Featured Unaffiliated independent Baptists

I think these kinds of inconsistencies are things we live with and think little about if we are part of something, but that can be maddening for the outsider trying to understand what it is all about. We get into that sort of thing with the Southern Baptist Convention as well, which technically and officially according to its Constitution is a meeting of messengers:

That almost sounds like circular reasoning, but the Convention and its cooperating churches seem to wade through it just fine most of the time.

 

Salty, what group is Dr. Brown involved with now?

 

Here's your man Russell Moore, properly defining who independent Baptists are:

http://digital.library.sbts.edu/handle/10392/4195

 

Noticing from the IBFNA that their constitution orients toward individual membership rather than as an organization of churches. Noting that because I wondered out loud earlier if that style of organization might be fixed more in the South, but I would assume the IBFNA is more prevalent in the North.

 

They're not prevalent anywhere.

They list four supporting churches (1 in MA, 3 in PA):

http://www.ibfna.org/v3/index.php/misc/supporting-churches

They had seven supporting churches several years ago, when I was told thay had about 100 individual members.

 

That's all kind of odd. Hadn't looked around the site other than looking at the Constitution for type of membership. Also makes me wonder what "supporting church" means. There are only four listed there, and when you look at the 2017 Annual Conference it is being held at a church that is not listed as a supporting church. It appears that two, and maybe three, of the officers would be in churches other than one of the four supporting churches.

 

You don't approve of the new policy? It seems to be similar to that of the rump group your friend led:

http://www.ibfna.org/v3/index.php/founding-documents/constitution

 

I see L. Duane Brown was Moderator of that bunch. At their 2010 meetup he delivering a fascinating sermon on "The Southern Baptist Convention - Its History, Heritage, and Hinderances":

http://www.ibfna.org/IBFNA/2010_conference.htm