Tent Width Oct 25, 2006
Observations on Controversy Oct 24, 2007
First Impressions Dec 5, 2006
One of my favorite parts of the BGCO annual meeting is that one of our entities that gives a report to the convention always does something out of the ordinary to spice it up a bit. This year, it was Sam Porter and the Partnership and Volunteer Missions team. With apologies to Mike Gundy, enjoy their report:
[HT: Scott Gordon]
[Update: I've just learned that Dr. Fannin has been reelected by roughly a 60-40 margin over his opponent, former Capital Association DOM Dr. Ernie Perkins.}
Dr. Alton Fannin, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Ardmore, Oklahoma, has served one year as president of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO).Generally, presidents are elected to a second term without opposition, but I’ve learned today that that will not be the case for Dr. Fannin.
In an email sent to churches across the state, it was announced by the managing editor of Baptist Voice Online Magazine that an opponent to Dr. Fannin would be nominated when the BGCO elects officers during the morning session this coming Tuesday. The email expressed support for Dr. Fannin, but cited the fact that Dr. Fannin serves as chair of the board of trustees of Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) as the primary reason for the opposition. The email also noted that Dr. Fannin’s brother, Ron Fannin, is the BGCO’s Senior Associate Executive Director.
Recently it was announced that Dr. Mark Brister, president of OBU, will retire on November 10. Apparently, the folks at Baptist Voice believe there is too much potential for a conflict of interest for Dr. Fannin to preside over the OBU board as well as presiding over the BGCO Board of Directors while his brother occupies the office next to BGCO Executive Director/Treasurer Dr. Anthony Jordan.
Should we be concerned about a conflict? Would this be an example of too much power in too few hands? I don’t know the answer, but this development certainly means that the Tuesday morning session is likely to be well-attended.
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.
- 1 Timothy 3:1 (ESV)
This is the theme of this year’s Pastor’s Conference, which takes place on Monday, November 12 at the First Baptist Church of Moore, Oklahoma, before the start of the 101st Annual Meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
I always enjoy the pastor’s conference, and I’m especially excited about the speakers scheduled for this year. They are:
In addition to these men who will be preaching, we will also hear testimonies from:
I look forward to being challenged and encouraged by this year’s conference. I also look forward to renewing some friendships face-to-face. Use the comments here to tell me who will be speaking at similar events in your state.
Keith Haygood serves as Worship and Music Ministries Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. He provides resources and training opportunites for those involved in local church music ministry, as well as providing leadership for the Oklahoma Baptist All-State Youth Choir and Orchestra, and serving as the conductor of the Oklahoma Baptist Symphony. With his permission, I want to share with you a column he wrote for the October edition of the BGCO’s Worship and Music Ministry e-newsletter, e.worship.ok:
Have you ever gotten into your car after church on Sunday and asked yourself, “What just happened here?” Does it seem that you are doing all you can do and yet you are not connecting with people nor are you helping them to connect with God? Is it possible for the church to meet week after week and just go through the motions, yet never sense the moving of the Holy Spirit? After all, even in His great commission, Jesus said, “I am with you always…”
God spoke through the prophet Amos:
I hate, I reject your festivals; nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; and I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.
I believe that we are often guilty of presenting our music and our prayers to the Lord as an end of itself, when God’s desire is that we come to Him with clean hands and a pure heart. The song we sing and play for Him must be the song that has come as the cry of our hearts, not some religious rite. This is why God rebukes the religious in Amos 5. He is looking to the heart. His desire is that we be real with Him. He already knows our hearts, so why do we play games with Him in our worship experiences? God’s desire is that we walk according to His Word day after day. If we do, corporate worship will be much sweeter because it will come as an outpouring of what God has done in our lives all week long.
Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation. -Psalm 111:1
Marty Duren, in part 2 of his ongoing series on Re:Imagineering the SBC, talked about the local association. While many concerns were expressed in the comments, some shared about good things happening in their associations, and I want to do that here.
Tonight at First Baptist Church and Trinity Baptist Church, both in Idabel, Oklahoma, Frisco Baptist Association hosts its annual Evangelism Conference. This is perhaps one of the best things our association does. Frisco Baptist Association consists of just over fifty churches in three counties in the southeast corner of the state. These counties cover 4,023 square miles, and have a combined population of just over 61,000 people. Last year’s Evangelism Conference was attended by just over 1,500 people, and we’re hoping to top 2,000 this year.
The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma hosts an Evangelism Conference each January, and it is usually pretty good. But where we live, it takes quite an effort to get to that conference; it’s more than a three-hour drive to Oklahoma City. I’m grateful that our association is able to put together an event like this. We bring in the best speakers we can find, and it gives our people an opportunity they would otherwise not have, always providing a challenge to more effective evangelism where we live.
We divide into three groups, with the youth at Trinity Baptist Church, and the children and adults at First Baptist, with different speakers for each age group. Speaking to the youth this year is James Lankford, BGCO Student Ministry and Evangelism Specialist. Speaking to the adults will be Dr. Anthony Jordan, BGCO Executive Director/Treasurer. And with the children will be Gene “Bubba” Wright, Children’s Pastor at Houston’s Metropolitan Baptist Church.
I’m looking forward to tonight, and I’m grateful for an association that has the vision to put together an event like this one.
Today was another very enjoyable day at the BGCO Annual Meeting, mainly for the great times of fellowship we shared with co-laborers in the Gospel from our state.
The election of officers saw three candidates nominated to succeed outgoing president Bob Green, and Dr. Alton Fannin, pastor of the First Baptist Church at Ardmore, Oklahoma won in a runoff against Duncan’s Buddy Hunt. By all accounts, Dr. Fannin has a great ministry in Ardmore and he is highly respected by his fellow pastors in the Enon Baptist Association. Perhaps the most memorable fact shared in his nomination speech, given by Dr. Hance Dilbeck, was that FBC Ardmore contributes 18% of its undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program.
The highlight of the morning, at least from a humor perspective, was the presentation of the report of the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma. I was prepared to let Art Rogers tell this story, but he’s had his chance.
It was a video in which the foundation’s president, Robert Kellogg, found himself in the town of Mayberry, where the residents he meets tell him the story of the purpose of the foundation. It featured President Bob Green as Andy Taylor, Dr. Mark Brister, President of OBU, as Barney Fife, and Dr. Anthony Jordan, BGCO Executive Director/Treasurer, as Floyd the barber.
As “Floyd” was trying to squeeze some “goop” out of a bottle for Kellogg’s hair, he exclaimed, “This thing always clogs!”
The camera then cuts to a waiting customer who was sitting against the wall hiding behind a newspaper. Upon hearing the word “clogs,” an eager Wade Burleson lowers his newspaper and queries, “Did somebody say ‘blogs’?” It brought a hearty laugh to all present.
We had a great time at lunch visiting with Bud Vinson, pastor of Centerpoint Baptist Church in Wilburton, Oklahoma, and Doug McClure, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Hugo, Oklahoma.
The evening required a drive to the other side of Oklahoma City, for the Centennial Reunion Celebration at First Southern Baptist Church in Del City. This was a celebration of our 100 years of ministry of a convention, and was a program of video montages narrated by a Will Rogers impersonator, with incredible music provided by the Singing Churchmen of Oklahoma, the Singing ChurchWomen of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Baptist Symphony, and guest Wintley Phipps. I was somewhat concerned about the high potential for corniness, what with Will Rogers narrating and all, but it was a very well done, very inspirational program.
We enjoyed a late dinner with David Watkins, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Boswell, Oklahoma, and his wife Kristen. All in all it was a good time, and I’m very grateful to those in my church who made it possible for my wife and me to attend.
I remain concerned about the degree to which the entire program, other than the election of officers and the adoption of resolutions (which I will post later) seemed to be entirely done in advance, and more a show than a convention. I do worry, as has been expressed on SBC Outpost, about the disincentive such a pre-packaged program presents to participation, especially among a younger generation of leaders. I don’t know what the solutions are, but it’s a conversation we ought to be having.
I want to share my personal reflections on a long day of meetings, first of the Pastors’ Conference, then of the first session of the BGCO Annual Meeting.
The Pastors’ Conference was excellent. We had a good mix of Oklahoma pastors and speakers from around the country. The theme was “Jesus Christ: The Same Yesterday, Today, and Forever.” For a synopsis of each preacher’s message, visit Art Rogers’ blog. Art and I have equally capable cell phones, giving us the ability (in theory) to blog live from anywhere. The difference is that I have not yet sprung for the extra $20 per month that gives unlimited data usage, so live blogging for me is an expensive proposition. Plus, I knew Art had it covered.
I was most challenged by the messages of Tommy Clark and Ergun Caner. Tommy Clark is pastor of the First Baptist Church of Seminole, Oklahoma, and he challenged us to be about the business of discipleship rather than trying to build our churches. His constant refrain throughout his message was a juxtaposition of Christ’s command in the Great Commission with His declaration following Peter’s confession of who He was: “You go make disciples, I will build My church!” Powerful stuff, that.
Dr. Caner, President of Liberty Theological Seminary, challenged us in the area of apologetics. We must lead our people to be ready to defend their faith. To me, this is inextricably linked to Bro. Clark’s message of discipleship: We must make disciples who can not only share, but defend their faith. All in all, the Pastor’s Conference was well worth the trip on its own.
The first session of the Annual Meeting itself was something of a mixed bag. We heard reports from Oklahoma Baptist University and the BGCO Board of Directors, including the adoption of a record budget of over $23 million dollars, 40% of which is passed on to the Cooperative Program. I would like to see this percentage raised, but I’m told by those who know that, at least for now, it is what it is.
I noticed an interesting contrast between this meeting and the SBC Annual Meeting this past June in Greensboro. In Greensboro, I felt like a participant. There was always a microphone nearby, and reports from entities allowed for questions and discussion from the floor. This allowance has been improved in my view by an amendment to the SBC bylaws adopted in Greensboro that requires entities to reserve the last portion of their time, rather than just any portion, for questions and discussion.
But at the BGCO Annual Meeting, there is no such allowance. I felt like a spectator. Our Board of Directors has handled some controversial and difficult issues in the past year, yet these were scarcely mentioned during the report, and there was no way for them to be addressed by the messengers. It seems that the idea is that we must trust our directors and trustees to do the work for which they were elected, and I don’t necessarily have a problem with that concept, but I think there should be some allowance made for interaction with the messengers in convention. It was a well-planned, well-executed presentation, but it did not feel much like a convention, and I did not feel much like a messenger.
My wife and I ended the day sharing a wonderful late dinner with Winston Curtis, Pastor of Highland Park Baptist Church in Duncan, Oklahoma and trustee on the International Mission Board, along with his wife Kathy and several members of their church. We had a great time of fellowship, and it was a good way to end the day.
Check again with Art tomorrow for a running update, as we vote on resolutions and elect a new president to replace outgoing two-term president Bob Green, longtime pastor of Arrow Heights Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. I will post some reflections on the day late tomorrow evening.
I’m looking forward to attending the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma‘s 100th annual meeting one week from today. I’m blessed to be able to attend this event thanks to the generosity of the people of my church, who have made it financially possible for my wife and me to make the trip. Also, I’m very grateful to the couple in our church who will be caring for our two children, making it possible for us to actually focus on the events of the convention while we are there.
Our state’s Pastors’ Conference begins Monday morning, and I’m looking forward to hearing some great preaching. Here is the list of those scheduled to preach:
Leading in worship during the Pastors’ Conference will be Charles Billingsley of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California.
I’m looking forward to this conference. I’m pleased that we are able to bring people in from around the country, but I’m also pleased that we’ll be able to hear the preaching of our co-laborers from right here in Oklahoma, and I appreciat the mix represented here.
I’m also looking forward to the opportunity these meetings will provide to meet some more of you. If you’re going to be there, let me know. I’d love the opportunity to meet some more fellow bloggers from what Les Puryear has reffered to as the “blogging capital of the world,” the great state of Oklahoma. If you don’t already know how to contact me, email me by clicking here.
Tent Width Oct 25, 2006
Observations on Controversy Oct 24, 2007
First Impressions Dec 5, 2006
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