The Many Faces of the Southern Baptist Convention Copyright © 2018 The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee All rights reserved. Passages from this book may be reproduced and distributed by cooperating churches with the Southern Baptist Convention or other Southern Baptist entities for informational purposes only. Non-SBC entities may not reproduce or transmit any part of this book in any form or by any means whatsoever without express written permission from the publisher. Scripture quotations marked NIV are from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide. Scripture quotations marked KJV are from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Unmarked Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version, or are the contributing writer’s personal paraphrase. ISBN: 978-0-9980183-0-0 Published by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee 901 Commerce Street Nashville, Tennessee 37201 www.sbcec.org 2 About this Project he Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) adopted twelve action steps in 2011 to encourage increased participation of ethnic mi- Tnority churches and pastors in the overall fabric of Southern Baptist life. That same year, Frank S. Page, president and CEO of the SBC Execu- tive Committee, appointed the first of numerous ethnic advisory councils to assist the Executive Committee and the Convention’s entity leaders to understand and appreciate perspectives ethnic minority churches bring to the Convention’s task of reaching our nation and the nations with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. The chapters in this book set a contemporary context for the Convention’s progress in racial reconciliation, summarize the ethnic advisory councils’ reports, and highlight their recommendations to strengthen the Conven- tion’s effectiveness in reaching people from every race and language group with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The writers inform the larger Southern Baptist family on the state of ethnic work within the SBC, reflecting on the Convention’s past efforts to reach and include ethnic churches and lead- ers, assessing the present reality of ethnic church participation in Southern Baptist life, identifying what needs to be done to increase effectiveness of reaching people from every ethno-linguistic group with the Gospel, and suggesting specific action steps for prayer, collaboration, and unity for a Great Commission Advance. 3 4 Contents About this Project .........................................................................................................................3 Foreword ..........................................................................................................................................7 Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... 10 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 11 The Biblical Mandate: Ta Ethnē .............................................................................................. 16 A Demographics Review.......................................................................................................... 26 A Progress Overview ................................................................................................................. 36 African Americans in the SBC ................................................................................................. 54 Asian Americans in the SBC .................................................................................................... 83 Hispanics in the SBC ................................................................................................................120 Native Americans in the SBC ................................................................................................144 Multi-Ethnic Ministries in the SBC ......................................................................................160 Women in the SBC ...................................................................................................................171 What the SBC Looked Like ....................................................................................................185 Bivocational and Smaller Church Ministry ......................................................................202 Where do we go from here? .................................................................................................214 Synergy, Cooperation, and Autonomy .............................................................................218 Endnotes......................................................................................................................................226 Contributors ...............................................................................................................................243 Index .............................................................................................................................................250 5 6 Foreword Kenneth Weathersby or many decades, the Southern Baptist Convention has been known as the most culturally diverse evangelical denomination in the United States. This has Fnot happened by chance; for from its inception in 1845, the Southern Baptist Convention expressed a commitment to reach lost souls in America and around the world with the saving message of Jesus Christ. The task of reaching every ethnic/racial group in America with the Gospel has not been easy because, throughout the years, each of these groups has continued to grow, thus continually changing the cultural face of America. For example, between 2000 and 2015, the African-American population expanded by 23 percent; the Hispanic population by 60.3 percent; the Native American population increased by 62 percent; and the Asian American population grew by 76.1 percent.1 From the perspective of percentage population growth, the picture that emerges is that while in 1950 the ethnic/racial groups comprised less than one-fifth of the American population, by 2010 they comprised one-third of the population. By 2050, ethnic/racial groups are projected to comprise more than half of the US population.2 These demographic realities clearly illustrate that the cultural face of America is constantly shifting. This leads to the question, “How is the face of the Southern Baptist Convention changing?” The answer is that in 2017, more than 20 percent of the churches and church-type missions that cooperate with and contribute to the Southern Baptist Convention were predominantly-ethnic/racial congregations. This is supported by the fact that between 2000 and 2015, SBC-related Native American congregations grew by 24 percent; Asian congregations by 52.3 percent; Hispanic congregations by 56.2 percent; African-American congregations by 61.4 percent; and “all other” congregations (including Haitian and multiethnic) grew by 71 percent.3 7 The Many Faces of the Southern Baptist Convention In light of these changing demographics, it is indeed encouraging that in 2015 the Southern Baptist Convention approved a Resolution on Racial Reconciliation that called for Southern Baptists to be more proactive in enlisting participation and representation from ethnic/cultural groups in its boards and entities. We are indebted to Dr. Frank Page, former president of the SBC Executive Committee, for his passion to lay the foundation and carry forward the recommendations adopted by the SBC in 2011, which concluded the Ethnic Study Committee Report. The report called for greater participation of ethnic churches and church leaders at all levels of Southern Baptist life. As a response to this 2011 report, and in an effort to seek greater involvement from the ethnic/racial groups participating in SBC life, the SBC Executive Committee was instrumental in appointing numerous advisory councils representing African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, multi-ethnic, and bi-vocational church leaders. The Executive Committee also appointed a Women’s Advisory Council and a Young Leaders Advisory Council.4 In order to provide leadership and coordination among these groups, I was appointed vice president of convention advancement for the SBC Executive Committee. In turn, I enlisted Paul Kim to serve as Asian relations consultant and Bobby Sena to serve as Hispanic relations consultant in the Office of Convention Advancement. This collective work contains a number of essays written by representatives from many of these advisory councils. The introduction was written by Roger S. (Sing) Oldham, SBC Executive Committee vice president for convention communications and relations, who was instrumental in crafting the Ethnic Study Committee report and worked closely with each advisory council in its work. Daniel Sanchez wrote the foundational chapter on “The Biblical Mandate: The Ta Ethne,” and Richard (Richie) Stanley prepared a “Demographic Review of the Convention.” These chapters provide an excellent underpinning for the chapters which follow. Robert Wilson compiled