Cooperation, CP support, servant leaders keys to future

As the time approaches for the annual meeting of the South Carolina Baptist Convention at First Baptist Church, Taylors, Nov. 14-15, three of the denomination’s leaders are citing a cooperative spirit, support for the Cooperative Program, and servant leadership as keys to the future.

Statements related to the upcoming convention have been released to The Baptist Courier by Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, and president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention; Carlisle Driggers, executive director-treasurer of the SCBC; and Frank Page, pastor of Taylors First Baptist and president of the Southern Baptist Convention.

“I am a Southern Baptist by conviction, not just because of our stand on the word of God,” said Wilton, “but also because of our historic conviction that missions lies at the heart of our mandate. What makes us Southern Baptist is our God-given conviction that the best and most effective way to reach our world for Christ is to cooperate within the context of our autonomous congregations.”

In his statement, Wilton said the election of Frank Page as SBC president last June in Greensboro — a presidential contest among three contenders that became a referendum on the priority of the Cooperative Program — “was not about a person, and it most certainly was not about politics. It was about the way we Southern Baptists do the work God has called us to do.”

“Now is the time,” the Spartanburg pastor said, “to encourage each other in our personal capacities to give our finances and to serve — in person — actively in missions.”

He challenged South Carolina Baptist congregations “to consider increasing, even gradually, the percentage of giving to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

“If we all increased our giving,” Wilton said in the statement, “we would be reminded in dramatic fashion that the Cooperative Program is not about equal giving. It is about equal sacrifice.”

“When we sacrifice,” he concluded, “we honor the sacrifice of the one who gave his life so that all people in the world might come to know him.”

Driggers, who will retire at the end of February after 15 years as the top executive for South Carolina Baptists, said in his statement, “In the past month or so, I have been in various meetings with leaders from the institutions and agencies of the Southern Baptist Convention, along with state convention officials. I have also been involved in five listening sessions with leaders of our churches across South Carolina and our directors of associational missions. I also have continued my usual full schedule of speaking in churches on Sundays and at other times during the week.

“I can say without hesitation,” his statement continued, “that there is more interest in, and positive talk about, the Cooperative Program than I have heard in more than 25 years. I consider that to be a very hopeful sign for the present and future progress of everything we do.”

“Rank-and-file Southern Baptists,” he said, “want the Cooperative Program to be strong and are expecting those persons who lead us to be excellent examples of Cooperative Program support in their personal commitment and in their churches.

“The Cooperative Program,” he said in closing, “is not a sacred cow for Southern Baptists, but it is a sacred ‘how’ for us to fund our numerous evangelism and missions ministries. I thank God for giving to us the Cooperative Program as the primary source of funding for all we have become as Southern Baptists.”

In his released statement, Page said that this is a “crucial time” in the life of the convention.

“I believe,” he said, “that the South Carolina Baptist Convention is one which, in a smaller way, mirrors the larger Southern Baptist Convention. The events of these past six months have convinced me that God is doing a great work in our conventions, and we need to be sensitive to his leadership as he brings about new opportunities for us.”

The SBC president said there is a need to be “diligent in seeking leaders who exemplify a Christlike, servant spirit,” shying away from those who “wish to advance powerful, personal agendas.”

Page said in his statement that South Carolina Baptist leaders should be “godly soul winners.”

“God is doing a work among South Carolina Baptists to increase our awareness of baptisms and soul winning,” he said. “We are seeing churches baptize for the first time in years.”

Page also said that South Carolina Baptists need leaders who “exemplify a commitment to a cooperative missions task, supported by the Cooperative Program.”

“There is more discussion now about the Cooperative Program than ever before,” he said. “We need leaders who are committed to the Cooperative Program as the main means of support of our South Carolina work.”

The SBC president also said that he wanted to be “careful in pointing out that I also believe that missions work done outside the Cooperative Program counts as well.”

“I have always made very clear,” he said, “that we need good balance in our churches to do the work of the Great Commission. We need leaders who will stand strong in this area.”