Thabiti Anyabwile and the Crete Collective: No SBC Needed

The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity.” ― Marcus Garvey


Last week Jules Woodson received a disturbing letter from the SBC Credentials Committee. I must admit that I now believe that the SBC played a game about caring for victims of sex abuse. JD Greear’s Caring Well committee was a bust. The promise that the SBC would deal with sex abuse was one that was quickly broken. They published a Caring Well curriculum and promptly forgot about those churches which have a proven history of sex abuse or the cover-up of sex abuse. Although I will continue to follow the SBC’s half-hearted attempts to *do something,* I no longer believe they will do anything to deal with their awful history of sex abuse of children within the SBC.

Given the SBC’s response on this matter, I turned my attention to JD Greear’s newest *thing* for his new SBC. The dudebros and are really going to do *something* this time about racism and justice in the SBC. Again, tears are publicly shed by the boys. They loudly express their pain and sorrow regarding the SBC history of racism.  But, is this like the sex abuse *thing,* a big show with little long-term staying power? There are some interesting developments that were brought to my attention by TWW reader, Jerome.

Thabiti Anyabwile, the long-time Council member of The Gospel Coalition, reportedly resigned his position. I no longer see his name listed although his posts are still present. Anyabwile left his church in the Grand Cayman Islands to start Anacostia River Church.

Anacostia is named for the Native American people who once lived along the banks of the Anacostia River. Famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass made Anacostia his home from 1877 until his death in 1895. Now Anacostia and the greater Ward 8 area is home to 85,000 people. It’s also home for Anacostia River Church.

The church has an extensive mercy ministry. Here is one of many.

DC127 is an initiative of Washington, DC churches focused on working together to ensure the success of every child in foster care and those at risk of entering the child welfare system. As an initiative, we believe we have a responsibility and call to mobilize our communities and congregations to care for some of the most vulnerable children in our city.

It is obvious to me that something might be up and, indeed, it is. Christianity Today posted: Pastors Launch Church-Planting Network for ‘Black and Brown Neighborhoods’ subtitled” A new initiative led by Thabiti Anyabwile aims to support leaders serving in distressed urban areas” written by Kate Shellnutt.

A team of pastors including Thabiti Anyabwile and John Onwuchekwa have launched a new network—The Crete Collective—to support church planters focused on black, Hispanic, and Asian American communities.

Notice the next statement from the post on how they define discipleship as both good preaching and justice.

The Crete Collective would place at the center of its work the concerns, ideals, aspirations, frustrations, struggles, and realities of black and brown neighborhoods in all of their diversity,” said founding president Thabiti Anyabwile, a pastor at Anacostia River Church in Washington, DC.

“We would enthusiastically encourage the kind of holistic discipleship that sees gospel preaching and justice as siblings rather than as enemies. We’ve got a whole range of issues that we have to care about in our communities … immigration challenges, prison reform, hunger, homeownership.”

The following gives us a bit more insight into why the Cretete Collective might be necessary.

While major networks have worked for years to make church planting more diverse in the United States—a majority of Southern Baptist church plants, for example, are multiethnic or non-Anglo—the movement overall remains disproportionately white. It also tends to concentrate new churches in places with the most existing churches.

One point must be stressed here. Although there are many church plants in the SBC, the number of church plants that fail is a closely guarded secret. I have tried to get those numbers through the years with no success. I suspect people might be concerned if they learned how much money is spent on church plants and how many of those plants fail.

Is it the fear of social justice that is causing black, brown, and Asian pastors to seek a new coalition of like-minded individuals?

Christianity Today posted an interesting article on this subject: Planting Pastors in the New America: A Case for Civic Advocacy Training subtitled “In today’s urban ministry climate, people are not content to settle for “lip service” anymore.” by Dr. Elizabeth Rios.

The reality is that we are living in a time when a church’s work and presence outside the walls matter to people just as much as the worship services. And let me be clear: I’m talking about more than a backpack drive or the monthly soup kitchen outreach.

…Thus, pastoring with the mindset of making a long-term difference now involves prayer and,to the dismay of some, civic engagement on a local, state, and maybe even national level.

…When church leaders advocate for the people they serve, they are walking in a practice-based Christianity, not simply a belief-based one. Advocacy is the epitome of “walking your talk,” and today’s diverse community of believers are holding their pastors to it. Better yet, when pastors stand for the voiceless in the halls of power, they resemble the life, ministry, and heart of Jesus.

I have been following the debates surrounding social justice on Twitter, blogs, etc. To ignore social justice entirely is to ignore what is being proposed by the Crete Collective This group is not associated with any denomination.

The apostle Paul sent his associate Titus to pastor on the island of Crete. Paul’s charge to Titus was “to put what remained in order and appoint elders in every town” (Titus 1:5). In other words, Titus was to plant churches with strong leaders in the dozens of towns in Crete.

But Crete had a bad reputation even among its own philosophers. Like “the Jericho Road,” Crete was likely the kind of place people avoided. Few would seek to go there. But God is different. God intends overlooked people and places to hear the good news of His love in Jesus Christ.

God intends gospel churches to be established in the very places people so often overlook. Paul and Titus partnered to make that happen in Crete. The Crete Collective partners to make it happen in the overlooked Black and Brown neighborhoods of our day.

Instead, they claim adherence to The New Hampshire Baptist Confession. A. D. 1833. It does not appear to be (update 11/24/20) an ardent Calvinistic expression of faith but please let me know if you disagree. Jerome said that Mark Dever says it is the minimal accepted for membership and they will be taught *much better* once they get into the church.

widely accepted by Baptists, especially in the Northern and Western States, as a clear and concise statement of their faith, in harmony with the doctrines of older confessions, but expressed in milder form. The text is taken from the Baptist Church Manual, published by the American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia.}

Here is a list of the current Board of Directors. Most interesting is John Onwuchekwa who is a member of The Gospel Coalition but whose Cornerstone Church just left the SBC. Jeremy McLain is a former intern of CHBC (Mark Dever.) I would imagine the 9 Marks way will not be heavily stressed by this group.  Darryl Williamson is a member of TGC’s board of directors.

I will be interested in watching this group of pastors to see what happens in the Crete Collective. I have a feeling that they will make waves in the years to come. I certainly hope they are more effective than sex abuse advocates in changing the hearts of groups like the SBC.

Final thought:

The SBC is a dinosaur denomination that gives lip service to change but has little ability to transform. It is my hope that new and innovative church collectives along with smarter denominations will change the status quo. As of this time, I believe the SBC will continue to decline and they should. The new hip *successful* pastor in skinny jeans and expensive sneakers is no different than the old-timey Baptist preacher with his ill-fitting suit and a bad haircut. Both of them won’t do anything about sex abuse, racism, and justice.

Comments

Thabiti Anyabwile and the Crete Collective: No SBC Needed — 105 Comments

  1. It’s nice to see a prominent pastor walk away from the SBC. But I have to wonder, does Thabiti Anyabwile realize that DC already has a great many churches, including quite a few that have been serving impoverished neighborhoods for a very long time? What does he bring that they do not already offer?

  2. I’ve got to say that to me, this carries the potential of being a way to help the brave Neo Cal SBC achieve goals of appearing socially and ideologically relevant while keeping revenue streams maximized. TGC / T4G has evidently tried to position themselves as such for years, and this appears to fit with that.

    Finding revenue sources with which to properly finance careers of those seminarians being churned out of SBC seminaries appears to remain a top priority. Besides good publicity and imaging of relevance for the current crop of churches, such priorities could arguably lead to the targeting of traditionally committed demographic groups that in large have churches as a key part of their culture.

    Remember, these are groups and organizations reportedly have within the ranks those who will target certain neighborhoods and income brackets when considering where to “plant”. Anacostia happens to be a place that has seen a tremendous amount of investment, revival, and measures of gentrification in recent years. The Anacostia metro station is the closest one with parking to the Navy Yard, the Department of Transportation, and Nationals Park (which is also walking distance from Capitol Hill). Where this church meets is a stone’s throw from that on the south side of the river. That they started a new church given the amount of churches already there as well as buildings appears to go along with what we’ve seen from the NAMB.

    Let’s take all of these conceivable elements: a church planting / “replanting” movement that often appears to prioritize making little franchises of a Neo Cal network and may seek advantageous locales for that; a movement that may prioritize consistent extraction of capital ‘cuz biblical stewardship; and a movement that wants to keep the existing churches feeling relevant while adding to the numbers – – potentially regardless of actual increases by baptism of new believers. What is a more logical target for that mindset than ethnic groups that they perceive as often ceding a significant amount of money and authority to the local church? Combine the stealth takeover element in which certain movements evidently traffic, and I fear we might just have an expansion of branding rather than a significantly different and positive initiative underway here.

    The note about a Capitol Hill Baptist intern being part of this skin-focused initiative dovetails into another issue. Who exactly is going to weed out the Anthony Moores of the world from an initiative drenched from its inception in the SBC’s brave new affirmation of priorities? Tell me which of the political animals in the SBC are going to lead with accountability, transparency, and oversight in an Anthony Moore situation, especially when those in charge of that wing might play the politics right back at them, say with a shot across the bow like TA reportedly did with MLK.

  3. https://anacostiariverchurch.org/maturity/#membership

    “Maturing in Christ begins with being a part of His body, the Church (Eph. 4:15-16). Membership in a church is an intentional commitment of every individual member to serve and love the whole and a reciprocal commitment of the whole church to love and serve each individual. It’s mutual belonging and love on mission together.

    “Our membership process involves completing three sessions where we cover our mission, our church covenant, and our statement of faith, followed by a membership interview with a pastor.”

    Wonder who will be asking the questions in the “membership interview”.

    Sign here to put yourself under church discipline, which may include the section about giving:

    https://7ji.8d0.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ARC-Covenant.pdf

    “We will defend and maintain an evangelical ministry in this church by supporting and upholding: – The preaching of the Word of God (2 Tim 4:2)
    – The administration of the Gospel Sacraments (baptism and the Lord’s Supper) (Acts 2:38; 1 Cor
    11:26)
    – The exercise of Church discipline (Matt 18:17; 1 Cor 5:13)

    “We will contribute cheerfully, generously and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the Gospel through all nations. (Matt
    28:19; Luke 12:33; 2 Cor 9:7)”

    Quite a bit more on membership, on church discipline, and even indemnification (mandatory and / or permissive) of staff is here:

    https://7ji.8d0.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/ARC-Constitution-FINAL-Adopted-December-13-2015.pdf

    Note the use of marks of the church in one of the number of sections mentioning discipline:

    “To remain true to our Lord and His word, this church must be marked by preaching the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27; 2 Tim. 4:1-2), administering baptism (Matt. 28:19; Rom. 6:1-4) and the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:17-34), loving one another (John 13:34-35; 1 John 3:11-24; 4:7-12), and practicing formative discipline (i.e., instruction that shapes us more into Christ’s likeness) (1 Thess. 5:14; 1 Tim. 5:1-2; Tit. 2:15) and corrective discipline carried out by a majority of the congregation with the aim and hope of eventual restoration (Matt. 18:15-20; 1 Cor. 5:1-5).”

    The only time I noticed where those in authority were included in a section on discipline was at a place where the church would be in a position to “freely extend forgiveness“ after a confession of a kind:

    “It is desirable in the case of public sin that a confession be made at an appointed meeting of the church, so that the church can freely extend forgiveness. Such public confession is especially necessary in the case of pastors and deacons (1 Tim. 5:19-20; Gal. 2:11-14).”

  4. “a new network — The Crete Collective…Board of Directors. Most interesting is John Onwuchekwa who is a member of The Gospel Coalition but whose Cornerstone Church just left the SBC.”

    Dee, Thabiti Anyabwile’s own Anacostia River Church no longer appears on the SBC Church Search either. So he may have left the SBC too, although there has been no announcement.

    2017 SBC Pastors Conference headliner John Onwuchekwa’s July 2020 ‘SBC Exit’ statement:
    https://thefrontporch.org/2020/07/4-reasons-we-left-the-sbc/

  5. Thabiti Anyabwile was quite critical of Southern Seminary’s decision last month to retain slaveholding Founders’ names on its buildings:

    https://twitter.com/ThabitiAnyabwil/status/1315834952462880768

    “To say the founding slaveholders’ theology *defines* the institution is GREATER reason to remove their names and to interrogate their continuing influence on the institution. To emerge from this process still honoring them is itself dishonorable.”

    The trustees’ vote was announced as unanimous, presumably including trustee Matt Schmucker. Schmucker worked with Anyabwile for years in the 9Marks organization, and was his fellow elder at Anacostia River Church for a time (Schmucker is back at Capitol Hill Baptist now).

    [Schmucker is President and Executive Director of the shadowy ‘Gospel Projects’ outfit that puts on the T4G Conferences]

  6. I hope this organization is able to do good for people, resulting in souls committed to the Lord, changed lives, and communities that are healthier in every way.

    I wonder about starting out with an umbrella organization, big names on the masthead (as it were), and a snazzy, focus-group-tested name.

    I wonder, too, about (as C.S. Lewis said), “Christianity and [something].” Christianity *and* skin-color-focused social-justice? Maybe …

    In summary, these seem like very gifted and sincere leaders, and may God prosper their work to build His Kingdom.

  7. The New Hampshire Confession is moderately Calvinistic, not exactly what the strict Calvinist crowd wants but some of them can live with it. It’s said to have been the basis of the first (1920s) SBC Baptist Faith & Message.

    Mark Dever explaining in 2005 how they’d decided to retain it, as the minimum a prospective member must agree to: “[They can] be led to understand God’s grace more fully if we don’t wrongly screen them out by asking too much, too soon.”

    http://legacy.founders.org/main/wp-content/uploads/fj61.pdf

    “I had accepted the call to be the pastor of this church without knowing
    what the church officially believed… August of 1994 our
    church’s retired secretary brought [the church minutes] to me”

    “the first act the congregation took at its constituting meeting in February of 1878 was to adopt a statement of faith…I was disappointed by the fact that the confession was evidently too short to be the…1689. There were only 18 articles, and these were fairly brief. Reading over it for a few minutes, I realized that…this church had…adopted the New Hampshire Confession of Faith…I immediately realized that here I was, a Calvinistic pastor, pastoring a less than fully Calvinistic church.”

  8. Thank you for this article, Dee. This is targeted Christian love in action…what appears to me as missionary work in our own backyard. I love it! Of course, there will always be a gazillion opinions from every theological camp known to man!! But, when God’s love is the fuel, “love never fails!” I pray that many will be brought into the Kingdom through this effort.

  9. Jerome: Mark Dever explaining in 2005 how they’d decided to retain it, as the minimum a prospective member must agree to: “[They can] be led to understand God’s grace more fully if we don’t wrongly screen them out by asking too much, too soon.”

    That means they are wrong but easily corrected.

  10. Jerome: Mark Dever explaining in 2005 how they’d decided to retain it, as the minimum a prospective member must agree to: “[They can] be led to understand God’s grace more fully if we don’t wrongly screen them out by asking too much, too soon.”

    That means they are wrong but easily corrected.

  11. Stan,

    North Raleigh/Durant/in back of the car dealers on Capital. They are hoping to skim a bunch of people off the relatively well to do crowd of North Raleigh. They are near quite a few SBC churches-perfect hunting grounds.

  12. I updated my post to calrify that the New Hampshire Baptist Confession is minimally Calvinistic and to reflect Jerome’s comment.

  13. Jerome: John Onwuchekwa’s July 2020 ‘SBC Exit’ statement

    IMO there’s a lot to like in this statement… but the thing that stood out to me is this line:

    “seeking to undo those evils isn’t seen as an obligation (something we must do), instead at best it’s seen as a passion project that one has the option to participate in. At worst, it’s seen as a distraction from true gospel work. ” [emphasis added]

    I suspect that it is not “theologically stable” to unite “under the sun” injustice concerns with consensus conservative Protestant understandings of the meaning of “the Gospel” as being about “escape from post-mortem punishments.” There is no balance point between these two poles, because the first is a time-bound finite suffering, and the second is an eternal infinite suffering. It seems to me that the history of the churches (US churches, anyway) in the late 19th century and 20th century suggests that either the first concern will be honored in name only but in practice overwhelmed by the weight of the 2nd concern, or the 2nd concern will be downgraded or even abandoned.

    I doubt that TA and JO and like-minded people, however honorable their intentions (and that’s before one gets to concerns such as those expressed above by JDV ), will be able to find a balance point. I think we should hope that they do, as the current consensus is not a healthy one for the churches’ manifestation of the Creator’s concern for justice within His creation.

  14. Well, it’s honestly the first time I’ve seen any of these prominent leaders go after areas that are not extremely affluent. So that’s something.

    Dever’s assertion is fairly old, and we know it doesn’t work for his authoritarian ecclesiology, so I am betting he would not be in agreement with this new movement. It’s also unlikely he could put his paws on it, and it wouldn’t bring a lot of $$.

    Is there a moneymaking component or do we know yet?

  15. “Although there are many church plants in the SBC, the number of church plants that fail is a closely guarded secret. I have tried to get those numbers through the years with no success.”

    The infamous Ed Stetzer touts himself as a church planting specialist, but he had more than one failed church plant. He even confessed to being a “church killer”, but the young reformers storming SBC adored him anyway.
    https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2013/january/confessions-of-failed-church-planter–five-lessons-from.html

    Strange how SBC elevates the wrong folks and skips over those who could make a real difference in the Body of Christ. As I’ve said before, SBC’s church planting program is more about planting reformed theology, than planting Gospel churches.

  16. ishy: Is there a moneymaking component or do we know yet?

    Just a wild guess here. There are many highly diverse megachurches in the DC region, as well as smaller churches that might be largely empty and unexciting. Small donations add up, and so does loyalty. Yes, it is possible to attract the poor, buy pastoral aircraft, and pass the ministry down to the founder’s son.

  17. “The SBC is a dinosaur denomination that gives lip service to change but has little ability to transform.” (Dee)

    IMO, the SBC New Calvinist elite have promoted only token African Americans and women to look race-friendly and female-friendly. And, in each case, they have been of Calvinistic persuasion to fit with the new SBC model of doing church. After a while, the smart ones bail out.

    The SBC will always be a dinosaur as long as it promotes leaders who still live in the Mesozoic Era with belief and practice outside the will of God.

  18. Cynthia W.: I wonder, too, about (as C.S. Lewis said), “Christianity and [something].” Christianity *and* skin-color-focused social-justice? Maybe …

    Chesterton also wrote about “Christianity and [something]”.
    And how the [something] usually ends up taking over in the hearts and minds of the Faithful.
    Like a virus infecting a cell.

  19. Max: IMO, the SBC New Calvinist elite have promoted only token African Americans and women to look race-friendly and female-friendly.

    Wasn’t this “Thabiti” (whose name I can’t pronounce) the Token Black of the TGC or something?
    Or am I confusing him with someone else?

  20. dee:
    Stan,

    North Raleigh/Durant/in back of the car dealers on Capital. They are hoping to skim a bunch of people off the relatively well to do crowd of North Raleigh. They are near quite a few SBC churches-perfect hunting grounds.

    Just like the Dallas-Fort Worth Megachurch whirl?
    Like robbing banks because “That’s where the Money is”?

  21. “The new hip *successful* pastor in skinny jeans and expensive sneakers is no different than the old-timey Baptist preacher with his ill-fitting suit and a bad haircut. Both of them won’t do anything about sex abuse, racism, and justice.” (Dee)

    SBC’s new normal is the old abnormal. SBC doesn’t need old-timey or new-timey preachers … it needs men of God, but those are rare and endangered in the American church.

    Caring for sex abuse, racism, and justice is only a mirage in the SBC desert. Those who claim to be champions of these causes cry without tears. The SBC is done … it just hasn’t quit yet. As time goes on and wisdom prevails, pew-sitters will stop supporting counterfeit pulpits. The New Calvinists will be starved out and a once-great evangelistic denomination will crumble.

  22. I am wishing TA and his colleagues blessings and success. I grew up in a “Minority” majority neighborhood, got saved in a Chinese church, worked overseas, and currently belong to a church with a Spanish ministry that includes both gospel and social outreach. I don’t know how you share Jesus with people without taking into account their basic needs. My church’s Spanish ministry has grown because we offer practical help while teaching people the Bible and how to live “Christianly.” I enjoy being a part of it.

  23. Linn: I don’t know how you share Jesus with people without taking into account their basic needs.

    “Now what use is it, my brothers, for a man to say he “has faith” if his actions do not correspond with it? Could that sort of faith save anyone’s soul? If a fellow man or woman has no clothes to wear and nothing to eat, and one of you say, “Good luck to you I hope you’ll keep warm and find enough to eat”, and yet give them nothing to meet their physical needs, what on earth is the good of that? Yet that is exactly what a bare faith without a corresponding life is like — useless and dead.” (James 2:14-16 Phillips)

  24. ishy: Is there a moneymaking component or do we know yet?

    It wouldn’t be American if there wasn’t a way to make lotsa’ money off of something.
    It’s the American way.

  25. Max: The SBC will always be a dinosaur as long as it promotes leaders who still live in the Mesozoic Era

    Sorry, Max. I have to chime in.

    SBC leaders live in the Paleozoic era.

  26. Muff Potter: It wouldn’t be American if there wasn’t a way to make lotsa’ money off of something.
    It’s the American way.

    It’s just still so disappointing to see it in church….

  27. Ken P.: SBC leaders live in the Paleozoic era.

    I suppose you are right. That era began with the breakup of one supercontinent and the formation of another … sort of like what’s happening with the Non-Calvinist to New Calvinist continental drift within SBC.

  28. I’m cynical. Is this sincere or just taking the show to another hunting ground? Lately BIPOC has become a buzz acronym – (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour). But there’s a risk of lumping it into one “group”. There’s an incredibly diverse group of cultures and ethnicities involved. It’s a bit more complicated than “black and brown neighbourhoods”.

    “Asian” itself can mean anyone from India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea etc.

    And the whole “Crete” thing just bugs me. It’s like saying “wrong side of the tracks”. Someone asked a very good question, what are these guys bringing that isn’t already there? Church covenants? Authoritarianism? Calvinism? Complementarianism?

    Maybe they want to do something special but there’s a lot of money in fleecing more affluent congregations with “missionary zeal”. I’ve seen it with overseas missions – this sounds like the same sort of thing. It has the feel of con job given where some of these guys are coming from.

  29. Jack: Is this sincere or just taking the show to another hunting ground?

    Sòpwith: undercover operation at work

    Jack: It has the feel of con job given where some of these guys are coming from.

    Hoping my first attempt to combine TWW comment excerpts the way some other TWW commenters do works. 🙂

    (I, too, am cynical.)

  30. Jack: It has the feel of con job

    Well, I would like to think more nobly of such church planters for “black and brown neighborhoods” … after all, such endeavors have historically been noble … but when a leading New Calvinist with TGC ties talks about church planting, it usually means reformed theology planting.

  31. Max: but when a leading New Calvinist with TGC ties talks about church planting, it usually means reformed theology planting.

    These are my thoughts. Although I don’t want to be so sceptical, after decades of watching this church planting happen, it never really ends up that the people in the community benefit. There always seem to be ulterior motives. 🙁

  32. Bridget: There always seem to be ulterior motives.

    Like identifying prime properties and taking control of their buildings, as TGC members are prone to do?

  33. Jack,

    It appears like an attempt to lessen cognitive dissonance they have been dealing with – but still not going all the way to the root of the problems they were facing in the groups they were once involved with or are minimizing involvement with.

    An issue with being fully interlocked financially and relationally into ministry and church culture is it doesn’t allow people to go all the way into processing and questioning their foundations, relationships and inner worlds.

    Instead of going cold turkey and stepping away for awhile to examine everything, theres usually an attempt to just keep moving forward but making minor tweaks or “try this and it might be a little better”. But if they haven’t considered or asked if there are problems in their theology and not merely a misapplication of otherwise good theology, they just end up replicating the same problems. Even if things are slightly improved or a little better in some areas. The dysfunction will still be there.

    I just think it’s impossible to question the systems you’re in if you just keep going though them and being employed by them your whole adult life without ever existing outside them for awhile.

  34. Max: I would like to think more nobly of such church planters for “black and brown neighborhoods” … after all, such endeavors have historically been noble

    I know what you mean, but the DC region is exceedingly diverse. The minority populations have been pastoring their own churches for centuries. They also know exactly who helped and who didn’t during the abolition movement and Civil Rights era—and this year.

    African Americans often know more about the history of white churches than do the white members. I read about one DC area church in the 1850s that had a large baptismal class of black children who did not have last names. There’s only one explanation for that kind of outreach.

    One reason for Sunday morning being the most segregated hour of the week (per MLK) is that white Christians have been the opposite of helpful. The church where I grew up was almost all white and perfectly incompetent at helping minorities. My current congregation is at least alert to injustice, but that’s only a few decades deep in our history.

    /rant

  35. Friend,

    You bring up a lot of good points.

    One thought I had in the back of my mind while I was writing my comment above:

    The men involved in this might not have even let themselves consider they could leave the historical conservative evangelical tradition and find what they are looking for with groups that have already been around for decades and years. They have long been employed by and participants in a system that has suggested to them that it isn’t a possibility if they want to remain a “faithful Christian”.

    I have read and heard opinions from black former evangelicals or maybe not totally former but “half way in but half way out questioning things” — that in these communities there is a not so subtle inference that American and non-American black church theology and traditions = heretical and inferior.

    Case in point over the past couple years SBC black scholars (and some white scholars) have been criticized for reading and teaching historically prominent American black theologians, even if they don’t agree fully with what the theologian wrote or said qnd have said so a million times. They are automatically labeled a threat to the SBC for doing so and are called an “agent of the left” and part of the “liberal drift”. Both accusations are the utmost judgment someone can receive upon them in the SBC, of course. There is no room for nuance or finding a self in that kind of environment.

    So there might be some dualistic thinking (if I let go of this I’m a liberal!) and fear conditioning going on underneath the surface as well that they haven’t questioned or explored yet. Even if those already existent groups are even considered conservative in most of their theology.

    *By the way I would be considered liberal in a lot of my stances by SBC people now (I used to be in these environments) so I’m just explaining this from how they might be thinking.

  36. To be clear I am cynical as well in that there are people from these groups who are just being authoritarian and propagating for the sake of it.

  37. emily honey:
    To be clear I am cynical as well in that there are people from these groups who are just being authoritarian and propagating for the sake of it.

    “The only goal of Power is POWER. And POWER consists of inflicting maximum suffering among the powerless.”
    — Comrade O’Brian, Inner Party, Airstrip One, Oceania, Nineteen Eighty-Four

  38. Jack: “Asian” itself can mean anyone from India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Korea etc.

    May of which do NOT get along very well. If at all.
    (You want to hear about raw racism, ask a Korean about Japanese; the Japanese were shipping Korean slaves to Japan as recently as 1944.)

  39. Linn: I am wishing TA and his colleagues blessings and success. I grew up in a “Minority” majority neighborhood, got saved in a Chinese church, worked overseas, and currently belong to a church with a Spanish ministry that includes both gospel and social outreach.

    i.e. You’ve Been Around.
    “What a long, strange trip it’s been…” — The Grateful Dead

  40. Bridget: after decades of watching this church planting happen, it never really ends up that the people in the community benefit. There always seem to be ulterior motives

    SBC has been planting 1,000 churches per year since the New Calvinists took over the church planting program. They have a $60 million annual budget to make this happen. It is an aggressive campaign run alongside other aggressive campaigns by SBC’s new reformers to Calvinize everything it touches: SBC’s seminaries, mission agencies, publishing house, and thousands of churches have fallen to the New Calvinist movement. The Gospel gets lost in all the noise.

  41. Headless Unicorn Guy,

    I know there is a great need for more churches targeted at the different ethnic groups here in the United States, especially for new arrivals, as well as second generation. Often, the kids don’t stay in the church, and just leave, because they don’t speak the language and nothing is interesting to them. Partnership churches, ethnic churches within other congregations (mine is a Spanish congregation that is part of a larger English-speaking, although not all white, congregation), allow for opportunities for the Gen 2 to participate in youth group, music ministry, etc. while still worshiping with their parents. We have a couple of examples in my area where multilingual congregations exist in one building. In one case, it’s four congregations: English, Mandarin, Farsi, and Spanish. They have separate services, and also united services, with translation. It seems to be an effective model in cities where it’s hard to erect new church buildings, and where some churches have extra space.

  42. Linn: I know there is a great need for more churches targeted at the different ethnic groups here in the United States, especially for new arrivals, as well as second generation.

    But churches run by this group? They say they plan to actually minister, but the New Calvinists are known to lie often. They expect the resources to come to them and not to go out. They expect people to be silent and abused slaves in their cults of personality.

    Just because Thabiti Anyabwile left the SBC and TGC doesn’t mean I believe he’s going to be any different yet.

  43. Linn: four congregations: English, Mandarin, Farsi, and Spanish. They have separate services, and also united services, with translation. It seems to be an effective model in cities where it’s hard to erect new church buildings, and where some churches have extra space.

    That’s an old model. Small American towns used to have worship halls that different groups used at different times.

    As you imply, that approach is often driven by stewardship of a building, rather than by a desire for outreach. The united services are superimposed: the Methodists say, “We’ve got these Korean Presbyterians, so why don’t we do a service where everybody meets?”

    Thabiti Anyabwile’s church meets in a high school, by the way. Right now they are meeting virtually because of the pandemic.

  44. Friend: Thabiti Anyabwile’s church meets in a high school

    A common approach by SBC’s young, restless and reformed. They build a following of New Calvinists in the area by meeting in a school gym (a cool worship leader and his band draws them in). Once the congregation reaches a hundred or so: (1) they approach a struggling established traditional (non-Calvinist) church to merge flocks (= more nickels and noses for the old church and a building for the new kids on the block), (2) the young pastor becomes an associate pastor of the combined congregations and continues to recruit more New Calvinists (the senior pastor of the traditional church doesn’t have a clue about what’s coming his way), (3) the associate pastor eventually charms his way to senior leadership, (4) the new reformers hold a business meeting to replace congregational polity with elder-rule (they have enough votes by that time), (5) the young pastor and his gang take over, (6) the church building and all its resources became a trophy for the New Calvinist movement, (7) the church splits once the deceptive plot has been exposed, (8) old members exit, leaving the church they worked hard to pay for securely in the hands of the young rebels, (9) former members struggle to start a new traditional non-Calvinist church of the SBC identity they once knew, (10) the new reformers enjoy their new digs. And the rebellion all began with a small gathering in a school gymnasium or a strip mall. It’s probably happening near you.

  45. Max: SBC has been planting 1,000 churches per year since the New Calvinists took over the church planting program.

    Am curious — is there documented, reliably sourced information available on annual statistics, year by year, re:

    * total # of churches in SBC
    * # of churches departing the convention or closing
    * # of previously founded churches joining the convention

    Dee mentioned that the “survival rate” of new church plants seems to be a closely guarded secret, but it might be possible to “back the number out” of other statistics that are less closely guarded.

    For example, on the assumption that there are relatively few previously established independent baptist churches (and even fewer from non-baptist traditions) affiliating with SBC year to year, the annual change in “total # of SBC churches” would be dominated by the sum of

    “new church plants recognized as in cooperation with SBC” and “dissolution of previously recognized SBC congregations”

    It looked like the online annual reports, which include summary statistics of this kind, may no longer be available at

    http://www.sbc.net

    baptist press had previously reported that prior annual reports were available online, but the link now goes nowhere

    https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/a-powerful-tool-2018-sbc-annual-available-online/

    this item:

    https://blog.lifeway.com/newsroom/2020/06/04/southern-baptists-experience-historic-drop-in-membership/

    says that SBC total # of congregations grew 74 from 2018 to 2019.

    That suggests that most of the 1000 per year new starts are either failing, or are being “offset” in the aggregate statistics by nearly as many closures of previously recognized congregations (some of which may be recent starts that were recognized but lasted only a few years).

    —-

    This reminds me a bit of a dynamic that was mentioned to me by an elder of the OP congregation I attended. OPC at the time (several years ago) was growing slowing (low single digit % per year) in terms of total membership, but established congregation membership and attendance (like one often sees in “same store sales” in the retail world) were declining. The denomination was compensating for this by establishing new congregations. Based on observation of the local congregation and “inside” hear-say regarding other congregations in the local presbytery, I suspect that most of the people recruited into these new OP congregations were not new converts but were attracted from other established congregations. Perhaps this model is related to the oft-discussed-at-TWW effect of predestinarian soteriology on the motivation of the laity to help in outreach.

    The fact that SBC is barely treading water with such a major effort into church planting (and, it seems, takeovers) is not IMO a hopeful sign.

  46. Friend: Thabiti Anyabwile’s church meets in a high school, by the way. Right now they are meeting virtually because of the pandemic.

    I work in a public building and we get requests to use the building from new churches fairly often. For awhile we had three meeting there at different times of the week. Most claim to be “nondenominational”, but I’ve noticed most (in this area) are charismatic or Pentacostal.

    Most of those churches fail and never move into a larger building. The New Calvinists tend to have resources behind them.

    It occured to me that Anyabwile may not be honest about splitting from the SBC, as many church plants use NAMB money but claim not to be SBC until it comes out that they are.

  47. ishy: The New Calvinists tend to have resources behind them.

    SBC’s church planting (aka theology planting) program is funded at $60 million per year to assist young reformers … many become “lead pastors” at a church plant with SBC funds, fresh out of seminary with no experience.

  48. ishy: many church plants use NAMB money but claim not to be SBC until it comes out that they are

    Yes, you can find such churches in your area operating with cool names (The Summit Church, The Journey, etc. etc.). SBC won’t be on the marquee out front. You ‘might’ find SBC affiliation tucked away in a corner of the church website, but most operate with loose denominational ties without church members knowing that they are Southern Baptists on paper.

  49. Stealth churching.
    Chollywood.
    Megas.
    Manly men and diminutive women… (except Dear Leader Piper is of the smaller stature…)
    Lots of church culture to explore …

  50. ishy: Most claim to be “nondenominational”, but I’ve noticed most (in this area) are charismatic or Pentacostal.

    In my area, “nondenominational” means Calvary Chapel Clone.

    And not much has changed; forty years ago, “nondenominational” meant Southern Baptist or IFB with the labels scraped off.

  51. Ava Aaronson: Max: “Both of them won’t do anything about sex abuse, racism, and justice.” (Dee)

    Deal breaker, & so then what’s the point of “church”?

    Being SAVED and Going to Heaven when you die or are Raptured, that’s all.
    “I’m SAVED! Have Fun in Hell!”

  52. Samuel Conner: Based on observation of the local congregation and “inside” hear-say regarding other congregations in the local presbytery, I suspect that most of the people recruited into these new OP congregations were not new converts but were attracted from other established congregations.

    This is called “SHEEP RUSTLING”.

  53. “…Pastors Launch Church-Planting Network…”
    ++++++++++++++

    to me, this is all like Tupperware. multi-level marketing schemes and “growing your downline”.

    i can smell the warm plastic already.

    in my view, the last thing any town needs is another church. another competing MLM distributor.

    and who needs to put into their weekly schedule a meeting where you stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down all on command,

    feel compelled to sing music you don’t like or really even mean (truly, none of us likes and means everything we are expected to sing, if any of it at all),

    and listen to someone talk about lofty things that are short on practical purpose, that you forget anyway 10 minutes later?

    it’s not a good model.

    it’s like expanding a variety store chain from another era. (the kind where upon entering you are hit with the smell of warm plastic and buttered popcorn that is somehow kind of sweet, too. the queen mutha of synthetic.)

    to be clear, i’m not talking about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit. ‘They’ are new and fresh and full of fizz every morning.

    i’m talking about the concept of ‘church’.

  54. elastigirl: the last thing any town needs is another church …

    … which rob sheep from each other

    Jesus prayed for unity … that believers in an area would be one (John 17).

    elastigirl: to be clear, i’m not talking about God, Jesus, Holy Spirit. ‘They’ are new and fresh and full of fizz every morning.

    i’m talking about the concept of ‘church’.

    Unfortunately, you can’t find many churches these days which spend the majority of their time talking about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit … the Main thing isn’t the main thing in many places. The “concept of church” in America is far from living in the Kingdom of God. Thus the “new and fresh fizz” doesn’t fall on church members as it ought.

  55. Max,

    why can’t christians put in the effort to find out what the actual needs of a community are, and put their their resources into meeting those without making it a profit center and vehicle for personal income?

    like, perhaps it’s after-school tutoring

    athletic training

    music teaching

    a community band or orchestra or choir (without the bait and switch of hitting them with proselytizing music)

    …these are the obvious things that occurred to me in 1.5 seconds. with some creative and smart effort and time, the sky’s the limit on things to do.

  56. elastigirl: why can’t christians put in the effort to find out what the actual needs of a community are, and put their their resources into meeting those without making it a profit center and vehicle for personal income?

    Becuzz that would make too much sense.

  57. elastigirl: why can’t christians put in the effort to find out what the actual needs of a community are, and put their their resources into meeting those without making it a profit center and vehicle for personal income?

    There are churches out there doing this. They just aren’t getting all the glory and credit for it. We hear about the glory seekers and those who are actually doing good rarely get acknowledged.

    But there are narcisstic, greedy people in the world and people who call themselves Christians are often gullible and naive and let those people lead. Even when all the signs point to an abusive leader, many Christians still will go along with them.

  58. elastigirl: “…Pastors Launch Church-Planting Network…”
    ++++++++++++++

    to me, this is all like…multi-level marketing schemes…“growing your downline”.

    https://thecretecollective.org/wp-content/uploads/TCC-Partner-Covenant.pdf

    “partner churches will…Give at least 3 percent of their general offerings to help plant churches with The Crete Collective”

    “If a church plant ceases to exist, all monies given to The Crete Collective
    for that church plant will be used to plant new or strengthen and support
    existing churches within The Crete Collective. The board of directors for
    The Crete Collective will determine how to distribute those committed
    finances.”

  59. ishy,

    “…We hear about the glory seekers and those who are actually doing good rarely get acknowledged.”
    +++++++++++

    i’d respond with the carol-the-waitress line about HMOs from ‘As Good As It Gets” at this point if i thought it would get through.

  60. Jerome,

    “…The board of directors for The Crete Collective will determine how to distribute those committed finances.”
    +++++++++++++

    i’m sure they will. 😐

  61. ishy,

    I am not that familiar with Thabiti, only in a general sense of knowing who he is and that he always spoke at the 9Marks conference at SEBTS. I remember on Twitter a couple years ago he announced he was “only following women for a year” and no one saw that as patronizing lol

    I just don’t think there’s any incentive for these people to really question the whole overarching system. *It is the very thing they all need to do the most.*

    Covid has somewhat slowed down a lot of things in the church world and all the overproduction and mutation, but dear God …. I just want them all to stop.

    What if the Gospel Coalition just…didn’t post or share articles for a year. What if these people, for a year or two, didn’t publish a book or speak at a conference (virtual now) or write another article addressing the same topic for the 579th time.

    Of course what if it all just permanently stopped, but that’s too much to even dream about.

    The constant production and churning out and overtly external focusing and posturing has always felt pathological to me. Intuitively, true connection with God and self and others just doesn’t look or feel like that.

  62. emily honey,

    “The constant production and churning out and overtly external focusing and posturing has always felt pathological to me. Intuitively, true connection with God and self and others just doesn’t look or feel like that.”
    +++++++++++

    indeed. but commerce does.

    boy, that sure sounds like jesus! 😐

  63. emily honey: I just don’t think there’s any incentive for these people to really question the whole overarching system. *It is the very thing they all need to do the most.*

    Yeah, but they do have a lot of critics. I see them “questioning” the system when it’s not bringing in enough for them personally. That’s how we ended up with 9 Marks and Acts 29 and now maybe this group. They have every mark of a cult except a central leader, and all of them want to be that. I think that’s where the SBC is heading, because I don’t really buy that they would really support autonomous churches except that each is their own little kingdom. I think some want to remove church autonomy and see themselves as taking over from herr Mohler.

    I never thought they’d last this long without killing each other, but there has been tension in the ranks and I’m sure there will be more. I also don’t think it has anything to do with God or theology. Those things are just tools to control the masses.

  64. elastigirl: why can’t christians put in the effort to find out what the actual needs of a community are, and put their their resources into meeting those without making it a profit center and vehicle for personal income?

    Because too many pulpiteers do church as a profit center and vehicle for personal income. They live in fear that church members will one day pick up their Bibles and see for themselves what Church is and is not.

  65. emily honey: What if the Gospel Coalition just…didn’t post or share articles for a year.

    There would be no New Calvinist movement without social media.

  66. ishy,

    Yea…the major controversy now seems to be critical race theory in the seminaries. I mean…it *should* be the sexual and spiritual abuse crisis but of course not.

    Watching them…it is like a quest to be the Mr. Truther of Truths and who is the most Gospel defend-y of all of those who are trying to defend the Gospel. People and what matters is lost in all the power plays. Idealize/Devalue/Discard cycle keeps repeating until eventually no one is left.

    I noticed people are starting to turn against Mohler on all sides now and I wonder if he might be ousted within 5 years. Maybe sooner. You’re right that I think people want to take Mohler’s place. And they want the SBC resources.

    (I tried to stop following the SBC except here I still am keeping up with all their drama lol)

  67. emily honey: the major controversy now seems to be critical race theory in the seminaries

    I think this is a mostly fabricated controversy from the Patterson bunch, but either way, you’re right, there’s a lot of other more important issues that should be the focus, like sexual abuse. But we know they don’t care about that at all except to get the media off their back. I think their authoritarianism is the most dangerous issue (and where their complementarianism originates), and the reason sexual abuse gets a pass and pastors who do wrong of all kinds are protected.

    Mohler is not immortal, so he was bound to go down eventually, but he managed to be shadowlord for quite some time.

  68. ishy: There are churches out there doing this. They just aren’t getting all the glory and credit for it. We hear about the glory seekers and those who are actually doing good rarely get acknowledged.

    I think I remember tell about a beautiful young Rabbi from Nazareth, who said:
    “They (the glory hogs) have their reward…

  69. Happy Thanksgiving, Wartburgers!

    “May the Lord bless you, and keep you, protect you, sustain you, and guard you;

    May the Lord make His face shine upon you with favor,
    And be gracious to you, surrounding you with lovingkindness;

    May the Lord lift up His face upon you, And give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)

  70. I know it’s a really tall order, but I’d be thrilled if the church just preached the full council and canned all the Pharseeical rules masquerading as the Gospel.

    But, alas. To do that would mean dropping the marriage mandate and familyolitry. It would mean treating single people and others not fitting into the young-couple-with-school age-kids mold as everyone else and not as lepers. And it would mean canning the Calvinism.

    I won’t hold my breath.

  71. Phoenix,

    What you described in your second paragraph is not the Church of the Living God … things are not conducted that way in His Kingdom. I hope to live long enough to see an end to that which is not of God conducted under the banner of Christ. And that is a tall order, indeed … we’ve drifted so far from the Way, the Truth and the Life, I’m not sure if organized religion will ever find its way home again.

  72. Linn: We have a couple of examples in my area where multilingual congregations exist in one building. In one case, it’s four congregations: English, Mandarin, Farsi, and Spanish. They have separate services, and also united services, with translation. It seems to be an effective model in cities where it’s hard to erect new church buildings, and where some churches have extra space.

    I was brought back to the faith by a church that did something similar, but in Korea. They had a service and ministry for English speakers and another in Burmese. I remain particularly grateful for the Korean members of the ministry who knew most of us ex-pats would be gone in a year or two, but still saw us as worth pursuing.

  73. It’s notable, I think, that Anyabwile has previously taken exception to Doug Wilson’s books prior to this (debate conducted over on the TGC site), and seemingly received very little support from his fellow ministers.

  74. ishy: there’s a lot of other more important issues that should be the focus, like sexual abuse. But we know they don’t care about that at all except to get the media off their back.

    Because sexual abuse of your inferiors (like an antebellum Planter getting some brown sugah with his Animate Property) is now a Privilege of Pastoral Rank. “TOUCH NOT MINE ANOINTED!!!!!”

  75. Max: Because too many pulpiteers do church as a profit center and vehicle for personal income.

    Keeping up with the Rajneesh:
    1) Get Rich.
    2) Get Laid.
    3) Both.

  76. ishy: They have every mark of a cult except a central leader, and all of them want to be that.

    With daggers and vials of poison.
    Because “There Can Be Only One.”

    “When Livia invites you to dinner, bring your own food, wine, and tasters.”
    “Poison is Queen.”
    — I, Claudius