Messengers to the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s annual meeting adopted a resolution opposing a name change for the Southern Baptist Convention.
The resolution passed by a show of hands vote during the closing session of the state convention’s Nov. 15-16 sessions at First Baptist Church in Hendersonville, Tenn.
Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright announced in September the appointment of a 16-member presidential task force to study the prospect of changing the 166-year-old convention’s name. Wright cited two reasons for the study: church planting limitations related to the convention’s regional name and reduced effectiveness in reaching a 21st-century audience with the Gospel.
Phillip Senn, a messenger at the Tennessee convention from Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Troy, submitted the resolution titled “Resolution on SBC Presidential Task Force Considering a Name Change of the Southern Baptist Convention.”
The resolution acknowledged Wright’s appointment of a task force and said “it has been argued that keeping the name Southern Baptist Convention could cause harm to our missionary efforts worldwide.”
The resolution noted that “messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention have repeatedly turned away such proposals” and that the SBC is “recognized worldwide as a convention of churches partnering together for ‘One Sacred Effort, the Propagation of the Gospel.'”
Among the reasons listed in the resolution for why the name change is not needed:
Source: Baptist Press | Lonnie Wilkey/Baptist & Reflector
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