Southern Baptists Seek Revival Amid 'Dry Bones'

By Lillian Kwon, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, September 21, 2006

Some people believe the Southern Baptist Convention has lost its relevancy and is "approaching a valley of dry bones," said newly elected Southern Baptist President Frank Page at an Executive Committee meeting.

"In the minds of many ... we have become an archaic, burdensome bureaucracy that no longer has relevancy for today or for the day to come," he said on Monday, according to the Baptist Press.

Past any new philosophies or gimmicks, Page called Southern Baptist churches to pray fervently for a revival.

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"I believe that the bones can live again," he said.

Meanwhile, Executive Committee members reviewed a number of recommendations and motions referred from the denomination's annual meeting in June. Among the decisions made, the committee declined a motion calling for at least one pastor or layman under the age 40 to be appointed to each SBC board and committee, saying that trustees under the age of 40 are regularly appointed to virtually all Convention committees and entity boards, reported the Baptist Press.

One motion the Executive Committee declined to act on concerned a call for the committee to do a comprehensive study of the "makeup and function" of the SBC's entities. The requested information is available in the 2006 SBC Annual and in the Convention's governing documents, the committee noted.

Among requests not addressed was one asking for a formal adoption of SBC's position on spiritual gifts in the "Baptist Faith & Message."

Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington and trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, included the request in a letter written to the Executive Committee and the SBC head after a sermon on his "private prayer language" experience had been censored from the seminary's website in August.

Executive Committee spokesperson Kenyn Cureton said the letter was more of an "informal request" at this point and was one of many requests made to the SBC president.

The request must go through the "proper channels" to be formal and if the convention wants the committee to study it, they will refer it to the executive committee, said Cureton. Another way for the request to be studied is for the president to ask the committee to make the request to the Southern Baptists. The recommendation would ultimately go to the convention who would vote on it.

While the SBC head gets letters making requests "all the time," McKissic's letter gained media attention after the incident with Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

In any case, the process for a recommendation to be voted on is at least a couple of years, according to Cureton. The recommendation could be voted on at next year's annual meeting, which would then be studied for a period of time and a decision could come out as soon as 2008, he explained.

The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a revised version of the Baptist Faith & Message in 2000, but as McKissic noted, it does not mention spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongue. Cureton believes McKissic wants that "spelled out."