Pastoring a Southern Baptist Church

Not unless you are a KJVO.:smilewinkgrin: :laugh: (Just Kidding)

The answer to your questions are no, in all seriousness.

Joseph Botwinick

 

I'm not 100% sure, but I was told by a friend that a newly started church must be in existance for a year before it can join the SBC.

You need to contact the SBC and find out for sure.

 

No, the SBC has no requirements for the minister's credentialing. Now if you are trying to start a new church and want financial support from a state convention and NAMB, there will be some expectations. But the only thing that is necessary for a church to be SBC is that it apply for affiliation.

 

The waiting period for most new works has more to do with the Association that the church is in. Most Association require a waiting period for the new work and then a meeting with a credentials committee. If a church is in fellowship with a local SBC Association, then they are membered churches in the State and National Convention.

Bro Tony

 

One church I replanted was accountable to a mother church, a local association and the state association. In the replant situation the state man had never planted a church and did not have a clue what to do. The local DOM had planted two churches and was a wealth of information and encouragement.

Later I pastored a church which led in church planting. We pooled our money with nine other churches to get a pastor to do church planting full time. He was accountable to those of us who gave. We had monthly meetings and I was in charge of those meetings. I worked directly with the church planting pastor. When the pastor needed help he had 10 churches he could count on to help him with physical matters and with finances. I met with him weekly. In my opinion that was the very best situation I have seen.

 

Coming directly from outside the SBC and planting a church is quite a large task. If you do not know someone in the SBC to vouch for you there may be some steps before becoming part of the association.

Being an ordained SBC or having been ordained in an SBC church then its just a matter of paper work.

 

I have pastored SBC churches for 35 years and each church in the SBC is free to call whoever they feel is the man God leads to be their pastor. The larger churches generally seek man who hold degrees from a SBC seminary, but it is not an absolute necessity.
By the way, a church can be a member of the SBC and/or a state convention without being a member of the local association. There are a few churches that are members that are members of local associations and the SBC and not members of a state convention. There are even some churches members of the local association and not members of a state convention or the SBC. This should be as clear as mud, but it can and does happen.

 

This is what we were told, also as far as joining the SBC. Thankfully, the church, which was moving farther and farther from the SBC didn't last long enough to become SBC.

As far as pastor an SBC church, no....one doesn't have to be a grad from an SBC college/seminary.

 

RE:SBC pastor

You can have no college at all and pastor a SBC church. OR, you can even be a graduate of a "unaccredited" school andd pastor a SBC church (like me!). Each church is autonomous - they decide for themselves who their pastor is.

The other reply is also correct - the larger SBC churches usually look for someone with a higher degree from one of the SBC seminaries.