GCRTF Report Challenges to all Southern Baptists (4): Challenges for Local Associations and State Conventions
By Danny Akin and Nathan A. Finn
From almost the very beginning of our movement, likeminded autonomous Baptist churches voluntarily cooperated through local associations in evangelism, church planting, mercy ministries, and doctrinal accountability. In part because of their aversion to the societal method of cooperation, by the 1820s the Baptists of the South were further cooperating through state conventions. In 1845, they … [Read More]
GCRTF Report Challenges to all Southern Baptists (4): Challenges for Local Associations and State Conventions
Baptist Identification and Article IX
As many BtT readers know, no section of the GCR Declaration has caused more angst than Article IX: A Commitment to a More Effective Convention Structure. While Morris Chapman has recently come out against the current movement because of Article IX (though one could argue he voted for it before he voted against it) and other SBC leaders have signed the Declaration with caveats (not necessarily related to Article IX), by far the most vocal critics of … [Read More]
The Freedom of the Gospel Community: Local Church Autonomy
This is the seventh article in a series that explores the relationship between the gospel and Baptist identity. Baptists have historically argued for what is commonly called the autonomy of the local church. Stan Norman sums up the Baptist argument nicely:
The New Testament presents churches that are independent and self-governing. The decisions of each local church are final because no authority higher than a local church exists. Local churches can join together for certain ministry, … [Read More]
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