Universalist Addresses Southern Baptist Convention

Barely two months ago, Rev. Wade Burleson caught hell for his decision to meet with President Jimmy Carter and other organizers of the New Baptist Covenant. The Baptist Blogosphere was flooded with allegations that President Carter was a Universalist - one who believes that all will be saved and spared from hell. Suffice it to say, Carter got kicked around pretty good by his fellow Baptist-brethren for a week or so. Al Mohler even took the time to opine. This internet saga culminated with a thoughtful EthicsDaily op-ed penned by Brian Kaylor entitled Jimmy Carter Is Not The Anti-Christ.

Since his election in 2000, President George W. Bush has addressed the Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention almost every year usually live via satellite. A "born-again evangelical Christian," President Bush has also been a fan favorite among Southern Baptists and their leaders. Richard Land loves Dubya. Heck, Southern Baptists love Dubya so much that their publishing arm has printed a Bible that includes George W. Bush quotes!

Bush may be born-again and I have no reason to doubt that his faith in Jesus Christ is genuine. But dangit, he's a Universalist! Check out the video from just days before the 2004 election:

Charlie Gibson: Do we all worship the same God, Christians and Muslims?

President Bush: I think we do. We have different routes of getting to the Almighty.

Charlie Gibson: Do Christians and non-Christians, do Muslims go to heaven in your mind?

President Bush: Yes, they do. We have different routes of getting there.

Did I mention that Bush addressed Southern Baptist messengers just a month ago?

Meanwhile, Southern Baptist bloggers and leaders will continue to allege, accuse, moan, and groan each and every time these two words are uttered.........Jimmy Carter.

Al Mohler Gives SBC The Finger

Straight from the Annual Meeting of the SBC in San Antone, Wade Burleson writes...

These four men, led by Dr. Mohler today, gave to our convention the proverbial finger and said, "We do not care that you have told us the Baptist Faith and Message is the only consensus confession of the Southern Baptist Convention and is sufficient to guide us. We will draft any confessional statement, policy or guideline we desire because the hiring of seminary professors is critical to the future health of the SBC and the Baptist Faith and Message 'does not say enough' doctrinally to give us good hiring policies and guidelines."

Paige Patterson has already recommended to friends the disbanding of the SBC Executive Committee. Chuck Kelley said last night the adoption of the Executive Statement would have no effect on his institution and Richard Land has already angrily chastized two gracious SBC theologians who wrote an excellent book on grace and unity around the essentials and freedom in diversity on the nonessentials - a book given to all registered messengers in our SBC packet. These four men might best be considered as the Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Left to Right: Patterson, Mohler, Kelley, Land

Jimmy Carter Meets With Southern Baptist Bloggers

From Associated Baptist Press

ATLANTA (ABP) -- Former President Jimmy Carter met with several well-known Southern Baptist bloggers May 17 in Atlanta to solicit support for an unprecedented gathering of Baptists in North America.

Carter, perhaps the world's most prominent Baptist layman, invited the bloggers and other Southern Baptist leaders to become part of the planning for the "Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant," scheduled for next January in the Georgia capital.

The invitation comes even though some SBC denominational leaders have rejected official participation in the event.

"I think it was extremely constructive," said Dan Malone, an attorney from El Paso, Texas, who helped facilitate the meeting. He added that there was "a good spirit among everyone and a recognition that you don't have to agree on every single theological issue or doctrinal issue that's out there to agree to cooperate in evangelism and missions with other Baptists, with like-minded Baptists."....

The Atlanta meeting included Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson, Texas pastor Benjamin Cole, Georgia pastor Marty Duren, and Alabama pastor C.B. Scott. Organizers said other non-blogger Southern Baptist leaders had been invited but were unable to attend.

The leaders of the New Baptist Covenant effort have said they hope to draw as many as 10,000 Baptists from various denominations to Atlanta. They plan to discuss ways of working on a "compassion agenda" to address social justice and human rights rather than squabbling over doctrinal or political differences.

When Carter and former President Bill Clinton announced the effort in January, some Southern Baptist leaders denounced it as an attempt to advance Democratic hopes among Baptist voters in the 2008 elections.

But some bloggers -- including Cole and Burleson -- who are popular among younger SBC leaders have criticized the dismissal....

According to Cole, Carter's overtures were well-received.

"…Southern Baptists will do ourselves and the world a great disservice if we continue down a path of provincialism and evangelical megalomania whereby we dismiss providential moments for collaborative efforts…," he said in an e-mail shortly after the meeting ended. "I am thankful for the way that President Carter understands and appreciates the tightrope that younger conservative Southern Baptists must walk in these difficult days of self-definition, and I look forward to participating in a new forum to explore our shared commitments with Baptists across the racial, political, and ecclesial divides in North America." Read full story here.

Also, according to the Associated Baptist Press, 3 prominent Republicans have accepted invitations to participate in the Celebration of the New Baptist Covenant.

Republican Senators Lindsay Graham (S.C.) and Charles Grassley (Iowa) join Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee as recently named participants for the Jan. 30-Feb. 1 New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta, billed as the broadest Baptist meeting in America since Baptists divided over slavery before the Civil War. Organizers hope to attract 20,000 people to the gathering.

Carter already has enlisted former President Bill Clinton and Al Gore, the former vice president who came within 537 Florida votes of succeeding Clinton. They all are Democrats, as is ‘60s-era presidential adviser Bill Moyers, now a journalist and author....

In additiona to the slate of Democrat and Republican politicians, 3 pastors have been announced as speakers. My pastor, Julie Pennington-Russell of Calvary Baptist Church in Waco, Texas is on that list. Also included are two African American pastors - Charles Adams, pastor of Hartford Baptist Church in Detroit and past president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, and William Shaw, pastor of White Rock Baptist Church in Philadelphia and president of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc., largest of the four main black Baptist denominations.

Renowned Texas Baptist, Joel Gregory - preaching professor at Baylor's Truett Seminary, is also scheduled to speak. Add to that list Marian Wright Edelman, civil rights leader and founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and Tony Campolo.

Great list thus far.

Someone needs to give civil rights legend John Lewis a call. How many ordained Baptist ministers are roaming the halls of Congress these days?

Atlanta is his city after all.

These new developments are indeed interesting. I'm waiting to hear Southern Baptists respond to this turn of events. Kudos to Jimmy Carter for keeping his promise and finding three Republican Baptists to speak. And Kudos to Wade Burleson and Ben Cole for being willing to cooperate with other Baptists.

Note: The man on the far-right of the picture is Mercer University President Bill Underwood. Underwood has been an instrumental figure in organizing the New Baptist Covenant and next January's Celebration.

UPDATED LINKS:

Wade Burleson meets Jimmy Carter: "That Which Unites Us Is The Gospel Of Christ"
Ben Cole on meeting Jimmy Carter, New Baptist Covenant Part 1
Marty Duren of SBCOutPost meets Jimmy Carter
Brian Kaylor - New Baptist Covenant (MUST READ INSIDER TAKE)
Melissa Rogers - Huckabee, Grassley, and Graham to Speak at Celebration of NBC
EthicsDaily.com - Politicians, Preachers Headline 2008 Baptist Confab Program
Texas In Africa - baptists, baptists, baptists!
Mainstream Baptist - Republican Baptists Joint Democrat Baptists at NBC Celebration
Jesus Politics - Jimmy Carter meets with Southern Baptist Bloggers

The Sound of Silence Surrounding Wiley Drake

Please read this post from Frederick Clarkson of Talk2Action....

A Top Leader of the Southern Baptist Convention Endorsed Domestic Terrorism. Shouldn't That Be News?

Snippets won't do Clarkson's post justice. I'll offer a few tidbits below - but check out the fullversion at Talk2Action.

And now there is the vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention who publicly endorsed the assasination of a doctor by a member of an underground terrorist organization who had been on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted List. The first two scandals created international news, but not the third. Since Intelligence Report, the magazine of the Southern Poverty Law Center broke the story, there has been no press coverage that I can find, except for Ethics Daily on Friday; and only a handful of blog posts, notably Mainstream Baptist, Big Daddy Weave, Moiv and me. This merits further discussion.......

The silence is not limited to Baptists. There is silence across the entirety of the religious and political spectrum, at least as far as my Google searches indicate. To me, this is quite inexplicable. A top official of the largest protestant denomination in the U.S. endorses domestic terrorism -- and the nation is silent?

...................................................................

The Baptist blogger, Rev. Wade Burleson, a leader in the SBC election of a reform slate of candidates that included Drake, was challenged by several fellow bloggers to speak out about the Drake affair. In this comment thread at Baptist Life Burleson initially (see April 30th) declined to say a discouraging word about the man who endorsed the murder of a doctor; described the government and judicial system of the United States as "godless" and "oppressive," and hangs out with the Army of God. Here is part of his response:

I have personally visited with Wiley Drake about several issues that he has advocated and supported in the SBC (both before and after his election) with which I adamantly, publicly and vociferously disagree.... His positions politically, culturally and eschatologically are precisely the logical ends of the ideological and philosophical viewpoints of many in current leadership -- but not the majority of the convention herself. ... but I admire his compassion for those he considers downtrodden ... that will be my only comment on Pastor Wiley Drake.

I was struck by the quote that Burleson has as his signature line on his comments:

The world is too dangerous to live in - not because of the people who do evil but because of the people who sit and let it happen. Albert Einstein

Well, Rev. Burleson, one of the great evils in the United States is the terrorizing of abortion providers in violation of the laws and constitution of the United States, not to mention a few Christian principles. This happens because there are thousands of people who specifically encourge and enable these activities or do and say nothing in response. They let it happen.

Interesting that the conservative Baptist Burleson quoted the atheist, socialist, scientist Einstein in his signature line. So let's quote the conservative Christian philosopher of the Enlightenment Edmund Burke, right back at him (since Burke and Einstein are essentially saying the same thing):

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing."

If the leaders of the SBC, reform or otherwise, cannot speak out against the endorsement of domestic terrorism by one of their own elected national officers -- then how can they say that they speak with integrity on anything?

A little farther down in the comment thread, after several commenters challenged him, Burleson further huffed:

"I, Wade Burleson, strongly, vehemently, unconditionally, and eternally disagree with Wiley Drake's affirmation of a murderer, if indeed he ever made such an affirmation."

So Burleson said he "disagrees" with Drake, then casts doubt on the entire matter -- pretending that the facts might not exist, or if they do, he is not going to look into it.

The simple fact is an elected national officer of the Southern Baptist Convention is at least periferally involved with a domestic terror organization with a long history of violent crimes and has explicitly endorsed one of them. My hunch is that this that this is probably but the tip of the iceberg of Drake's involvement with the Army of God.

Given what is known, it would seem like SBC leaders and the national press corps, would want to get to the bottom of all this.

As it now stands, Wade Burleson, a leader of the reform wing of the SBC is publicly unconcerned that a national officer of his denomination not only supports domestic terrorism, but may have deeper involvement. Of course in fairness to Burleson, no other leaders SBC leaders have yet to emerge from the shadows, making Burleson the more courageous and forthright leader in the Southern Baptist Convention. But I am eager to learn of any others. I may have missed.

And in fairness to the Baptists, I have not heard any other leader from any sector of society say anything either.

Please read the rest at Talk2Action.

The BaptistLife discussion can be found here. In my response to Burleson - I wrote:

Mr. Burleson forgets that as former-Southern Baptists, we still proudly claim the title - Baptist. When my non-Baptist and non-Christian friends from college hear about the shenanigans of Baptists like Wiley Drake - they give me a call. It's embarrassing. I have to defend the Baptist namesake for the umteenth time....

And for those looking for some Big Daddy positivity directed towards a Southern Baptist figure, please see my previous post:

T.B. Maston - Conscience For Southern Baptists

I'm quite proud of that post - as my paper was well received today.

Former Professor Sheri Klouda Sues SBC Seminary

The Dallas Morning News has reported that Dr. Sheri Klouda has filed suit in federal court against Paige Patterson and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Alleging that she lost her job in the School of Theology because of her gender, Klouda accuses Patterson and SWBTS of breach of contract, fraud, and defamation. Klouda has requested unspecified damages for the loss of pay, loss of reputation, emotional distress, disruption of life, and mental anguish that she suffered.

You can read the official complaint HERE.

Klouda's lead attorney is Gary Richardson of Oklahoma. It is worth noting that Gary Richardson is a personal friend and counsel to IMB Trustee Wade Burleson.

Indeed, this will be an interesting story to follow....

Remembering Addie Davis and Sheri Klouda

In 1964, Addie Elizabeth Davis became the first woman to be ordained to the gospel ministry by a Southern Baptist congregation - Watts Street Baptist Church in Durham, North Carolina. At the time of her ordination, Rev. Davis was a student of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Not all Baptists in the Durham area took kindly to Davis' ordination. She received dozens and dozens of letters spewing with vitriol. One of these letters urged Davis to "learn from her husband." Davis never married. One man from Richmond, Virginia demanded that Davis renounce her ordination. Another man called her "a child of the Devil."

Unable to find a pastoral position in a Southern Baptist church, Davis had to leave the South in order to practice the vocation given to her by God. Eventually, Davis was called to pastor First Baptist Church in Readsboro, Vermont. According to David Stricklin, author of A Genealogy of Dissent, Davis' experience showed how people's attitudes are conditioned by what they observe. Davis "once noticed some children of the congregation she was serving in Vermont 'playing church.' When one of the little boys wanted to take his turn being the preacher, his older sister admonished him saying, 'You can't be the preacher; only women are preachers!' Such was not the attitude of most of the people from the region of her upbringing."

Upon Addie Davis' death in 2005, Pam Durso remarked that "what made Addie Davis so remarkable was not her place in history as the first woman to be ordained by a Southern Baptist church; it was her humility, her compassion, and her warm spirit. She faithfully followed God's calling, serving three churches as pastor or co-pastor. Her focus in those churches was on caring for the people and being with them in times of crisis." Throughout her ministry, Davis often encouraged other women to "keep on dreaming and cherish the dream God has given you!"

Southern Baptists LOVE Controversy - or so it seems. Recently, several self-described Southern Baptist "Reformers" have decided to revisit the women's issue. Well, kinda. At the center of the latest SBC Controversy is a woman named Sheri Klouda. Dr. Klouda served as Professor of Hebrew at Southwestern Theological Seminary's School of Theology from 2002-2006. Dr. Klouda was denied tenure and essentially fired by Southwestern's President, Paige Patterson, for one reason and one reason alone - Dr. Klouda is a WOMAN.

After being chosen as President of Southwestern in 2003, there were rumors that women would no longer be allowed to take classes with men. In an attempt to clear up these rumors, Patterson stated that not only are women prohibited from serving as senior pastor but they are also forbidden from serving in a teaching or ruling capacity over men.

Take a moment and consider the consequences if such a rigid belief was actually put into action at all Southern Baptist churches....

Southern Baptists should be outraged by the actions of Paige Patterson. But Southern Baptists should not be surprised. Remember the tenured Professor of Theology that Al Mohler forced to resign in 1994? The outrage that Southern Baptists are currently experiencing SHOULD HAVE extended to both inerrantists and non-inerrantists alike.

Inconsistencies aside, almost 43 years after Addie Davis was ordained Southern Baptists are debating whether a woman has the authority to "teach" a man Hebrew or friggin Sunday School.

Fortunately, many of the self-described "Reformers" like Wade Burleson don't share Paige Patterson's "spooky fundamentalist" beliefs concerning the role of women in church life. Nonetheless, these "Reformers" would not invite Addie Davis to share their pulpit on any given Sunday. Women like Addie Davis are still unable to answer their call to the gospel ministry in the Southern Baptist Convention. Instead, the Addie Davis' of this world are forced to seek refuge in organizations such as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, American Baptist Churches U.S.A, and the Alliance of Baptists.

Women such as Dr. Sheri Klouda should never ever be discriminated against because of their gender.

Same goes for these women.

Remember Addie Davis.