New President of the SBC

That's really interesting. Even if Sutton hadn't joined the race the split the vote, Page would have squeaked by.

I guess that sends a strong message to the King-makers of the takeover movement. Finally their own base has noticed that they have not been dealing honestly with others.

I wonder what Ronnie is thinking right now...

 

My first thought was about the irony of his "Ronnie Floyd Winners" right now.

Way to go, Dr. Page! :thumbs:

 

Ultimately, I find this turn of events very encouraging.

While I am not a fan of the Southern Baptist Convention, I don't want to see it narrow and fragment any more than it already has. If the new leadership can put politics aside and start humbly working for the Kingdom of God, great things can happen in and through the SBC organization.

 

Bobby Welch seemed to threaten Page not to rock the boat since it was "so close."

I hope that Page doesn't listen to Bobby Welch.

 

Someone at SBC Outpost noted that 75% of those who voted at the convention did not vote for Ronnie, the annointed one. I think that's very telling.

 

Wow! I'm surprised in some ways because 3 of the SBC seminary presidents were backing Floyd. mmmm The BP could hurry up a little faster to get here today . . .

 

I saw a reference to that. Do you have an exact quote?

And what is Welch smoking? The vote wasn't close at all... unless Sutton and Floyd somehow both represented the establishment view. And Sutton wasn't endorsed by SBC agency heads.

 

I was looking for a quote myself. I was so excited about the results I only heard a few words!

 

When Russell Dilday, former president of Southwestern Seminary, was public about his political sentiments in the SBC, he was harshly criticized by some of the same people who endorsed Floyd while they are presidents of seminaries.

That's quite a double standard!

 

I think it was just a comment made out of frustration that the chosen one didn't win.

 

Poor Dr. Dilday.

Of course, double standards -- well that's certainly an SBC distinctive if not a Baptist one.

 

Just wait a little while and see them change their language.

 

I think the young conservative bloggers had much more to do with this election than anyone thought. Page was their guy. We shall see if there is a new day coming in the SBC.

 

I am thrilled with the vote! The very fact that the past presidents have been hand-picked by a small group goes against our Baptistic idea of autonomy. I am very excited about the future of the SBC.

 

If I remember correctly it wasnt politics that caused the take over of the SBC but it was a protective stance of the conservatives against the encroaching liberalism so apparent!!

 

That was the party line of the ones the younger conservatives are disillusioned with...

I am convinced, by personal connections with some of those movers and shakers (including Ronnie Floyd), that it has been primarily a political events, using theology as a convenient excuse.

Folks like Wade Burleson are discovering the lack of integrity among institutional trustees and leadership that those of us who were targeted by the takeover movement (aka, the so-called conservative resurgence) have known about for more than 20 years. It is just that the power brokers can't use false charges of "liberalism" against folks like Burleson because many people know him through his blog and through a blog network of likeminded people.

 

I agree with this answer. I've been around long enough to remember, among other things, James Sullivan's revealing article, in which he reported that members of the power bloc told him that they were looking for an issue to rally Southern Baptists around in order to gain power. They decided on Biblical inerrancy, rather cynically, knowing that the average Baptist would "vote for the Bible" without reflecting fully on all that was packed into that. The allegation that the seminaries and agencies were full of "liberals" was believed, even though it simply was not true. The proportion of people among Southern Baptists who thought along liberal lines was and is minuscule, and the proportion among agency personnel was negligible. But, sadly, people are ready to believe negatives. And so the power bloc won election after election and took over the denomination on the basis of charges against brothers and sisters that were not true.

 

This is an amazing result. Maybe the ensconched leadership of the SBC will finally realize they've gone too far done too much and hurt too many.

I hope the younger leadership in the SBC will realize the opportunity here and live out their convictions and not go the way of those they sought to replace.

Maybe we'll finally return to Kingdom work and not political work in the SBC