A Weekly Digest of the Top Issues in the SBC and our Work at CBL
As we continue to grow our ministry, the Center for Baptist Leadership aims to offer an expanding suite of resources to bless, educate, and equip Southern Baptist pastors, lay members, and Christians to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints and the future of our denomination in a rapidly changing world.
Starting now, we will publish a “weekly roundup” that highlights our latest resources and events, spotlights key issues in the SBC, and flags significant political developments that pastors and Christians should monitor in both the United States and globally. This will serve as a blueprint for a weekly newsletter that we will deliver directly to your inbox!
Given time contraints this week, we will focus on our work and other SBC-related news. Going forward, we will incorporate sections dedicated to broader issues in America and around the world.
Latest CBL Resources & SBC Roundup
Spotlight Article: “Five Reasons the SBC Stayed Conservative When the Mainlines Went Liberal”
This week, we published a great essay from Ohio Pastor Wade Thomas on how the SBC remained biblically faithful and theologically conservative during the 20th Century, even as the Northern Baptists and other Protestant mainlines shifted to a liberal stance. Wade’s reflections were drawn from The Churching of America, 1776-2005: Winners and Losers in Our Religious Economy, by Roger Finke and Rodney Stark.
One key observation was that “The Christian denominations and churches that attempt to decrease tension with the surrounding culture and adopt elitist, worldly values and commitments tend to die out. At the same time, those that retain their conservative religious principles and maintain high standards for their members survive and indeed grow.”
Dr. Matthew Barrett Leaves the SBC
Next, the SBC received some major, if not perhaps entirely unsurprising, news that Dr. Matthew Barrett, a rather high-profile theology professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has left the SBC and become Anglican.
He announced his departure in a blog post that was full of backhanded shots at the SBC and inaccurate, even borderline slanderous, accusations related to our denominational posture towards the Nicene Creed.
Despite many legitimate frustrations with the manner of Barrett’s departure, on Saturday, we published a chartiable and wonderfully pastoral reflection on this move by Florida Pastor Ethan Jago.
Ethan’s entire article is well done. But these two sentences are well worth the price of admission:
“For those of us still laboring in the SBC, not out of naive loyalty, but conviction, we don’t need to flee to find the deep things of God. They’re already here, in His Word, in the local church, in faithful, quiet obedience. The church needs fewer public exits and more patient reformers. We need men who will remain not because it’s easy, but because the gospel is worth contending for, even in the trenches of a flawed denomination.”
Additionally, Texas Pastor Tom Buck raised three fair questions pertaining to the nature of Barrett’s theological departure from Baptist commitments and his tenture at MBTS.
Finally, Dr. David Allen also published a robust reply to Dr. Barrett, which you can read here. Dr. Allen puts into words what I believe many Southern Baptists are thinking when he says:
“Finally, it disturbs me that Barrett offers no statement of appreciation to Dr. Jason Allen, president of Midwestern Seminary, for serving under his leadership for eight years. This smacks of ingratitude. Baptists gave Barrett an education and a teaching position in one of our seminaries. His essay of explanation for his departure from Baptist life comes up short on appreciation and acknowledgment. He mentions how his family sacrificed for the SBC. Perhaps a little gratitude expressed toward those who sacrificed for him would be appropriate.”
The ERLC Backs Amnesty—Again
Another big topic of discussion this week was the revelation that the ERLC has once again joined forces with the George Soros-funded Evangelical Immigration Table to support a new mass amnesty bill, the so-called “Dignity Act,” sponsored by Rep. Maria Salazar. You can see the letter they sent here.
Note the key phrase, “legalization process for immigrants present in the United States unlawfully.”
That is amnesty, plain and simple.
The ERLC tried to deny this by playing semantic games with what this bill would actually do. But their defense doesn’t hold up.
As the trustworthy immigration experts at the Immigration Accountability Project (who have been working on these issues for over two decades) explain, it’s not just one amnesty, it’s multiple amnesties.
We encourage all serious Southern Baptists to review their analysis and decide for themselves who is telling the truth here.
Of course, it’s not just that the ERLC is backing amnesty again that’s such an issue. It’s that they are doubling down on the divisive political posturing that led to the SBC taking a vote to abolish their entity in Dallas last month, a vote that received 43% of support the messengers.
We addressed this with former ERLC trustee and attorney Jon Whitehead on the CBL Report earlier this week. He warned that this continued behavior by the ERLC will mean “the death of meaningful SBC influence in public life.”
Jon’s warning was prescient. In response to this, one of the most widely-read conservative political outlets in Washington, D.C., The Federalist, ran a piece calling out the ERLC for their support for the Dignity Act, noting that “It’s terrible legislation — to say the least — but perhaps it is not surprising that ERLC would try to champion it.”
CBL Voices in the Public Square
We also want to draw your attention to how CBL is representing conservative Baptists in the news and CBL-aligned pastors and scholars doing work outside of our pages. Here’s a few highlights.
- Our Executive Director, William Wolfe, joined Eric Metaxas, Mike Slater, and Steve Deace to provide commentary on a variety of important stories and issues
- CBL contributing scholar David Mitzenmacher published a reflection on the life and passing of Hulk Hogan at World Opinions
- CBL contributing scholar Chase Davis joined First TV to celebrate the life and legacy of John MacArthur
- CBL board member Jon Whitehead was featured in a long form Substack interview asking the question Will the Southern Baptist Convention have another conservative resurgence?
Looking Ahead to Orlando: SBC Pastors Zoom Call on Monday, July 28th at 3:00pm ET
Many conservative Southern Baptists are disappointed with the outcomes in Dallas. Other SBC churches are just thoroughly checked out.
At the same time, it’s clear that these significant issues in the SBC, such as the debate over pastors, rogue entities, financial transparency, and trustee reform, aren’t going away. So what’s next? Join us for a conversation about how we can work together not just to make better arguments, but bring better numbers, to the 2026 SBC annual meeting in Orlando.
If you’re a discouraged SBC pastor, perhaps even considering leaving the Convention, this call is for you. If you’re ready to engage but just need some direction, this call is for you. If you love Jesus and Southern Baptists, this call is for you.
We will be joined by a few special guests, including Dr. Willy Rice, who will offer a word of perspective and encouragement.
Please register here to join us: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ofzy9toETbCqSyTlHCA3NQ#/registration
An Urgent Request
Finally, as some of you may have seen from our recent emails, CBL is in a period where we need to aggresively raise support in order bridge the gap while we build a sustainable funding model of church-based support for our ministry.
CBL has been in existence for 15 months now. In this short time, we’ve published over 165 articles, produced 40 podcasts, held two major events at consecutive SBC Annual Meetings, helped pastors attend the AM, rallied behind pastors and Christians doing courageous political work, been in the White House, and pushed back on those undermining our Convention.
We believe our mission is viable, our network is growing, our ministry is important, and the future is bright!
But to be honest, one thing we haven’t done well is work to raise a broad base of support. We have generous givers who have powered our work so far, and a growing number of churches signing on as supporters, but we should have been doing more to exapnd our pool of missionally-aligned ministry partners. I own that. And that needs to change now.
Before the Dallas meeting, CBL was already running on tight margins, financially speaking. By God’s grace, and with the support of our sponsors, we were able to cover the cost of our event at the Convention.
Looking forward to our next operating cycle (July 2025 to July 2026), we need to raise our entire annual budget, starting now.
And, specifically, CBL is seeking to raise approximately $25,000 in the next two weeks to cover the costs of building an official church membership program. This program will allow us to build a scalable funding model for this important work that will, we hope, sustain CBL for years to come.
If you appreciate the work we are doing and have considered supporting us but haven’t quite pulled the trigger, please do so now. Any size gift helps. If your church has considered adding us a ministry partner, we would love to make that happen.
Simply email info@centerforbaptistleadership.org to start the conversation.
God’s Word reminds us that we have not because we ask not. So friends, I’m asking now.
If you believe in our mission to 1) Revitalize the SBC by cultivating courageous and uncompromising Baptist leadership for the 21st Century and 2) Serve as a better Baptist voice in the public square, join with us today by making a generous, tax-deductible donation today.
