Papa John’s pizza is headquartered in Louisville, KY. This is also the city for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I just saw a TV commercial of Papa John Schnatter delivering a pizza in his recently repurchased Camaro.

What really struck me was that he left his car and was walking down the corridor of Norton Hall at Southern Seminary. The pizza was then delivered into the smaller chapel on the west side of Norton Hall.

I don’t know if these were actual students or actors that “ordered” the pizza.

For decades the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) has funded Baptist work through a mechanism called the Cooperative Program (CP).  In short, individual Baptists give to their church.  This church joins with other Southern Baptist churches in giving to the work of the convention.  The convention budgets this money to pay for mission work, theological education, and a host of other ministry resources.

In recent months this process has been called into question by what some call a bloated bureaucracy.  The Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) task force was appointed by President Johnny Hunt in June.  Part of their work is to take a look at the effectiveness of this bureaucracy.

Some of the reporting about this task force has focused on the giving percentages of churches for the members of the task force.  Perhaps it is time to reconsider this underlying criteria for being a good Baptist church.

In fact this has been under reconsideration since 1979 when Adrian Rogers was elected president.  Prior to his election, churches had been greatly encouraged to give at least 10% of their undesignated budget receipts to the Cooperative Program.  Rogers church did not even get close to the 10% threshold.

Here is my point.  If 10% is required, it appears more to be a tax than a gift.  Some are being treated as if they are tax cheats for not giving at the unofficially prescribed level.

Each church has a responsibility before God and their people to handle the money in a godly fashion.  The focus of a church’s budget should be on glorifying God and extending the Kingdom of God.  How a church chooses to do this is up to them.  After all, Baptists are from the free church movement.

I am confident that if the Cooperative Program gives the best bang for the buck, then giving levels would increase.  This is why the work of the GCR task force is vital to the future work of the SBC.

In the meantime, let’s not assume that lower percentages mean less commitment to the work of God.  On a personal note, each church that I served as pastor increased their percentage level of giving to the CP.  So this is not the rant of an anti-CP guy.

The news out of SBC-land continues on a path of question and confusion.  What is going on with SBC leaders?

Here is a quick recap:

1.  Yesterday, the head of NAMB (North American Mission Board) and 3 of his top associates resigned under pressure.

2.  The Executive Committee in Nashville likewise witnessed the recent forced resignation of the Executive Vice President.  This came after the head of the Executive Committee went on an unwise rant against Calvinists.

3.  The IMB (International Mission Board) trustees engaged in an ugly running feud that included the suspension of a trustee.

4.  Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has been involved in a lawsuit from a former professor.

5.  New pastors at mega churches, First Baptist Church of Jacksonville and Bellevue Baptist Church succeeded former presidents of the SBC and are making news for all of the wrong reasons.

This list is merely institutional news.  I haven’t even said anything yet about issues regarding theology or renewal initiatives.  At the annual convention in Louisville, observers would think that all was well except for those being influenced by Mark Driscoll and the Calvinists.

So what are we to make of this?  Is there a connection between the declining membership numbers and giving to the Cooperative Program?  I will leave the answers to these questions to others.  Here is what I think about some of this.

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Morris Chapman

Morris Chapman has been at the center of controversy for the past month or so.  First, he openly criticized the Great Commission Resurgence document.  This he has a right to do so, but the Southern Baptist Convention overwhelmingly approved this document at the annual SBC meeting in Louisville in June.

Then Chapman spent his podium time at the annual meeting on the attack.  My displeasure was his attack on Calvinism.  He presented a caricature of Calvinism rather than what Calvinism actually is.

Then he created a real firestorm by asking for the immediate resignation of Clark Logan.  Logan is a respected denominational leader who apparently did not deserve this sort of HR move.

Yesterday Chapman issued of “Clarification of Intent” on his website.  His clarification further demonstrated that Chapman does not get it.  Here are my issues with Chapman’s clarification.

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The SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) met this week in Louisville for the annual gathering.  When I was a pastor, I attended these meetings with the last one being in 1995.  Since they were meeting in Louisville and I now live in Louisville, I followed the events a little closer.  Due to my work schedule, I was not able to attend any of the sessions (except for the final 10 minutes of the convention).  I have caught up by watching the streaming videos of the business sessions.

Here are some thoughts on this convention.

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