ROGERS, Ark. (FBW)—Underscoring the need for Southern Baptists to unify around prayer, Ronnie Floyd, chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, welcomed more than 400 participants to an Aug. 26 luncheon where he and three other task force members delivered comments and fielded questions for more than two hours.

ROGERS, Ark. (SBTC)—No question was turned down by the tag team of four Great Commission Resurgence task force members as they fielded inquiries for two hours at the Church at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, Ark., prior to their two-day meeting. The chairman and host pastor, Ronnie Floyd, kept the dialogue on task, telling a luncheon crowd of more than 400 people that the ultimate goal was “to do just what they were asked to do—figure out together how to more faithfully and effectively fulfill the Great Commission around the world in our churches, in our state conventions, in our national convention and all we do together.”

ROGERS, Ark. (BP/FBW)–Interest is “huge” in the Southern Baptist Convention’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force and the group wants grass-roots Southern Baptists to share their thoughts and mobilize their congregations to pray for the task force’s work, its chairman said Aug. 27.

ROGERS, Ark. (BP/FBW)–Interest is “huge” in the Southern Baptist Convention’s Great Commission Resurgence Task Force and the group wants grass-roots Southern Baptists to share their thoughts and mobilize their congregations to pray for the task force’s work, its chairman said Aug. 27.

ROGERS, Ark. (SBTC)-No question was turned down by the tag team of four Great Commission Resurgence task force members as they fielded inquiries for two hours at the Church at Pinnacle Hills in Rogers, Ark., prior to their two-day meeting. The chairman and host pastor, Ronnie Floyd, kept the dialogue on task, telling a luncheon crowd of more than 400 people that the ultimate goal was “to do just what they were asked to do–figure out together how to more faithfully and effectively fulfill the Great Commission around the world in our churches, in our state conventions, in our national convention and all we do together.”

ROGERS, Ark. (FBW)-Underscoring the need for Southern Baptists to unify around prayer, Ronnie Floyd, chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, welcomed more than 400 participants to an Aug. 26 luncheon where he and three other task force members delivered comments and fielded questions for more than two hours.

ROGERS, Ark. (FBW) – Ronnie Floyd, chairman of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, which will be meeting in Rogers, Ark., this week reported on his blog Aug. 25 just under 500 have made reservations for a Wednesday luncheon where he will join two other task force members to address participants.

ATLANTA (FBW)—The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force met Aug. 11-12 in Atlanta, burdened by the “absolutely enormous” and “extremely challenging” responsibility placed upon it by the Southern Baptist Convention, Chairman Ronnie Floyd said Aug. 12 at a news conference after the group’s first meetings concluded.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—The following information was developed to provide a profile of the members of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force that was formed in response to the vote of messengers to the SBC’s annual meeting in Louisville. Church data was taken from responses to the SBC’s 2008 Annual Church Profile as retrieved from the Southern Baptist Directory Services database maintained by LifeWay Christian Resources. Personal data was provided by the individual or obtained from press reports or public domain sources.

ATLANTA (FBW) – The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force met Aug. 11-12 in Atlanta, burdened by the “absolutely enormous” and “extremely challenging” responsibility placed upon it by the Southern Baptist Convention, Chairman Ronnie Floyd said Aug. 12 at a news conference after the group’s first meetings concluded.

JACKSONVILLE (FBW)—Southern Baptists spend per capita 33 times more for missions in relatively gospel-saturated North America than they do for the comparatively unreached rest of the world, a recent analysis asserts.

JACKSONVILLE (FBW) – Southern Baptists spend per capita 33 times more for missions in relatively gospel-saturated North America than they do for the comparatively unreached rest of the world, a recent analysis asserts.

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (FBW) – A new Web site promoting prayer for the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force has been launched, task force Chairman Ronnie Floyd announced in an Aug. 1 news release.

PANAMA CITY BEACH (FBW)—A “Great Commission Resurgence”—the much-talked about movement in the months leading up to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting last month in Louisville— is no mere theory for Johnny Hunt. The SBC president is attempting to embody GCR in his personal life, putting his own finances and his church’s money behind a renaissance of commitment to Jesus’ missionary mandate.

As someone interested in remaining faithful to learning and living the ways of Jesus alongside fellow Southern Baptists, I want to make two suggestions to the current leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention. I am sharing this at an important time as those leaders look to reorganize and reprioritize. I really have no idea whether anyone in leadership will ever see this post. Nonetheless, I felt compelled to write it. If these suggestions are worth considering, I pray they will be helpful. If not, they probably won’t be read anyway.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IB)—The Southern Baptist Convention’s newly minted Great Commission Task Force will meet twice next month, once in Atlanta, Ga. and once in Rogers, Ark.

Springfield, IL (IB) – The Southern Baptist Convention’s newly minted Great Commission Task Force will meet twice next month, once in Atlanta, Ga. and once in Rogers, Ark.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—Four members have been added to the Great Commission task force appointed June 24 by Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt during the SBC annual meeting in Louisville, Ky.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FBW)—Southern Baptist Convention messengers June 23 overwhelmingly approved a motion authorizing their president, Johnny Hunt, to appoint a task force to study how Southern Baptists can work “more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FBW/BP)—Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt appointed 18 people—including five from Florida—to the “Great Commission Resurgence Task Force” June 24 during the morning session of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Louisville, Ky.

“Wow!”

The hour is late. I have been involved in seemingly nonstop in matters of my denomination’s annual convention. My inclination was to refrain from writing further about the Southern Baptist Convention. I am not smart enough to add any further insights to the volumes already written.

“Wow!”

That was the reaction of longtime SBC chief parliamentarian Barry McCarty June 23 when the sea of ballots were raised by Southern Baptist Convention messengers overwhelmingly in support of a motion creating a task force to study how Southern Baptists can “work more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (FBW)-Southern Baptist Convention messengers June 23 overwhelmingly approved a motion authorizing their president, Johnny Hunt, to appoint a task force to study how Southern Baptists can work “more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)–On a show of ballots, Southern Baptist Convention messengers June 23 authorized their president, Johnny Hunt, to appoint a task force to study how Southern Baptists can work “more faithfully and effectively together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.”

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Twenty-four Southern Baptists from a broad cross-section of the denomination — theologians, missiologists, practitioners, denominational leaders and pastors of churches of varying sizes and ethnicities — comprise the new North American Great Commission Task Force set to meet for the first time on Tuesday, June 23, prior to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Louisville, Ky.

WOODSTOCK, Ga. (SBT/FBW) – Greater funding of the Cooperative Program will occur when Southern Baptists have greater confidence their gifts support the priorities of North American church planting, global pioneer missions around the globe and theological education, declared Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt in an interview with four state Baptist paper editors.

Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt, of Georgia, has put his finger on a need and a sore spot for the churches of our denomination. For a variety of reasons, most unrelated to associational, state convention, or SBC agency work, we don’t witness to our neighbors and our churches are not making disciples at the rate they did decades ago. Energy, bright ideas, strategies, and cleverly named emphases have rolled through for the past 30 years with little effect on the decline. What next? President Hunt hopes he knows the answer to that.

The following statement was presented by Dr. John Sullivan, executive director-treasurer to the State Board of Missions, the governing body of the Florida Baptist Convention during its May 29 meeting in Miami and is reprinted in its entirety. For the news story, see “State Board creates task force to study convention.”

Editor’s note: This commentary was written before the May 29 action of the State Board of Missions creating a task force of the current and former Florida Baptist State Convention presidents in response to the “Great Commission Resurgence” declaration. Having been informed of the creation of the FBSC presidents task force, Cross declined to comment on the action, preferring to allow his commentary to speak for itself.

HIALEAH (FBW)—The State Board of Missions voted unanimously May 29 to create a task force to study the Florida Baptist Convention in response to the growing discussion in Southern Baptist life about a “Great Commission Resurgence.”

GRACEVILLE (FBW)—The Baptist College of Florida trustees on May 22 dedicated two new buildings, broke ground for a new world missions center and approved a study of the college prompted by a “Great Commission Resurgence” declaration to be considered at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting next month.

DENVER (BP)—After a vote by International Mission Board trustees to suspend some short-term appointments and limit the number of new missionaries, Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt told trustees it’s time “to take the gloves off.”

JACKSON, Miss. (BP)—Trustees of the North American Mission Board unanimously approved a resolution describing the entity as “crucial to the weaving together of Southern Baptist partners to fulfill the Great Commission.” Trustees took the action during their regularly scheduled May 19-20 meeting in Jackson, Miss.

Editor’s note: The open letter below by SBC president Johnny Hunt references a revision to the “Great Commission Resurgence” declaration. Initially released April 27, the current version of the declaration, which has been revised twice, is available on the GCR Web site (www.GreatCommissionResurgence.com). The Web site also includes a PDF of the declaration showing the changes that have been made to the document.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)—There are some moments in life that stay with you. One of those moments for me was when I was praying through the call to come to the North American Mission Board and accept the role as president. God made it clear to me that he wanted me to help lead Southern Baptists to see North America as what it truly is: a mission field. And the phrase that kept rolling through my mind and heart was, “Live with Urgency.” You’ve probably heard me say this time and time again. But as I’ve traveled from one end of this continent to the other, I see that Southern Baptists are truly realizing that the time is short and that “night is coming when no man can work.”

Editor’s note: Morris Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee, issued a First Person column on May 29 critiquing the “Toward a Great Commission Resurgence” declaration and explaining why he is unable to affirm the statement. Because the entire column is 2,600 words, it is excerpted here. Note that “…” indicates content deleted due to space limitations. The entire column is available on Florida Baptist Witness Web site.

A Paper Presented at the Baptist Identity Conference
Union University
April 5, 2004

INTRODUCTION

I have been asked to address the subject of connectionalism versus cooperation within the context of the Southern Baptist Convention. The subject concerns whether and how individual congregations of Baptists can work jointly on Christian projects (missions, benevolences, moral issues, and education) with fellow Baptists without compromising local church autonomy. Through the years, this has been a major question for Southern Baptists.

KEYSTONE HEIGHTS (FBW)—The Southern Baptist Convention is a ship “adrift” and so low in the water that it “probably” needs to rid itself of some unnecessary “cargo” to “float and be healthy and strong again,” SBC president Johnny Hunt said in a May 13 interview with Florida Baptist Witness.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—A declaration released by SBC President Johnny Hunt calling for a “Great Commission Resurgence” among Southern Baptists drew more than 1500 signatures in the first week of its introduction.

JACKSONVILLE (FBW)—As of May 4, 100 Floridians had signed “Toward a Great Commission Resurgence,” a declaration officially released April 28 by Southern Baptist Convention President Johnny Hunt. Nationally, more than 1500 Southern Baptists have endorsed the statement.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (FBW)—Although the declaration, “Toward a Great Commission Resurgence,” is now the “property” of Southern Baptist Convention president Johnny Hunt, the statement with more than 1500 endorsers after one week is the handiwork of Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)—The lordship of Christ and the centrality of the Gospel in Christian ministry must be the foundation of a Great Commission resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention, Daniel Akin declared April 16 in a chapel message at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.