of messengers that the budget woes were due to the poor economy.  Larsen had offered a similar explanation in previous years, citing the struggling economy and high unemployment.

The lagging economy is of course an easy explanation.  Although, I’m not sure our nation’s economic problems fully explains why Texas Baptists continue to face serious money troubles.

My observation is certainly not unique.  In a June 2010 editorial, Marv Knox of Texas’ The Baptist Standard blamed the BGCT’s declining support on “corroding confidence” in the convention and “recoil from our real and perceived irrelevance.”  Obviously factors other than the economy have much to do with the financial situation that Texas Baptists have found themselves in for some time now.

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship has faced many similar woes in recent years as well.

The CBF increased its budget slightly to just over 17 million for the 2006-2007 fiscal year.  The following year saw the budget reduced to 16.48 million for 2007-2008 and a 16.5 million budget in 2008-2009.  A 16.1 million budget was adopted for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.  Yethe CBF chose to start the year spending at 80 percent of projected income due to an anticipated decline in giving.  For 2010-2011, CBF adopted a budget of 14.5 million.

Last week, controller Larry Hurst reported to the CBF’s Coordinating Council that the CBF had ended the 2010-2011 fiscal year 2.1 million short of the 14.5 million budget.  Hurst noted that the offering for global missions took in 4.6 million, well short of the 5.5 million target despite a “Keeping the Promises” campaign to meet the goal.

The CBF’s 2011-2012 budget is 12.3 million.  This represents a nearly 28 percent decline from the 17 million budget of 2006-2007. Also like the BGCT, financial circumstances in recent years have forced the CBF to make deep personnel cuts.  In early 2011, the CBF laid off 25 percent of its staff.

Conclusion

What to make of the fact that a decline in giving has forced the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to chop their budgets by 32 percent and 28 percent respectively over the course of the last handful of years?

Well, this decline is obviously not just due to the economy.

Europe may eventually turn things around.  The Dow Jones might even crack 14,000 again.  Unemployment could drop to 7.something percent one day.  But it is unlikely that the BGCT and CBF will see a return to 2006 giving levels at any point in the foreseeable future.

While the CBF and BGCT both have a different set of issues and challenges to deal with, both groups are faced with a changing religious landscape that places less value on institutions/denominations.  Hopeful rhetoric and feel-good meetings serve a purpose but cannot alone stop the downward spiral.

A new, bold vision for the future rooted in a distinctly Baptist identity is needed.  This need for a vision comes at a critical period of transition for these groups as both the BGCT and CBF search for a new Executive-Director.

To confront the challenges, Texas Baptists and Cooperative Baptists should revisit what it means to be Baptist in the 21st century.  Revisiting and recommitting to an uncoerced faith marked by a free conscience, religious liberty and radical gospel egalitarianism certainly won’t hinder the quest for a new vision!

Last week, Associated Baptist Press reported that the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Missouri announced that it was offering cash to churches searching for a pastor that are willing to consider (?) a female candidate.

CBF-Missouri is promising to pay the travel expenses incurred by search committees willing to “include a woman candidate in the process…treating her as a top candidate even if she isn’t actually one of the top candidates.”

Jeff Langford, Associate Coordinator of CBF-MO, added: “If nothing else, this program would give women pastor candidates some valuable interview experiences.”

However, Kathy Pickett – the moderator-elect of CBF-MO – objected to the initiative.  According to ABP, Pickett “voiced concern that female candidates – particularly young women – ‘are not hurt and damaged’ in the process.”  Pickett worried that the female candidates would be used as a “guinea pig.”

After reading this article in ABP, I posted the following on Twitter (9/28):

Several CBF ministers have raised similar questions on Twitter.  One pastor (@thedaveone) tweeted, “I have a problem with encouraging churches to include women in top tier of candidates even if the woman is not one of the top choices.”

Jennifer Harris Dault, a student at CBF-affiliated Central Baptist Theological Seminary in Shawnee, Kansas and resides in Saint Louis, Missouri, added: “I’m glad CBFMO is doing SOMETHING, just not sure this is the most productive.” Elizabeth Lott, Associate Pastor of Westover Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, tweeted: “Agreed. I wouldn’t want that job.”

Over on Facebook, I posted a link to the ABP article and pointed out that this initiative of CBF-MO raises ethical red flags.  Two young pastors – male and female – responded calling the initiative “patronizing” and “ridiculously offensive.”

A top elected officer of the national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship commented: “I agree – it’s condescending and I would hope churches are not told to do this on the basis that it’s dishonest and demeaning.”

Today, Albert Mohler – president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, weighed in with a blog post titled “Will the CBF really pay churches to consider a woman as pastor?”

I actually thought Mohler was quite nice to CBF-Missouri.  He did not question the sincerity of CBF’s support for women-in-ministry.  Mohler stated that the policy “does seem clumsy, at best.”  He continued:

Paying search committees to consider women as top candidates? That is awkward enough. But, paying them to treat a woman “as a top candidate even if she isn’t actually one of the top candidates”? That seems absolutely desperate, and one can only wonder if women seeking pastorates would consider this a step forward.

I’m sure CBFers will be tempted to attack the messenger in this instance.  Mohler certainly has no love for anything to do with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.  But the messenger here has a couple of good points.  To describe this initiative of CBF-Missouri as “clumsy” is indeed charitable.

This is a bad policy for so many reasons.  The policy is already beginning to receive nation attention and has been mentioned on Twitter by USA Today.

CBF leaders need to speak to this initiative – especially those leaders in Missouri.  This policy is in desperate need of tweaking.  Paying a church to treat a woman in search of a pastorate as a “top candidate even if she isn’t actually one of the top candidates” is just wrong.  No way to spin that.

UPDATE: This blog post was cited (and I was quoted) in an article titled “Cash for interviewing women pastor candidates?” by religion writer Peter Smith of Louisville’s The Courier-Journal. Check it out.

My book – James M. Dunn and Soul Freedom – has been reviewed a few times in the last couple of months.  Check out a few snippets below.

Review by Dr. Russell Moore, Dean of the School of Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary:

Love him or hate him, Dunn was a powerful force in Baptist life in the twentieth-century, and a new book seeks to set him in historical and theological context. Aaron Douglas Weaver’s James M. Dunn and Soul Freedom, just published by Smyth and Helwys, is that book, and it’s well worth reading.

Weaver, easily the most gifted young historian of the moderate Baptist movement, crafts a winsome and engaging narrative and, unlike many historians, refuses to ignore theological analysis of his subject. I think Weaver will be a major force in Baptist historical scholarship in the next generation, precisely because of his analytical ability and his gift for prose.

Review by Marv Knox, editor of the Baptist Standard and publisher of FaithVillage:

The little word “and” in the title of this new book is just as important as the others. Aaron Weaver presents both a lively biography of Texas treasure James Dunn and a comprehensive survey of the landscape of American religious liberty across the past six decades.

James M. Dunn and Soul Freedom chronicles the life of Dunn, a self-described “Texas-bred, Spirit-led, Bible-believing, revival-preaching recovering Southern Baptist.” Weaver reveals a pitch-perfect ear for Dunn’s creative, craggy and cantankerous voice—his way with words that helped him win many a theological and political fight and go down memorably even in the battles he lost. Friends and foes alike will recognize all the passion, intelligence, faith and vigor that have made Dunn maybe the most colorful and influential Baptist to come out of Texas since George W. Truett and W.A. Criswell.

Review by Peter Lumpkins, pastor, popular blogger & author of Alcohol Today: Abstinence in an Age of Indulgence:

Aaron Weaver has given Baptists a fair look into the mind and ministry of James M. Dunn. Though a sparkplug during his years as spokesman for Southern Baptists, Dunn deserves credit for his honorable contributions to religious liberty.

…While most Conservative Resurgence advocates will quibble over some of the interpretations made in this volume, Aaron Weaver’s Soul Freedom is a responsible look into the life and ministry of James M. Dunn from a convictional Moderate Baptist perspective. I highly recommend it.

Other recent mentions of James M. Dunn and Soul Freedom:

• Trevin Wax, author of Counterfeit Gospels and the popular evangelical blog Kingdom People

Be sure to LIKE my James M. Dunn and Soul Freedom Facebook Page and Follow me on Twitter @BigDaddyWeave