Report: Emerging generations say denomination must avoid ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach

If the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Southern Baptist Convention remain relevant as 21st century ministries, state and denominational leaders must add value to ever-changing church ministries. They must also avoid a “one-size-fits-all” approach as congregations grow more varied in style and culture.

These are among the findings of a team of SBTC staff that met with about 300 emerging church leaders during a series of forums held across Texas in the first half of 2004.

The findings are from the first of several rounds of dialogue with pastors and church leaders ages 40 and under. Over the next several years the SBTC hopes to unveil a plan to preserve Southern Baptists’ cooperative missions model, known as the Cooperative Program, in what many consider a post-denominational age.

“To a lot of ministries and churches, if we’re going to matter, it’s got to be relational and it’s got to be mission oriented,” said Robby Partain, SBTC missions director who leads the 2020 Connection Project, a convention effort to engage emerging leaders in Southern Baptist life.

“We’re going to have to get to know them,” Partain, 40, added. “More than anything these young leaders are motivated by the mission, vision and carrying out of the Great Commission–making followers of Christ. That’s our future. We’re going to have to be a missional servant as well as a missional leader in our role as a state convention.”

Partain said for emerging generations, “experience is the new currency” and that although previous generations of Baptists were sold on Baptist missions and involvement by hearing about SBC work, emerging generations will be sold on SBC cooperation mainly by personal experience.

“I’ve observed working with church planters and other church leaders that there is more perceived value in going and doing something than in giving to something that appears large, impersonal and bureaucratic,” Partain said. “…My conviction is that it shouldn’t be either/or (giving or going), that it should be both (going and giving), that every church should be involved at every level of Acts 1:8 because there’s something every church can do. On the other hand, not any one church can do everything.”

For the first nine months of 2004, nine SBTC ministry staff members participated in forums across Texas with approximately 300 emerging church leaders, allowing them to opine about the SBTC, the SBC, the local church and what they value in their ministries.

Partain said the approach was to first understand, then seek to be understood, borrowing from Stephen Covey’s popular 1990s business book “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.”

The 2020 Connection Project Team Report noted several sources of “connection” with the SBTC and a longer list of “disconnections.” Further, the SBTC report identified 15 “Keys for the Future” and eight action items to “help move the SBTC toward a more effective future as a ministry partner of local churches.”

Talk of an imminent leadership vacuum in the SBC among emerging generations, who tend to be scarce at convention meetings and perceived as indifferent or ignorant toward denominational work, has spurred columns in Baptist Press by SBC leaders and the SBTC’s launching in 2003 of the 2020 Connection Project.

“By the year 2020 most of the current leadership of the convention will be off the scene,” SBTC Executive Director Jim Richards told the TEXAN last year. “The kingdom will suffer if we do not prove the value of our historic Southern Baptist cooperation while being innovative in our approach to the emerging generation.”

In the team’s report, the “connections” 2020 participants noted were:

>the SBTC’s commitment to scriptural inerrancy;

>the CP Missions funding channel;

>the SBTC’s minimal bureaucracy;

>a positive approach of “moving on” from past divisions;

>the SBTC’s “newness and freshness”;

>the sBTC church planting, missions and evangelism emphasis;

>relational ministries such as the Paul-Timothy conference;

>small focus group forums and one-on-one contact with church leaders.

Disconnections included:

>a fear of “institutional creep” as the SBTC matures;

>missed opportunities to involve younger leaders in convention life;

>a perception that SBC and SBTC entities have a methodological bias about local church ministry styles;

>a “one-size-fits-all” approach to church ministry resources and a lack of sophistication in addressing individual congregations with diverse styles;

>a prevailing ignorance among church members about CP Missions and a distance from things denominational;

>not utilizing technology effectively in convention communications;

>a paradigm shift from giving to missions (traditional CP) to going on mission.

“The concept of cooperative missions is suffering from a lack of teaching and a distinct difference in how churches view being on mission,” the report stated.  “The shift in local church emphasis from giving to missions to going on mission is well underway and is a major paradigm shift in Southern Baptist life.  Where the Cooperative Program fits and how it will work in the future is a major question mark based on the responses of the group participants.”

Partain told the TEXAN he hopes that after 2006, the 2020 Connection Project would be able to definitively address some of the concerns voiced by current Southern Baptist leaders about the denomination’s future.

The report said in its “Keys for the Future” that an effective denominational entity would be characterized by:

>A commitment to scriptural inerrancy.

>Sophisticated, multilayered communications strategies and technologies.

>Relationship-based ministry.

>Comfort with complexity (no “one-size-fits-all” approaches).

>Mentoring and the facilitation of mentoring relationships between younger and older.

>Expertise in what’s available for churches and how to get it (including screening for doctrinal and practical soundness).

>A persuasive apologetic for cooperation.

>A unifying vision for missions that includes going and giving.

>A catalyzing, not controlling, paradigm.

>Cultural and methodological diversity.

>Avoiding poor hermeneutics that exalt particular methods or styles of ministry.

>Embracing change and comfort with the cutting edge.

>Getting church leaders involved in denominational planning, processes and products.

>Building a feedback loop into all ministries and learning from the feedback.

>Understanding the identity and uniqueness of each church (i.e., thinking like a sophisticated, high-touch customer service organization).

Additionally, the report cited the following eight “Action Items” to help the SBTC ensure its place as an effective partner with local churches.

>Deploy church service specialist in the field at the lowest possible specialist-to-church ratio.

>Develop the convention’s website as the best of its kind.

>Develop multiple communications strategies to reach individual leaders at the local church level.

>Focus on building people rather than programs.

>Cast the vision for a “third way” approach to missions that synthesizes the going and giving aspects and is a persuasive apologetic for cooperation.

>Affirm cultural and methodological diversity at every opportunity and especially in staffing and high-profile venues.

>Make a concerted effort to include the emerging leaders in SBTC planning and visioning.

>Work with SBC leaders in using the 2020 concept as a pilot project in North America.

In conclusion, the report notes: “The viability of the SBTC is no longer in question.  However, you cannot live on the momentum of an accomplished vision for very long.  An organization will sink into maintenance and mediocrity unless the effort is made to keep the organization fresh and vital.  The vision and methodology of the state convention must adapt to meet the needs brought about by the convention’s rapid growth and the changing culture around us.”