Featured Mohler: I'll Be Nominating Ronnie Floyd for SBC Presidency

There was over 10000 the year before as well as the year prior to that I was there.

 

From here

http://betweenthetimes.com/index.php/2013/06/17/reflections-on-the-2013-southern-baptist-convention-part-1/

With no good controversy to get the folks out combined with hosting conventions out of normal SBC strongholds means attendance has dropped.

 

The convention numbers are historically recorded and publcly accessible. If they hit 6,000 messengers this year they should throw a party.

 

You've made some excellent points.

SBC messengers should vote for someone whose ministry is something to aspire to - in biblical terms. What are the biblical standards for success? How did Jeremiah's ministry look from the human perspective? (A weird failure?) How did Jesus' ministry look like from the human perspective in the time of His teaching? (Extremely controversial with large numbers of people deserting Him from time to time?)

Sure. Does Ronnie's church do a great job of making disciples? From the number of people the church has baptized over the years, the congregations should be at least three times as large as they are now if people are staying with the church. Now there may be many reasons why people have left that have nothing to do with the ministry, but it seems like an excessively high rate of turnover.

Moreover, Ronnie was my pastor during a crucial time in my life and there was absolutely no emphasis on discipleship from him. Now things may have changed in 30 years, but I haven't seen evidence of it. I would be delighted to be proven wrong on this point.

If there is a candidate nominated who has a ministry to aspire toward and leads a church that successfully and consistently makes disciples, please vote for that person!

 

I think what confuses people is the difference between the number of messengers and the attendance numbers. There may be a whole family there with only one or two (probably the adults) who are actually messengers. Lots of pastors blend the convention attendance with a family vacation because they don't get to get away from their congregations very often to relax.

 

This is a possibility. However, over the past couple of years the annual gathering has been a ghost-town compared to previous years. The average age is skyrocketing and the numbers are now pre-world war 2 lows.

Most of my peers are staying away unless they have some official capacity to fulfill. I don't know many under 40 that go at all.

 

This seems to be the case for just about all denominational gatherings these days whether national, state or local level. People have limited time and resources - why in the world would you want to go spend any of it at a business or preachers meeting?

It is a reality, right now, denominational stuff is view as outdated and not relevant especially when the things done at this particular meeting are merely suggestions.

 

Over the last many years America has shown to vote for professional politicians and unfortunately the church is seldom any different. Those who are leaders should be those who are an example to those they serve.

 

We all know this and it has been discussed elsewhere.