J.D. Greear, president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), recently announced that his church, The Summit Church, will from now on describe itself as a “Great Commission Baptist” church rather than a “Southern Baptist” church. He also announced that the theme of next year’s annual Baptist convention will be “We are Great Commission Baptists.” In response, many SBC leaders—including former SBC presidents James Merritt, Ronnie Floyd, and Jimmy Draper—have spoken out in favor of “Great Commission Baptist” nomenclature.
Critics, however, have argued that to remove “Southern” is to capitulate to the Black Lives Matter movement and the “woke” culture of the political left. For them, the move is evidence that the SBC is no longer a vanquisher of liberals, but merely another mainline Protestant denomination.
To read the rest of this article, originally published at First Things Magazine, click here.
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