Author: billjones20

Baptists:
BGCT “unified” in conformity, returning to the Southern Baptist Convention, Part 1

Posted on

A few days ago, the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) held its annual meeting. It was the second self-styled “Family Gathering” – now held every 5 years – in which the state’s Hispanic and African-American conventions meet simultaneously with the BGCT. Last week, Ethics Daily published an Op-Ed by JACKIE BAUGH MOORE, titled “New Read more . . .

Baptists:
Memo to Jimmy Draper: your friend James L. Sullivan exposed the truth behind your ‘conservative resurgence’

Posted on1 Comment

On July 21, 2018, the Sullivan Tower in Nashville – former headquarters of LifeWay Resources, the Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) publishing arm – was imploded. In an article dated July 23, Baptist Press reporter ART TOALSTON covered the building’s demise and wrote about its namesake, Dr. JAMES L. SULLIVAN, longtime president of the Baptist Sunday Read more . . .

Baptists:
SUZII PAYNTER: Planting seeds, bearing fruit

Posted on1 Comment

This week, SUZII PAYNTER announced she is retiring after 5 years as executive coordinator of Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF). I first met Suzii in the late 1990s during my visits to First Baptist Church, Austin, with my dad, JASE JONES, who was a member there. However, where I truly got to knowing Suzii was in Read more . . .

Baptists:
CBF & SBC in Dallas – separated by more than just a 15-minute walk . . .
Part 3 of 3: CBF 2018 – Diversity, equality, unity: A long and winding road

Posted on

For me, CBF began – as it does almost every year – with the T. B. Maston Foundation’s CBF Maston Scholars Retreat. I’ve been privileged to serve on the Maston Foundation Board of Trustees for the past 10 years, and the annual student retreats at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon Seminary in March and CBF in June Read more . . .

Baptists:
CBF & SBC in Dallas – separated by more than just a 15-minute walk . . .
Part 2 of 3: SBC 2018 – “Mixed signals” says it all

Posted on

Though I missed the spirited debate over the invitation to Mike Pence, which occurred about an hour before I arrived at the SBC gathering Tuesday morning, I did hear a motion proposed to limit any such speaking invitations in future years to local political leaders. The most interesting motion I heard discussed was to defund Read more . . .

Baptists:
CBF & SBC in Dallas – separated by more than just a 15-minute walk . . .
Part 1 of 3: Returning to the SBC Annual Meeting after 50 years

Posted on

Last week, Downtown Dallas hosted both the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) General Assembly AND the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Annual Meeting. No, there was no bloodbath in the streets, though I did hear of a few awkward encounters, in hotels & restaurants, between those wearing CBF badges and those adorned with SBC badges. In one Read more . . .

Church & State:
Destroy the Johnson Amendment? You’ve got to be kidding!

Posted on

(Last year, I signed – as executive director of Texas Baptists Committed – a letter opposing repeal of the “Johnson Amendment.” A few weeks ago, I received a most condescending and demeaning letter from the president of an outfit that calls itself “Alliance for Religious Freedom,” addressed to “Dear Religious Leaders -” attacking my “continued Read more . . .

Texas Baptists Committed: Gone but Not Forgotten; and the Battle Continues 
by Bill Jones

Posted on

(Originally published on the Texas Baptists Committed blog at texasbaptistscommitted.blogspot.com.) My remarks to the 2018 Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics (Suzii Paynter was the keynote lecturer for the 2018 Currie-Strickland Distinguished Lectures in Christian Ethics, held at Howard Payne University [HPU] in Brownwood, TX, on Feb. 15-16. Derek Hatch, HPU associate professor of Christian Read more . . .

Thank you 
by Bill Jones

Posted on

(Originally published on the Texas Baptists Committed blog at texasbaptistscommitted.blogspot.com.) Texas Baptists Committed – and I personally – owe some thank yous as we say goodbye. I know I’ll overlook someone, and I apologize for that, but I want to make my best effort to thank those who have played an especially significant role in Read more . . .