March 1, 2021 Illinois Baptist

Page 1

Illinois Baptist

SBC Leadership

Floyd urges unity, vision

Decries ‘sound of war’

Nashville, Tenn. | The Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee met in Nashville Feb. 22-23 for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic limited in-person gatherings. The meeting was marked by leaders’ calls for cooperation amid several public fractures in Baptist life: racial tensions, a dispute between six state conventions and the North American Mission Board, and a recently released report questioning the direction and activities of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC).

Executive Committee President Ronnie Floyd compared the current divisive discourse in the SBC to threats Joshua heard among the people of God in Exodus 32:17. He urged Southern Baptists to work in unity for the greater cause of the Great Commission.

“This ‘sound of war in the camp’ of Southern Baptists is concerning to me and I know it is also concerning to many of you. While we hear and see how the American culture is so out of control, my friends, our own culture within the Southern Baptist family is also out of control,” Floyd said. “We are living downstream of this current culture in American life rather than living upstream against the currents.”

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March 1, 2021 Illinois Baptist by IBSA - Issuu