Future Focus Committee recommends name change for convention

The Future Focus Committee will bring only one recommendation to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting, but it potentially could reshape the organization’s identity.

Co-chairs Stephen Hatfield and Andy Pittman will present the committee’s unanimous recommendation that the 123-year-old BGCT change its name to the Texas Baptist Convention.

“Our committee’s rationale for the recommendation is that in the present day and time, many people do not identify with and relate to the Baptist General Convention of Texas name as they did years ago,” Hatfield, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lewisville, explained.

“‘BGCT’ is cumbersome. ‘Baptist General Convention of Texas’ tells a story, but there’s no one alive that remembers the story,” said Pittman, pastor of First Baptist Church in Lufkin.

The BGCT took its long—and arguably unwieldy—name from the consolidation of two bodies in the 1880s. The Baptist State Convention, which drew most of its affiliated churches from South and West Texas, and the Baptist General Association of Texas, which was strongest in East and North Texas, met for the first time as the BGCT at the 1886 annual meeting in Waco.

What's in a name? 

But most members of BGCT-affiliated churches today have little if any awareness of that history, the committee concluded.

“When we refer to ourselves, we tend to say, ‘We are Texas Baptists.’ … We want a name that is easier to remember and more representative of who we are,” Hatfield explained.

The committee discussed whether to retain the designation “convention,” he added.

“We decided it accurately describes our polity and governance.”

Furthermore, unlike the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention—which broke away from the BGCT in 1998—the Texas Baptist Convention name speaks of who Texas Baptists are rather than who they relate to outside the state, Pittman added.

“There is kind of a Texas way of doing things that means more than geographic designation,” he said. “We are Texas Baptists, and our identity is not based on our relationship with any outside organizations.”

Change would require amendments 

The proposed name change would require amendments to the BGCT constitution and bylaws. Changes to the convention’s governing documents demand two-thirds approval by messengers at two consecutive annual meetings.

Even so, Hatfield noted, the name change should be a relatively “simple procedure.” The BGCT already owns the rights to the “Texas Baptist Convention” name, and it has secured appropriate Internet domain names, as well.

“Our committee felt like this is the right time. We’re looking at a new, fresh vision for Texas Baptists. It’s a good time to take care of clarifying our identity and adopting a name that is more reflective of who we are,” Hatfield said.