Wednesday, October 15, 2014

An open letter to Dr. Kevin Ezell, the North American Mission Board and my fellow Southern Baptists

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

My name is Tony Gulbrandsen and I am the Senior Pastor (also the junior pastor, youth pastor, worship pastor, janitorial pastor, and any-other-title pastor) at Immanuel Baptist Church in Racine, Wisconsin. I thought I should begin with an introduction since we really don't know each other at all, but there are a couple of things I need you to hear from the field.

First, I am increasingly broken at the blatant favoritism that exists in our midst. If God were to really bless my ministry, I expect we could be running 200 on a Sunday morning. I would consider that a tremendous blessing. Yet, even if that were to happen, I would not be invited to speak at the Pastor's Conference. I would not be asked to lead a seminar at any conference. I would not be invited to bring a sermon at any number of our churches. Because I would still be a small church pastor in Wisconsin.

Now, before you go thinking my pride is bruised, it is not. I actually don't want to go and speak or teach anywhere except to my people on Sunday. But even if I wanted to be invited to such things, we all know it isn't going to happen. The blatant favoritism I am talking about is the exaltation of pastors who have "successful" ministries in numerical (and I might add, worldly) terms. I am not saying that those pastors are less Godly than I am, then I would be just as guilty as everyone else. My point is that we are "rewarding" the wrong things in our convention. We reward based on numbers and very little else.

Which brings me to Dr. Ezell and NAMB. While I certainly think things needed to change in regard to North American Missions, I am saddened that the change had to come at such a price. Suddenly, those of us who have been working in the field for many years were marginalized as not getting the job done. Our NAMB missionaries were forced to abandon ministries they had been building for years because their job title and description were changed unilaterally. There was zero opportunity for churches in those "missions" areas to talk to NAMB about our unique ministry contexts. There was no sense of partnership with the local church. There was simply dictates handed down (or so it felt) from above. For those of you Southern Baptists who don't know this, if a state convention does not meet a threshold of members, that state convention has no representation on ANY of the boards of our convention. So, NAMB decided to change everything and we had no voice, no vote, no ability to raise objections. We were told our missionaries could change or not be funded.

I re-read all of that and realized that I am sounding like a real whiner. So, let me stop laying out why I feel the way I feel and get to a solution that I think is necessary for the continuation of many churches in the SBC. We are the small, the marginalized, and, yet, the majority (if ACP numbers are to be trusted). The time has come to include voices from all walks of the SBC. It is time for our various entities to actually live what they claim to believe. According to The Baptist Faith and Message 2000, Article XIV. Cooperation - Christ's people should, as occasion requires, organize such associations and conventions as may best secure cooperation for the great objects of the Kingdom of God. Such organizations have no authority over one another or over the churches... Now, the argument is going to be that there was no authority exercised over the churches. But that is simply a false argument. In a small and struggling association within a small and struggling state convention, to threaten funding of missionaries is a form of authority. Bend to our will or there will be no money. That's control. And, in my opinion, a direct violation of the above quoted article. Yet, because we are small and struggling, we are lesser, so our opinions don't matter. Our objections are whining. Brothers and sisters, this ought not be.

The day has come for a more open cooperation. A cooperation that recognizes bi-vocational pastors of congregations of 20 are still pastors, and the people in those churches are still Christians who voluntarily participate in Cooperative Program. They are not in any way lesser than the full-time pastors of congregations of 2000 (who also voluntarily participate in the Cooperative Program). I want to be hopeful that a letter such as this will, at least, start some conversations about change within the SBC, but all our boards are full of pastors and laypeople from larger churches, associations, and conventions. The problem, as I see it, is self-perpetuating. And I am saddened that any part of our cooperation is based on perceived strengths or weaknesses. Smaller is not lesser any more than larger is better.

10 comments:

Martin Knox said...

Tony,
This is well written and with the heart of a pastor that you possess. And you have only touched the tip of this problem. The sad matter is that so many do not know it is a problem. I'm afraid they never will know it is a problem. You are trying to change that. Thank you.
Blessings,
Martin

Unknown said...

You don't sound "whiny". However, some consider any complaint, no matter how true/genuine, to be whining. That can't be helped. Speak honestly, speak humbly, and speak truthfully...after that it ain't your deal. Blessings.

Mark Sims said...

Sorry, that was me just there ^^^. Didn't follow the "Choose an identity" rules correctly, I guess.

Unknown said...

I have been saying the same thing to anyone who will listen; which is very few. Martin is right, most don't realize the problem and don't really care to know I don't think.

Larry Griffith said...

Amen, Tony! As a pastor who moved from a larger congregation in Texas to a much smaller church in Wisconsin because of a love for the lost people here, I think you are 100% right! So many in the SBC have lost sight that there is no such thing as a small church in the eyes of God. Each church is called by God to reach a particular group. The church in the Bible-belt metropolitan areas with thousands is no bigger in its calling and mission than the church of 30 in a town of 100 people in the Midwest. It is a shame that NAMB has such a "cookie-cutter" approach.

Tony Gulbrandsen said...

I appreciate my MWBC friends agreeing with me! If you really agree, share it. I don't really want to be the focal point, but maybe if enough small church pastors in the Bible belt see this as well as "pioneer" area pastors, we can start a movement. That's my (very optimistic) hope.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you very much. When Dr. Ezell came on the scene he said that one of the problems at NAMB was that they were "in Silos". The problem now is that he has traded the "Silos" for a BOX and everybody and everything has to fit in the same box and the box is getting smaller and smaller.

Unknown said...

Long ago, amidst institutional and political strife, Jesus went about doing what He came to do. As a pastor and missionary, the calling is to keep the church undistracted. It's about His leadership: so the church might do what we were born to do. Here's an old quote by Kennon Callahan I had to dust off & share:

"The day of the professional minister is over. The day of the missionary pastor has come. The day of the churched culture is over. The day of the mission field has come." -Effective Church Leadership.

That's why Multiplying Church Centers should start and multiply. Small or large, churches can be missions outposts: then the politics in view are the Kingdom of God.

Tony Gulbrandsen said...

My comments are not an attempt to distract anything. My first calling (as I thought I made clear) is to my local church. I am to lead that church (namely, Immanuel, Racine) to advance God's Kingdom in our community and, ultimately, the world. IF the Cooperative Program is a Biblical resource for doing the Mission of God on a larger scale (and I believe it is), then it is incumbent on me as pastor to bring that resource to bear here at my church. That is my point. I love the CP. I want to maximize the effectiveness of CP. But my voice goes unheard because I am in a small church in a small association in a small convention. This is not about politics, per se, it is about true cooperation for the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

PJ said...

Well said, Tony! Pragmatism carries too much weight in any denomination that desires only "more", and we are, by our desire to evangelize, more than susceptible. Lord help us all to grow in our concern for obedience!