BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Alabama pastor Jared Cornutt has announced his intention to nominate Craig Carlisle for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June when the convention meets in Dallas.

Carlisle, director of missions for Etowah Baptist Association in North Alabama, is currently serving his second one-year term as Alabama Baptist State Convention president. He is a member of First Baptist Church Gadsden, Ala.

“Dr. Carlisle has been many things in my life: my pastor, my mentor, and one of my closest friends,” said Cornutt, pastor of North Shelby Baptist Church in Birmingham.

Cornutt said when he was in college and sensed a call to vocational ministry, he drove to Gadsden from Tuscaloosa to meet with Carlisle.

“He was the first person I told and the first person I sought wisdom from,” Cornutt said. “That day in February of 2011, Craig made me a promise: he would be my biggest supporter and help me however he could.”

‘A pastor to pastors’

Fourteen years later, Carlisle is still doing that, Cornutt said.

“But what’s remarkable is this—my story is not unique,” he said. “There are countless pastors across Alabama and beyond who could say the same.

“Craig Carlisle is a pastor to pastors. Every month, he faithfully prays for hundreds of ministers by name. He answers the late-night calls. He gives generously of his time and wisdom. He walks with pastors through their highest joys and their lowest valleys.”

Carlisle also has revitalized the historic School of the Prophets conference and has gone out of his way to make bivocational ministry a priority in his association and the state, Cornutt said.

‘Believes in the Southern Baptist Convention’

“Also under his leadership, many churches have increased their support of the association or have begun to support the association when they previously were not,” he said.

Carlisle chaired the state convention’s Sexual Abuse Task Force and was instrumental in founding the Alabama Young Pastors Network. Currently he is a trustee for the SBC Executive Committee.

“Craig Carlisle is humble, gracious, kind, generous, concerned and loving,” Cornutt said. “He believes in the Southern Baptist Convention and in the mission of our churches. Not only that, he also believes in the pastors who lead those churches.”

Carlisle said he is honored to be nominated for this role.

“I love Southern Baptists. I’m grateful for what God is doing through us in these days,” he said. “I’m humbled that some would consider me a candidate for this position. It would be an honor to serve our convention.”

During the 2024 Annual Church Profile year, First Baptist Church in Gadsden received $1,538,073 in total undesignated receipts and gave $131,232 (9.84 percent) through the Cooperative Program.

The church gave $15,467 to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering, $35,189 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and reported 285 in average worship attendance and five baptisms, according to the ACP information provided by the church.

So far, one other nominee for second vice president has been announced—Tommy Mann, pastor of Highland Terrace Baptist Church in Greenville, who will be nominated by Jim Gatliff, associational missionary for Hunt Baptist Association.

This article originally appeared in The Alabama Baptist. Baptist Press contributed to this report.

The priesthood of believers not only serves as a doctrinal distinctive for Baptists, but also operates as a guiding principle for daily living and for “being the church,” Baptist World Alliance President Tomás Mackey told a gathering at Dallas Baptist University.

“It holds a distinctive and central place in Baptist ecclesiology, not merely as a doctrine that is stated, but as a living conviction that shapes the church’s identity, mission and structure,” said Mackey, a longtime Baptist leader in Argentina.

“The priesthood of believers of all believers is not just a doctrine. It is a way of life.”

Mackey spoke May 15 at the third annual Lecture Series on Baptist Distinctives, sponsored by the Center for Baptist History and Heritage at DBU.

Singular and plural

Baptists believe both in the priesthood of each believer individually and in the priesthood of all believers collectively, he emphasized.

“The term ‘the priesthood of the believer’ emphasizes the biblical truths of individual responsibility and soul competency. And the term ‘the priesthood of all believers’ highlights that Christians collectively form a holy priesthood,” he said.

“For Baptists, the priesthood of all believers is more than a Reformation doctrine or a Baptist distinctive. It is a way of being the church,” he said.

Drawing lessons from the doctrine

Mackey pointed to four lessons Baptists draw from the doctrine.

• All believers have direct access to God.

Quoting Baptist theologian E.Y. Mullins, he said, “All believers have equal access to the Father’s table, the Father’s ear and the Father’s heart.”

“Each individual is competent and responsible to respond personally to God without coercion or the need for any intermediary,” Mackey said, citing Mullins.

“Baptists hold that every believer is called, gifted and responsible for actively living their faith within the church and in the world.

“Each person has a God-given ability to know and follow God’s will. Each person can and should read and interpret the Bible for himself or herself without relying on religious officials to dictate what they should believe.”

• The church is a priestly community.

“The New Testament refers to the holy priesthood of the whole people of God who are responsible for serving him through their spiritual gifts,” Mackey said.

“Baptists understand worship, preaching, the ordinance of communion and witness as congregational acts carried out by the entire church. The church is not governed by a select clergy class but by the Spirit-led discernment of the whole congregation.”

Ministry is the “shared calling of the entire church,” he said. “Leadership is responsible and accountable both to God and to the congregation.”

• Every believer is a priest.

“Baptists insist that all who believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior are believer-priests,” he said.

Mackey emphasized Christ’s priestly role as providing the foundation for believers’ role as priests.

“We must be Christ-centered,” he stressed.

The doctrine of the priesthood of believers “grounds all Christian ministries in Jesus’ saving work,” he said. As churches make decisions, they must seek to know “the will of the great High Priest.”

• Christians are called to be priests to the world.

The doctrine of the priesthood of believers overcomes artificial divisions between the sacred and the secular, Mackey said. It affirms daily work as a vocation in which believers live out their mission, calling and giftedness, he noted.

All believers have the responsibility to “represent Christ in the world,” Mackey said.

“Every believer is a missionary,” he said.

Mackey noted potential risks if the priesthood of believers is misunderstood and misapplied.

It can lead to an “overemphasis on individual autonomy.” It can “undermine the unity of the church.”

And it can be used to “dismiss or undervalue the role of ordained leaders” in the church, he said.

Implications derived from the doctrine

However, the benefits derived from the priesthood of believers far outweigh its risks, Mackey noted.

“The priesthood of believers emphasizes the value of every individual and the equal worth of every person in the eyes of God,” he said.

The priesthood of believers has broad implications for human rights and religious liberty, because it emphasizes “the dignity of the individuals in making moral and spiritual decisions without external coercion,” Mackey said.

The doctrine also has social implications as Christians make their voices heard in the public square, he added.

“The priesthood of believers encourages the church to become agents of change in society,” he said.

“The priesthood of believers advocates for a unified and purposeful community that reflects the values of justice, peace and equality.”

Because Baptists believe in the priesthood of believers, they have a responsibility not just to enlist church members but to make disciples who will serve both within the church and in the world, Mackey said.

He particularly stressed the importance of discipling the rising generation of Christian believers.

“In many parts of the world, we are losing the young people,” Mackey said.

Baptists have a responsibility to “train young priests who will use their vocations as instruments of God to serve in the contemporary culture,” he said.

NASHVILLE (BP)—In an order issued May 12, Judge William L. Campbell Jr. announced the jury trial in the lawsuit brought by Johnny Hunt against the Southern Baptist Convention and others has been canceled. The trial was set to begin June 17.

Campbell stated his decision was “due to the parties’ pending motions to reconsider.”

The judge issued a summary judgment last month dismissing all but one count in the lawsuit. That lone count concerned a 2022 social media post by then-SBC President Bart Barber, pastor of First Baptist Church in Farmersville, about the allegations against Hunt.

Hunt, a former SBC president, prominent Georgia pastor and North American Mission Board vice president, was seeking more than $100 million, claiming lost salary and speaking engagements, reputational harm and emotional distress.

The case stemmed from Guidepost Solutions’ report in May 2022, which was the result of an independent investigation requested by Southern Baptists at the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting to look into allegations of mishandling cases of sexual abuse within the convention.

An incident involving Hunt and a younger pastor’s wife was discovered during Guidepost’s investigation and included in its report.

In his initial summary judgment, Campbell wrote Guidepost’s report did not intentionally single Hunt out but addressed issues of public concern.

The report “… relates to broad issues of interest to society at large, rather than matters of purely private concern,” he wrote.

“Specifically, the issues the Report highlights—allegations of sexual abuse involving clergy members and how allegations of such abuse were handled—are matters of public import.”

He also wrote a jury could not find “that Guidepost failed to act with reasonable care” in its investigation and Hunt had failed to provide evidence of “mental and emotional injuries.”

The court will set a new trial date and pretrial filing deadlines by a separate order, Campbell wrote.

(RNS)—During their annual meeting in Dallas next month, Southern Baptists will sing, bless missionaries, pass a budget, listen to sermons and engage in lively debate about a host of issues.

Among those issues: what to do with the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

For nearly a decade, the ERLC has been a source of controversy as the SBC has navigated the cultural and political divides of the Trump era.

While Southern Baptists, like many evangelicals, have been strong supporters of President Donald Trump in the voting booth, some of the president’s policy decisions and personal conduct have clashed with Baptist ethics and beliefs.

That’s left the ERLC, which speaks to ethical issues and public policy debates, occasionally at odds with the denomination’s 12.7 million members, leading to three attempts to disband or defund the agency over the past decade.

President says ERLC fate not up to him

Clint Pressley, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he has spoken to a number of Southern Baptists about the ERLC—including Pastor Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, a past critic of the agency.

Some like what the agency is doing, he said. Others don’t.

While he suspects there will be a motion to close the agency at the denomination’s annual meeting in June, Pressley said the future of the ERLC is not up to him. Even if he had concerns about it, he has no power to make a decision. Instead, that power rests with church representatives known as messengers.

“I think those concerns about the ERLC will be answered by the messengers,” said Pressley, pastor of Hickory Grove Baptist Church in Charlotte, N.C. “I can’t do anything about the ERLC.”

Pressley added that his role as chair of the SBC’s annual meeting means he cannot take sides in any debate over the ERLC.

Online dialogue about ERLC heats up

In recent months, both the ERLC and its critics have engaged in an online public relations war over the agency’s reputation and future.

The Center for Baptist Leadership, a startup activist group with ties to American Reformer magazine, has run a series of articles, podcast episodes and social media posts critical of the ERLC, primarily for its stances on immigration reform and lack of close ties to the Trump administration.

The ERLC has promoted its ties to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a former ERLC trustee, and its support for defunding Planned Parenthood, as well as its opposition to gender-affirming care for minors and “radical gender ideology.”

“The ERLC team has been diligently working to advocate for Southern Baptist beliefs in the public square while also providing meaningful resources that help our churches navigate today’s cultural challenges and gospel opportunities,” Scott Foshie, chair of the ERLC’s trustees, told RNS in an email.

“Southern Baptists have supported an ethics and public policy entity for over a hundred years. We need an effective, responsive ERLC now more than ever.”

Discontent dates back several years

Discontent with the ERLC has been festering for years—and much of it dates back to the tenure of former ERLC President Russell Moore, who led the agency from 2013 to 2021.

A popular figure at first, Moore faced intense backlash from Trump allies such as Graham, a former SBC president and megachurch pastor, when he refused to back Trump’s first run for presidency and criticized him instead.

In 2017, Prestonwood and about 100 other churches withheld their donations to the SBC’s Cooperative Program in protest of Moore’s action. A pair of leaders of the SBC’s Executive Committee also clashed with Moore over his criticism of Trump.

While Moore resigned in 2021, tension over the ERLC has remained a constant in SBC life. The agency has also faced internal conflict. Last summer, a former ERLC chair announced the agency’s president, Brent Leatherwood, had been fired after a social media post praising then-President Joe Biden. The following day, that chair was ousted and the entity’s board announced Leatherwood was still on the job.

There have been three votes to defund or disband the ERLC since Trump took office the first time. All of them have failed, but between a quarter and a third of messengers at the 2024 annual meeting appeared to support closing the agency. The SBC’s rules require two votes in successive annual meetings to shut down an entity such as the ERLC.

Consider where ERLC fits into overall mission

Randy Davis, executive director of the Tennessee Mission Board, told Religion News Service in an interview he still believes the ERLC plays a helpful role for Southern Baptists. He said the ERLC, for example, had worked closely with Tennessee Baptists on issues such as sexuality and gender. Tennessee Baptists, like the ERLC, support a state law that bans gender transition surgery for minors.

Davis doesn’t think the convention floor is the best place to decide the future of the ERLC. Instead, he’d rather a commission be set up to discuss the SBC’s ministry as a whole—and where the ERLC fits into that mission.

“I think Southern Baptists would appreciate that kind of careful collaboration and consideration, rather than being divided on the floor of the convention,” he said.

The ERLC set up a church engagement office after the vote at the 2024 SBC meeting—and encouraged staff to abide by a set of guidelines in deciding what issues the entity should speak to.

“We have sent surveys requesting feedback, hosted pastor calls, led groups of pastors to meet with elected leaders in D.C., and intentionally attended events where pastors and other ministry leaders were gathered,” Miles Mullin, an ERLC vice president, said in an email.

Mohler has ‘grave doubts’ about ERLC usefulness

Al Mohler, a former ally of Moore and the ERLC and president of the SBC’s largest seminary, is now among those who have doubts about the entity’s future.

Mohler, a former “Never Trumper” turned supporter of the president, told a popular SBC podcast recently that he had “grave doubts” about the usefulness of the ERLC—and that having an entity that addresses controversial cultural issues is “a risky proposition.”

“Other entities and the churches themselves have grave doubts about the utility of the ERLC,” Mohler told the “Baptist 21” podcast last month. Mohler added as the head of an SBC entity, he could not lead any effort to disband the ERLC.

Pastor Andrew Hebert of Mobberly Baptist Church in Longview said he’d like to see the ERLC limit itself to speaking only about issues that are directly addressed in the denomination’s statement of faith—the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message—or in recent resolutions passed at the SBC’s annual meeting.

He outlined that proposal in a recent article on The Baptist Review, a website that discusses SBC issues and theology. Those boundaries, he said, could help the ERLC from stepping on land mines.

Hebert admits his solution isn’t perfect. For example, the SBC has passed a series of resolutions on immigration that call for both border security and humane treatment of immigrants—praising churches that assist immigrants and refugees—as well as calling for “a just and compassionate path to legal status.”

Yet the ERLC has been criticized for its involvement in immigration reform—as well as for refusing to back legislation that would jail women who choose abortions.

The ERLC will deal with some controversy, Hebert said. But he hopes for the most part, the ERLC will speak on issues where Southern Baptists have a “broad consensus.”

Something has to change for the ERLC to continue, he said.

“I think the writing is on the wall that there is a trust and credibility issue,” he said. “My motion is an attempt to provide a solution without defunding or disbanding the ERLC.”

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (RNS)—Nearly six months ago, Pastor Ben Boswell gave a sermon begging members of his Charlotte, N.C., church not to give up after Donald Trump’s election.

“We may not have been able to stop the darkness from coming,” he told members of his church on Nov. 10. “But that does not mean the fight is over. It has only just begun.”

Two weeks after giving that sermon, he was forced to resign as senior pastor of Myers Park Baptist Church. But just as he urged his flock not to give up the fight, he is now following his own advice.

On June 1, Boswell, 44, will give his first sermon at a new Baptist church he is founding with the support of dozens of his former members.

The logo for the new Collective Liberation Church features a butterfly breaking free of chains locked around its legs. Boswell promises in a promotional website video to build a church committed to “dismantl[ing] systems of oppression and creat[ing] justice, equity, and freedom for everybody—for all people.”

For Boswell, who has a 15-year-old adopted Black daughter, a big piece of that project is becoming anti-racist.

He is proud to advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion, even as the government has shut down DEI efforts in federal offices and pressured businesses and universities to do likewise. He stands for the rights of LGBTQ+ and Indigenous people. He wants expanded economic opportunities for the poor.

“I think the church needs to find itself in deeper and deeper solidarity with the people the empire is specifically targeting and harming: Palestinians, immigrants, transgender people, women in need of reproductive care, people of color,” he said. “I could just go on.”

The new church, with an inaugural service on June 1 on the campus of Union Presbyterian Seminary, is expected to bring together a mix of people.

Its newly appointed associate pastor, Rodney Sadler, a professor of Bible at Union Presbyterian Seminary and director of the seminary’s Center for Social Justice and Reconciliation, is Black.

“We are presenting a welcoming, inclusive, broad-based, justice-oriented, love-focused congregation at a time when our nation is going through intense division, divisiveness and fomenting hatred,” said Sadler. “We want to be a witness to a different way of being.”

Over the past nine years, Boswell led one of the city’s most progressive white churches. Myers Park Baptist, a tall steepled church, was an early leader in the city’s racial integration efforts. It split off from the Southern Baptist Convention in 1998 and has long been committed to LGBTQ+ inclusion.

Focused on racial justice at Myers Park

Boswell, who became senior pastor in 2015, dedicated his pastorate to racial justice and to increasing the church’s nonwhite ranks to about 20 percent.

The Sunday after Trump was first elected in 2016, Boswell invited prominent pastor and progressive activist William J. Barber II to preach a sermon on race.

During Boswell’s time at Myers Park, he developed an anti-racism training called “Confronting Whiteness,” also the name of his book and a conference. Some 1,000 people have participated in those conferences, and Boswell has trained 100 facilitators to continue the work.

Monica X. Thompson, a psychotherapist who moved from New York City to Charlotte two years ago, attended the Confronting Whiteness conference and within a week joined Myers Park Baptist.

“I was not a churchgoer at all,” Thompson said. “But I was really inspired by the work of the Confront Whiteness conference, and I was like, oh, so there’s a church that’s a part of it.”

Thompson has since quit Myers Park and is now on the leadership team of Collective Liberation Church. She said she was put off by the church’s decision to let Boswell go.

“Many times when people are going against systems of oppression, they tend to be removed forcefully outside of whatever system they’re working in, so it was really disheartening,” Thompson said.

Myers Park attendance declined significantly

Publicly, church leaders said Boswell’s removal had nothing to do with politics or his preaching. Two weeks after his passionate sermon decrying Trump’s election, and four days before Thanksgiving, the deacon board called a meeting over Zoom and voted to ask Boswell to resign.

In a recording of the meeting obtained by RNS, Chairwoman Marcy McClanahan defined the problem as declining membership and revenues. Attendance at Myers Park had shrunk to 150 from a high of 350 before Boswell arrived, she said. She was also hearing dissatisfaction from church staff about his leadership.

But another deacon hinted at an underlying problem with Boswell’s preaching.

On the recording, Robert Dulin is heard saying: “A lot of these people left the church … in the last few years. If any of you talked to them, you heard the same thing over and over again: I’m tired of being indicted because I’m white. I’m tired of being banged over the head every week about immigrants and LGBTQ, and I just want to come to church and be encouraged. … I think what we need is 80 percent comfort and 20 percent social justice.”

The vote to ask for Boswell’s resignation was 17-3.

‘More than enough work for all of us’

Tim Emry, one of the three dissenting deacons who has since resigned to join Collective Liberation, said the older deacons were increasingly feeling uncomfortable with Boswell’s critique of whiteness.

“They didn’t want to transform the core of the church because they believed they are liberal and progressive and accepting of all. So why do we need to change?” said Emry, a white man married to a Black woman.

“We’re the good white people, right? We want different people to come in, but we want them to learn how to do it our way.”

Boswell, a graduate of Duke Divinity School and St. Paul School of Theology, said he never imagined starting a new church. But people around him gradually convinced him he should try.

Six months after his firing, his old church supports his efforts.

“We wish him success on his new endeavor as I’m sure he wishes us continued success in our efforts,” wrote Scott Crowder, the new deacon board chair, in an email. “There are many ways to fight injustice and help underserved and overlooked communities—there is more than enough work for all of us!”

The first service for Collective Liberation will be in the afternoon, at 4 p.m., so as not to conflict with those attending morning church services elsewhere but still interested in checking out the new church.

The congregation will be affiliated with both the American Baptist Church, a historically Black denomination, and with the Alliance of Baptists, a small progressive denomination of about 140 congregations.

But as much as Boswell wants to be strategic and accommodating in shaping his new church, he is clear that he will not deviate from his critique of what he calls “American Empire.”

“A lot of folks will imagine you only say what the congregation has ears to hear,” Boswell said. “I have come from a different way of thinking.”

Instead of compartmentalizing social justice as just one of many offerings within the church, he wants to make it the heart and soul.

“When we compartmentalize (social justice), we kind of make it into the stepchild or the forgotten part of what it means to follow Jesus, when actually it’s the core of what it means. Justice is primary. If any of those other things take the place of justice, we’ve lost the gospel.”

(RNS)—An influential Calvinist pastor who quit the Southern Baptist Convention after claiming it was too woke and liberal has been suspended by his church for causing controversy online, running fake social media accounts that criticized his church’s elders and other pastors from a conference he ran.

Josh Buice, founder of the G3 Conference and pastor of Pray’s Mill Baptist Church in Douglasville, Ga., was placed on indefinite leave last week after church leaders “uncovered irrefutable evidence that Dr. Buice has, for the past three years, operated at least four anonymous social media accounts, two anonymous email addresses, and two Substack platforms.”

“These accounts were used to publicly and anonymously slander numerous Christian leaders, including faithful pastors (some of whom have spoken at G3 conferences), several PMBC elders, and others,” according to a statement from the church.

“These actions were not only sinful in nature but deeply divisive, causing unnecessary suspicion and strife within the body of Christ, and particularly within the eldership of PMBC.”

Buice has also resigned as president of G3, which was founded in 2019 and brought in $2.3 million in revenue for the 2023 calendar year, according to its public IRS financial disclosures.

Annual GC3 Conference canceled

The group grew out of a conference Buice started in 2013. Its name stands for “Gospel, Grace, Glory.” The group claimed its annual conference drew 6,500 people in 2021, according to the G3 website.

The board of G3 has canceled the group’s annual conference, which had been planned for September, and promised full refunds. Organizers of the conference previously apologized for charging nearly $1,000 for a Legacy Pass to the conference, which would have allowed attendees to eat a meal with speakers and have special access.

Buice was an outspoken leader among the so-called “theobros”—a set of often-bearded Calvinist preachers and speakers known for their conservative beliefs, especially about the role of women in the church, and their criticism of other evangelicals whose faith is less strict.

He was one of the organizers of the 2018 “Statement on Social Justice,” which warned liberal ideas about race—in particular, critical race theory—and women’s leadership had infiltrated evangelical churches.

Critic of Russell Moore and Beth Moore

The statement was issued a few months after a number of high-profile evangelical leaders had gathered in Memphis to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and pastor Martin Luther King Jr. and to denounce racism in the modern church.

Buice especially criticized former Southern Baptist ethicist Russell Moore and Bible teacher Beth Moore (not related) for allegedly promoting liberal ideas in the church, as well as former SBC President Ed Litton for alleged sermon plagiarism.

He also apparently had been running anonymous social media accounts that criticized other pastors from his own movement and elders at Pray’s Mill Church, according to the statement from the church. The church did not give any details about those accounts in their statement.

Buice previously had criticized such anonymous accounts.

“Dr. Buice had been asked on multiple occasions over the past two years whether he had any connection to these anonymous accounts. In each case, he denied any knowledge of them,” the church said in their statement.

Buice also initially denied, at a meeting on May 4, having anything to do with the anonymous accounts, according to the church statement, but then admitted his involvement.

“Since then, Josh has acknowledged his sin, expressed sorrow, and asked for forgiveness,” according to the church’s statement. “His desire is to personally ask forgiveness of every person he has slandered or lied to.”

Leaders of G3 said the ministry would continue to publish material on its website.

“As we look to the ministry’s future, we will prioritize the publication of helpful biblical content that strengthens the church and avoids the dangerous celebrity culture that has unfortunately come to characterize so much of modern evangelicalism.”

HOUSTON (BP)—A lawsuit alleges Second Baptist Church in Houston unlawfully changed its governing documents to eliminate the congregation’s power to vote on virtually everything, including budgets and the selection of a senior pastor.

One reason for changing the church’s bylaws and articles of incorporation, the suit claims, was “to secure the ascendance” of Ben Young, son of longtime pastor Ed Young, to the senior pastorate.

Ed Young is a former SBC president, and Second Baptist is among the convention’s largest cooperating churches with more than 90,000 members across six campuses.

“The represented and ostensible purpose for these amendments was to clarify the church’s beliefs, and to reinforce its stance on social issues such as marriage and family, in response to the ‘woke agenda,’” states the suit, filed in a Harris County court by a group of current and former church members known as the Jeremiah Counsel Corporation.

“However, the true objective for the amendments was to radically alter Second Baptist’s long-observed democratic governance processes—and to eliminate the congregants’ voice in church matters in its entirety.”

Second Baptist sent the following statement to Baptist Press: “Our leadership and legal team are aware of the lawsuit and will respond appropriately.”

In line with a growing trend

The case aligns with a trend of congregationally-governed churches in various denominations “contemplating—and in many cases adopting through revised bylaws—structures that consolidate the decision-making power to fewer individuals, such as a group of elders or the board of directors,” according to an article by Erika Cole, a Washington-area attorney specializing in churches and faith-based organizations.

Shifting governance structures has led to “a corresponding increase in litigation,” Cole wrote for the website Church Law & Tax.

Among Southern Baptists, any move away from congregational church government could stir a discussion of biblical church polity. The SBC’s confession of faith, The Baptist Faith and Message, states in Article VI, “Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes.”

The suit against Second Baptist concedes that a vote was taken in May 2023 on the new bylaws. But it claims proper procedures were not followed leading up to the vote and that notice of the meeting where the vote occurred was “legally insufficient.”

Decisions now left to pastor and his appointees

Church committees did not conduct required reviews of the then-proposed bylaws before the vote, according to the suit, and “the purported notices advising recipients of the May 31 meeting were intentionally misleading by omitting material facts about the impact these radical changes would have on church governance.”

The lawsuit further alleges that notices of the meeting “were also deceptive in that they were intended to minimize the number of members who would become aware of the meeting.”

Most of the approximately 200 people attending the meeting allegedly “were never provided a copy of the proposed Amended Bylaws or the proposed Amendments to the Articles of Incorporation.”

At the meeting, attendees were told “that the purpose of the ‘updates’” was “not to effect any change in governance of the church,” the suit claims.

Second Baptist’s former bylaws called for church votes on various matters, including adoption of an annual budget and selection of a senior pastor.

Those and other decisions now are made by a Ministry Leadership Team comprising “the Senior Pastor, and those individuals appointed by the Senior Pastor,” the new bylaws state, adding, “Members are not entitled to vote in person, by proxy or otherwise.”

The changes were driven, the suit alleges, by church leaders’ “dual motives of controlling Pastor succession and seizing control of church finances.”

The suit asks a court to declare that the church must revert to the previous bylaws.

Cole told Baptist Press governance structures and leadership succession “comes up quite a bit” in legal cases and likely will arise increasingly in years to come.

“We know that the leadership of the church is an aging population,” she said. “There are fewer people going into ministry and more church leaders reaching a traditional retirement age. I expect that areas and challenges around succession will continue to increase.”

When changing governance structures, Cole said, churches should exercise caution and transparency. Rules for amendments stated in previous bylaws are not the only relevant standards for bylaw changes, she said. State laws, IRS requirements and state and federal case law may dictate that some types of bylaw changes are impermissible.

Though courts tend not to adjudicate spiritual or theological conflicts, they may rule against churches when bylaw changes are unlawful, Cole said. “We have many cases to point to showing courts may interpret whether the bylaws have been properly followed.”

The legal name of the case involving Second Baptist is Jeremiah Counsel Corporation v. Ben Young, Homer Edwin Young, et al.

“Estoy profundamente agradecido por la vida fiel de servicio del Dr. Sena. Desde la iglesia local hasta un seminario nacional, los bautistas hispanos han tenido la bendición de contar con su liderazgo, influencia e impacto en nuestra comunidad. Oramos para que Dios bendiga su nueva etapa”, dijo Jesse Rincones, director de la Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas y presidente de la junta directiva de la Red Nacional Bautista Hispana (RNBH). Rincones reconoció y le entregó a Sena el Premio de Siervo de Gary Cook en 2021.

El Dr. Bob Sena ha sido un pionero e innovador a lo largo de sus muchos años de ministerio. Sirvió como plantador de iglesias misioneras en Nuevo México, como pastor principal en Texas y Georgia, fue asociado de evangelismo hispano en la Convención General Bautista de Texas, consultor nacional de evangelismo multiétnico de la Junta de Misiones Nacionales, consultor de relaciones hispanas del Comité Ejecutivo de la Convención Bautista del Sur (SBC), copresidente del Consejo Asesor Hispano del Comité Ejecutivo y, más recientemente, profesor y director del programa de español del Seminario Teológico Bautista Midwestern (MBTS), a la vez que asesoraba a líderes hispanos en Estados Unidos y en el extranjero.

“Nos ha acompañado, nos ha formado y nos ha recordado que nuestro llamado a servir a Dios es valioso y urgente. El Dr. Sena ha sido clave en el camino que hemos recorrido como bautistas hispanos”, dijo Ramón Medina, exalumno de Sena, quien pastorea a más de 3,000 hispanos en Champion Forest en Español en Houston, Texas.

Líderes hispanos de América del Norte, América Central, América del Sur y el Caribe consideran a MBTS como su lugar educativo, debido a la influencia de Sena en ellos de obtener una educación cristiana en un seminario de los Bautistas del Sur.

“Ha sido, y sigue siendo, una voz clara y comprometida entre los bautistas hispanos de Estados Unidos. No solo ha trabajado incansablemente para llevar el evangelio a nuestra comunidad con claridad y poder, sino que también ha invertido profundamente en las nuevas generaciones; ha moldeado nuestras vidas con su ejemplo, su fe y su visión. Con pasión, amor y paciencia, nos ha animado a prepararnos, a crecer, a creer que podemos servir a Dios con excelencia y fidelidad. Nos ha desafiado en el pasado, nos anima en el presente y su influencia se proyecta poderosamente hacia el futuro —añadió Medina—.

Después de seis décadas de servicio a la comunidad hispana bautista del sur, el Dr. Sena se retiró de su puesto ministerial de tiempo completo como Director del Seminario Teológico Bautista del Medio Oeste (MBTS), y será sucedido por el Dr. Arnaldo Achucarro, quien también se desempeñará como decano asistente del programa.

Achucarro, nacido en Paraguay, dijo: “El Dr. Sena ha sido un gran mentor para mí… Tuve el privilegio de trabajar con él en la Oficina de Estudios Hispanos de MBTS, y ahí fue donde obtuve el mejor aprendizaje y pude aprovechar al máximo su combinación de sabiduría y experiencia ministerial. Para mí, es un gran líder y educador, pero también un gran siervo de Dios y, personalmente, un excelente amigo”.

Sena continuará como profesor de Ministerio en MBTS y siendo vicepresidente de la Junta Directiva de la Red Nacional Bautista Hispana (NHBN). “Estoy muy agradecido por las décadas de fiel servicio del Dr. Sena a los bautistas del sur y a través de ellos. Su fecundidad como pastor, líder denominacional, profesor de seminario y director del Programa de Español en el Seminario Midwestern ha impactado la vida de muchas personas y lo continuará haciendo por muchas futuras generaciones”, dijo el Dr. Bruno Molina, director ejecutivo de la NHBN.

“¡Gracias a Dios por el Dr. Bob Sena y su liderazgo visionario! Su ministerio y sus contribuciones educativas han impactado a la comunidad hispana al igual que a futuras generaciones”, dijo Gus Reyes, Director de Asociaciones Hispanas de la Universidad Bautista de Dallas (DBU).

Reyes y Molina le entregaron a Sena el Premio de Liderazgo de la NHBN, patrocinado por DBU, por su largo tiempo de excelencia en liderazgo entre los hispanos bautistas del sur, durante la celebración anual de la NHBN en Indianápolis el junio pasado.

Emanuel Roque, Catalizador Multicultural Hispano de la Convención Bautista de Florida, compartió: “El Dr. Bobby Sena siempre ha sido un líder perseverante durante décadas, abriendo camino para la obra de los bautistas hispanos del sur en este país y más allá. Su entusiasmo y visión por el crecimiento del reino nos ayudan y nos animan a mantener una actitud de expectativa y fe en lo que Dios puede seguir haciendo cuando nos unimos en la misión”.

“El es un ejemplo de liderazgo servidor a través de todo el país, buscando continuamente conexiones que faciliten y emprendan a los hispanos bautistas dentro de la gran familia de los bautista del sur, como parte integral de la Misión que todos tenemos juntos”, agregó Roque.

Al Sena promover la educación para todos, la Dra. Clara Molina comentó: “Cuando estaba a punto de rendirme y abandonar mi doctorado por problemas de salud, negocios y otros cosas, el Dr. Sena me dijo: ‘Ya habrá tiempo para todo lo demás. Las mujeres hispanas también necesitan una educación superior. Tú puedes abrir el camino para que otras hagan lo mismo, y algún día alabarás a Dios por haberlo logrado”.

Sena atribuye su disponibilidad para servir a Dios y a la comunidad bautista del sur a su esposa Priscilla. “Ha sido una maravillosa esposa, compañera de ministerio, madre y abuela. Llevamos 59 años casados. Ella ha dedicado su vida a la familia y al ministerio”, dijo Sena. Priscilla trabajó y se jubiló en el Departamento de Programas Federales y Especiales de las Escuelas Públicas del Condado de Gwinnett, Georgia.

Expresó su gratitud al Dr. Daniel Sánchez, Distinguido Profesor Emérito de Misiones del Seminario Teológico Bautista del Southwestern, por su mentoría y amistad durante los últimos 50 años. Ambos colaboraron, al igual que el Dr. Rudy González el subdirector del programa de Ph.D en español en MBTS, en el desarrollo de la Educación Cristiana Hispana en Estados Unidos y en muchos países latinoamericanos, incluyendo Cuba.

Sena se graduó de la Universidad Bautista Wayland, obtuvo una Maestría en Educación Religiosa del Seminario Teológico Bautista Southwestern y un Doctorado en Ministerio del Seminario Gateway (anteriormente Seminario Golden Gate). También fue coautor del libro Alcanzando a los hispanos en Norteamérica, como recurso para la plantación de iglesias.

(KANSAS CITY, Mo.)—Bobby Sena, a trailblazer in Hispanic ministry in the SBC, is retiring.

Sena’s many roles include missionary church planter in New Mexico, senior pastor in Texas and Georgia, Hispanic evangelism associate at the Baptist General Convention of Texas and national multi-ethnic evangelism consultant for the Home (now North American) Mission Board.

He also was Hispanic relations consultant to the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, co-chair of the Hispanic Advisory Council for the SBC Executive Committee and, most recently, professor and director of the Spanish-language program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He held all these roles while mentoring Hispanic leaders in the United States and abroad.

“I am so grateful for Dr. Sena’s life of faithful service. From the local church to a national seminary, Hispanic Baptists have been blessed to have his leadership, influence and impact in our community,” said Jesse Rincones, director of the Convención Bautista Hispana de Texas and chairman of the board for the National Hispanic Baptist Network.

“We pray God’s great blessings on his new season.”

Ramon Medina is a former student of Sena’s who pastors more than 3,000 Hispanic believers at Champion Forest en Español in Houston.

“He has accompanied us, formed us and reminded us that our calling to serve God is valuable and urgent,” Medina said of Sena. “Dr. Sena has been a key part of the journey we have taken as Hispanic Baptists.”

Hispanic leaders across North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean claim Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary as their alma mater because of Sena’s mission to help people get a Christian education at a Southern Baptist seminary.

“He has been, and continues to be, a clear and committed voice among Hispanic Baptists in the United States,” Medina said. “Not only has he worked tirelessly to bring the gospel to our community with clarity and power, but he has also invested deeply in the new generations [and] shaped our lives with his example, his faith and his vision.

“With passion, love and patience, he has encouraged us to prepare, to grow, to believe that we can serve God with excellence and faithfulness. He has challenged us in the past, encourages us in the present, and his influence projects powerfully into the future.”

Six decades of service

After six decades of service to the Southern Baptist Hispanic community, Sena retired from his full-time ministry position at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He will be succeeded by Arnaldo Achucarro, who will also serve as assistant dean of the program.

Achucarro, born in Paraguay, said: “Dr. Sena has been a great mentor to me. … I had the privilege of working under him in the Spanish studies office at MBTS, and that’s where I learned the most from him, as I was able to make the most of his blend of wisdom and ministerial experience.

“For me, he’s a great leader and educator, but he’s also a great servant of God and, personally, an excellent friend.”

Sena will continue serving as professor of ministry at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and as vice chairman of the board of directors for the National Hispanic Baptist Network.

Bruno Molina, executive director of the network, expressed his gratitude for Sena’s “decades of faithful service to and through Southern Baptists.”

“His fruitfulness as a pastor, denominational leader, seminary professor and director of the Spanish language program at Midwestern Seminary has impacted the lives of so many and will continue to do so for generations to come,” Molina said.

Molina, along with Gus Reyes, director of Hispanic Partnerships at Dallas Baptist University, presented Sena with the network’s Leadership Award, sponsored by DBU, for his longtime excellence in leadership among Hispanic Southern Baptists, during the network’s annual celebration in Indianapolis last June.

“Thank God for Dr. Bob Sena and his visionary leadership,” Reyes said. “Dr. Sena’s ministry and educational contributions impact the Hispanic community today as well as in future generations.”

Emanuel Roque, Hispanic multicultural catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention, said Sena’s enthusiasm and vision were inspiring.

“He is an example of servant leadership across the country, continually seeking out connections that facilitate and empower Hispanic Baptists within the greater Southern Baptist family as an integral part of the mission we all share together,” Roque said.

Sena attributes his availability to serve God and the Southern Baptist community to his wife Priscilla.

“She has been a wonderful wife, ministry partner, mother and grandmother,” he said. “We have been married for 59 years. She has devoted her life to family and ministry.”

Priscilla is retired from the Department of Federal and Special Programs Gwinnett County Public Schools in Georgia.

Sena expressed gratitude to his ministry partners, including Daniel Sanchez at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Rudy Gonzales at Midwestern Seminary, who helped him develop Hispanic Christian education in the United States and in many Latin American countries, including Cuba.

Sena graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Wayland Baptist University, received a Master of Religious Education degree from Southwestern Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry from Gateway Seminary (formerly Golden Gate Seminary).

He also coauthored the book Reaching Hispanics in North America as a church-planting resource, and he prepared MBTS Español to educate the next generation of Hispanic leaders.

NASHVILLE (RNS)—The number of Southern Baptists in the United States is the lowest it has been in 50 years, but more of them seem to be showing up in church.

And the number of baptisms in the nation’s largest Protestant denomination continues to rebound from the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Southern Baptist Convention lost 259,090 members in 2024, with its total membership now at 12.7 million, according to the denomination’s Annual Church Profile report, released April 30.

That’s a 50-year low. In 1975, the SBC reported 12.5 million members.

It’s also the 18th consecutive year of membership decline. In 2006, the SBC hit a peak membership of 16.3 million, and over the past two decades it has lost 3.6 million members.

But for Southern Baptists, there was some good news in the report.

About 4.3 million people attended SBC churches weekly nationwide in 2024, according to the report conducted by Lifeway Research. That means attendance is up more than a quarter-million from the previous year.

And more than 2.5 million showed up weekly for Sunday school and small-group Bible studies, up 5.7 percent from the previous year.

Total baptisms were up 10 percent, topping 250,000 for the first time since 2017.

“Southern Baptists love to focus on evangelism, and these ACP numbers back that up,” said Jeff Iorg, president and CEO of the SBC Executive Committee. “We rejoice that God is using Southern Baptist churches to reach people with the gospel.

“We celebrate the upward trends in baptisms that we haven’t seen in the past 30 years. These ACP results help us see that God is at work among Southern Baptists.”

The report is an annual statistical census of Southern Baptist congregations conducted by local associations and state conventions in conjunction with Lifeway. Around 7 in 10 Southern Baptist churches (69 percent) reported at least one item in the current report covering 2024, according to Lifeway.

Total reported giving to SBC churches was down about $500 million—from just over $10 billion in 2023, to $9.55 billion in 2024. Giving to missions dropped from $798 million in 2023 to $791 million in 2024, per the report.

Two-thirds of Southern Baptists 50 or older

Like most denominations in the United States, the SBC has seen declining membership in recent decades, as older churchgoing generations of Americans are replaced by younger generations that are less interested in organized religion.

The recent Pew Religious Landscape Study found two-thirds of adults who identify as Southern Baptists are 50 or older. Only 31 percent are under 50, and only 10 percent between the ages of 18 and 29. Overall, 4 percent of Americans identify as Southern Baptists, according to Pew’s study.

“The largest portion of membership declines come from churches acknowledging that certain members are gone for good and removing their names. Other drops come from churches that close or leave the convention,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.

“Newcomers to the entrances of churches definitely help, but membership will continue to decline as long as the exits remain active.”

Despite membership decline, the SBC remains a powerful institution, particularly in the South, where the denomination is known for its disaster relief work. Southern Baptists in North Carolina have repaired hundreds of homes damaged by Hurricane Helene last year and plan to continue rebuilding efforts for years.

The denomination’s seminaries also play an outsize role in theological education, with more than a quarter of seminarians in the U.S. attending the six SBC schools. The denomination’s Cooperative Program, which turns 100 this year, still raises hundreds of millions of dollars each year for missions and ministries.

Along with demographic decline, the SBC has experienced significant conflict over the past decade, with leadership turnover at several of its major agencies, feuds over politics and a sexual abuse scandal, which led to millions in legal costs and a series of reforms passed in 2022.

Those reforms, including a database listing abusive pastors, have stalled in recent years, with leaders saying, for now, the database no longer is a priority.

Carolina Carro de Mangieri, director of global events and fellowship for the Baptist World Alliance, has accepted the role of chief executive officer/publisher of Editorial Mundo Hispano/Casa Bautista de Publicaciones in El Paso.

Mangieri will conclude her time of service with the BWA following the upcoming 23rd Baptist World Congress in Brisbane, Australia, in July and assume her new role in August.

In addressing the publishing house’s board, Mangieri emphasized the importance of continuing the publishing house’s mission, adapting to technological and cultural changes without losing the essence that has characterized the organization throughout its history.

Editorial Mundo Hispano/Casa Bautista de Publicaciones was founded as the Baptist Spanish Publishing House in 1906 to provide Spanish-language Christian resources.

Mangieri will succeed Raquel Contreras-Smith, who has held the CEO position for the past 12 years.

“I have known Carolina for many years and I am confident that she is the right person to continue our tradition of publishing resources that communicate the message of Jesus Christ and that encourage and support the formation of his disciples,” Contreras said.

Gus Reyes, president of the publishing house’s board of directors, expressed his confidence God brought Mangieri to the position.

“We are very grateful to the Lord for having guided us to Sister Carolina Carro de Mangieri. We trust that she is the person God has provided to continue the mission of Casa Bautista de Publicaciones,” Reyes said.

Since joining the BWA in November 2004, Mangieri has helped shape the BWA’s global events strategy, strengthen member fellowship and advance the mission of BWA around the world.

“We are deeply grateful for Carolina’s faithful service and the creativity, excellence and passion she has brought to our work,” said Elijah M. Brown, BWA general secretary and CEO.

“Her leadership has fostered greater unity, richer fellowship and broader collaboration among our global Baptist family.”

Mangieri key in coordinating international gatherings

Mangieri was instrumental in coordinating numerous international gatherings over the course of her 20 years of service, including two Baptist World Youth Conferences, 15 BWA annual gatherings, four Baptist International Conferences on Theological Education and four Baptist World Congresses.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she facilitated the transition of the 2020 Baptist World Congress—originally scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—to a fully virtual gathering in 2021.

As the most globally diverse gathering in the history of the BWA, the 22nd Baptist World Congress united more than 4,600 registrants from 146 countries across time zones and technology to experience more than 100 hours of worship, prayer, and training.

With a deep family legacy of involvement in the BWA, Mangieri first experienced a BWA gathering at age 10, observing her parents help lead the 1984 Baptist World Youth Conference in her native Argentina.

Eleven years later, she became an active participant in BWA’s global ministry herself, serving on the worship team at the 1995 Baptist World Congress in Buenos Aires.

During her tenure on the BWA staff, she has provided ministerial presence and leadership in 23 countries, assisted with the translation of BWA resources into Spanish, and represented the BWA at many conventions and conferences.

She has been supported throughout the years by her husband David and their three daughters.

“Over the past 20-plus years at the BWA, I have been profoundly blessed to serve and witness the growth and transformation of our global Baptist family,” Mangieri said. “The relationships and experiences I have gained will forever hold a special place in my heart.”

Brown asked Baptists globally to join in prayer for God’s continued blessings on her ministry.

“We celebrate Carolina’s legacy of impact and anticipate all God will continue to do through her new role with Casa Bautista de Publicaciones, a ministry that has been strengthening discipleship for 120 years,” said Brown.

“We look forward to collaborating together in the future as we live out our shared mission to impact the world for Christ.”

Compiled from news releases provided by the Baptist World Alliance and Editorial Mundo Hispano/Casa Bautista de Publicaciones.

ABILENE—New frontlines affecting Baptists are emerging around the world, Elijah Brown, general secretary of the Baptist World Alliance, asserted during his Pinson Lecture on Baptist distinctives at Hardin-Simmons University, April 23.

As Baptists enter the emerging frontlines to make disciples in the authority of Jesus—a reference to the earlier part of his lecture—Brown offered three ways they should proceed: with bold witness, prophetic courage and prioritizing suffering people.

Bold witness

Unreached people already number more than 3 billion, with 123,000 people born every day without access to a gospel witness.

“We are to live as missionary people,” Brown asserted, noting, “a BWA distinctive is that we believe every Baptist is a missionary.”

Brown encouraged each person to turn to a neighbor and say, “I am a missionary.”

Then, he told of a pastor in India who had pastored the church started by William Carey. The pastor burned out, resigned his position and moved across town. Having never had the option to sleep in on Sunday morning before, his daughter asked if they could try it just once.

He agreed but found himself pacing the room that Sunday morning, unsure of what to do with himself, when an elder woman knocked at his door.

Brown said she asked the pastor to pray for her, but he responded he was not presently a pastor.

“There is no other church,” she said, declaring, “As long as you live here, you will be my pastor.”

He invited her in and began a church in his living room.

The church now supports 22 missionaries across India and runs more than 2,500 in attendance.

“What if your church did that?” Brown asked.

Prophetic courage

 Prophetic courage is not the easy route, Brown said. It’s easier to “sit in silence or parrot the prevailing power.”

“But as we abide in the authority of Jesus, we can affirm that the kingdom of God is not built with nationalism,” he continued.

In 1923, the Baptist world adopted a resolution asserting Baptists throughout their history have been champions of religious liberty, Brown pointed out.

The resolution also said a union of church and state is inconsistent with religious freedom, which is based on the “spiritual principle of free choice, while the state rests upon law with an ultimate appeal to physical force.”

But, Brown asserted, “the kingdom of God is not built by nationalism, including Christian nationalism.”

The gospel isn’t advanced by demonizing or threatening those with different political views, he said. Neither is the church saved by those who “wield political power in the name of protecting the church.”

The mission of God isn’t advanced by lust of power, fear, promulgating dishonesty, state protections or “the idolatry of nationalism.

“These are not fruit of the Spirit,” Brown said.

So why do so many people of faith “christen” and “champion violence?” he asked.

Brown also asked why so many believers “bless the bullet, exalt the missile, extol nuclear arms, sanctify the invasion and if need be, pick up the sword and gun to participate themselves?”

Often, he answered, it’s not about religion, but power, arrogance or rising “xenophobic nationalism wrapped in the name of religion.”

In lament, he requested for “you and I as people of faith to work to build public peace guided by the disruptive power of the fruits of the Spirit.”

For 400 years, Brown emphasized, Baptists have held the antidote to nationalism is religious freedom for everyone, maintained by a separation of church and state.

“As we abide in the authority of Jesus, let us also affirm the kingdom of God is not built with ethno-centrism and racial identity,” Brown said.

He provided numerous examples of members of the Baptist family around the globe who have faced persecution and dehumanization from racist and ethnocentric practices.

But, “we must continue to live unapologetically for restorative racial justice as reconciled humanity … as a mark of the overflowing generosity of God’s creation,” he said.

“The antidote for racism is flourishing freedom that embraces restorative justice in God’s multiethnic church,” he said.

Prioritizing suffering people

“Jesus stands with the suffering,” Brown said. “And we long to be with Jesus.”

Jesus, the suffering servant, rose as the “Wounded Healer,” and his wounds are “deep enough to heal the wounds of the world,” Brown said.

He noted the rapid deceleration of humanitarian aid around the world in the past 100 days, noting the United States has led the effort, but other major givers have followed.

Yet, humanitarian needs around the world have accelerated with increasing violence and displacements. While many BWA congregations have stepped into the gaps to meet needs in their communities, they lack sufficient resources.

Brown pointed to the first church in Acts 2:45, who sold their property and possessions to give to anyone in need.

It was not “church needs first, other needs second,” Brown noted, but “radical hospitality.”

“Whether in our neighborhood or in the nations,” gospel generosity “was to prioritize people who are suffering,” he said.

“In a world of changing demographics, increasing urbanization, vulnerable democracies and vulnerable people, we are to go and make disciples with bold witness, prophetic courage and prioritizing suffering people,” Brown asserted.

“But the question remains: Will we live as if all authority is in Jesus?”