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Reflection: Top stories from 2009
Norman Jameson, BR Editor
December 31, 2009
4 MIN READ TIME

Reflection: Top stories from 2009

Reflection: Top stories from 2009
Norman Jameson, BR Editor
December 31, 2009

As you wonder how the new year arrived so quickly when it

seems your children just got out of school for summer vacation, it’s time to

take a quick look back at significant events in North Carolina Baptist and

Southern Baptist Convention life during the past year.

Some of the following stories received so much coverage you

might think they have been with us always. You will blink over others and

wonder that they occurred in the past calendar year and not in some other era.

The stories listed below were covered in the Biblical

Recorder and the order of the top 10 at least is in some sense of their

long-term impact on the BSC and SBC. They were ordered by BR staff.

  1. Prompted by national reaction to a chapel address by

    Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary President Danny Akin, SBC President

    Johnny Hunt names a Great Commission Resurgence Task Force to “bring a report

    and any recommendations” to the Orlando SBC meeting June 15-16, 2010,

    “concerning how Southern Baptists can work more faithfully and effectively

    together in serving Christ through the Great Commission.”

  2. The North American Mission Board forced president

    Geoff Hammond to resign just two months after giving him an unqualified vote of

    confidence. Three other top administrators also resign.

  3. With Hammond’s forced resignation and the announced

    retirements of the presidents of both the International Mission Board and the

    SBC Executive Committee, the top three administrative positions in the Southern

    Baptist Convention are vacant at the same time, paving the way for a significant

    remaking of the Convention.

  4. David Treadway, pastor of Sandy Ridge Baptist Church

    in Hickory, took his own life. He had shared with his congregation earlier that

    he was suffering from depression. The Recorder followed in the next issue with

    a series on depression in the pulpit.

  5. Cooperative Program gifts from North Carolina

    Baptist churches are down 4.8 percent in 2008, prompting a revamped 2009 budget

    and a 2010 budget that is $4.8 million smaller than 2009.

  6. David Horton, pastor of Gate City Baptist Church in

    Jamestown, is elected president at Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute.

  7. The Baptist Foundation starts making church loans

    through a new subsidiary called N.C. Baptist Financial Services. In the first

    year it loans $8 million.

  8. N.C. Baptist Men partnership in Bihar, India, brings

    life to villages.

  9. Southern Baptists face potential huge decline. Based

    on projections of past 50 years, and especially the decreases of the past two

    years, the SBC could soon be half as large.

  10. Embrace names Ashley Allen as first director of a

    new women’s ministry at the Baptist State Convention.

  11. Ed Yount, pastor of Woodlawn Baptist Church in

    Conover, is elected BSC president.

  12. A shortage of funds at the International Mission

    Board could force it to cut 600 missionary positions.

Other important stories of 2009 include:

  • Supporters of a marriage amendment rallied at the capital on

    a frigid day in Raleigh.

  • “Ignite” youth rallies continued in western North Carolina,

    pointing toward a three-day regional youth evangelism event March 26-28 in the

    Asheville Civic Center.

  • Churches tackle economic challenges in their communities

    with outreach efforts.

  • Carthage church ministers after rest home shooting in town.
  • Church planting emerges as the primary evangelism strategy

    in BSC and SBC.

  • Bruce Whitaker, president for 32 years of Chowan College,

    then University, died May 5.

  • The North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministries is launched and

    awards first grant.

  • SBC kicks out Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas,

    over homosexual issue.

  • Music week loses its preferred Fort Caswell scheduling spot

    because it didn’t maximize the facility’s capacity.

  • North Carolina children in the care of county departments of

    social services often do not receive the best care possible because residential

    facilities like Baptist Children’s Homes are only a third and last option for

    out of home placement.

  • Declining income forces the BSC to lay off three and

    eliminate six staff positions.

    Southeastern Seminary receives $126,500 grant from The

    Energy Foundation for initiatives toward creation care and sponsors two

    creation care conferences.

(EDITOR’S NOTE – What about you? What were your top stories

for 2009? What stories are shaping up to be top stories for 2010? What stories

do you want the Biblical Recorder to cover this year? Send your feedback to

[email protected] or Biblical Recorder, P.O. Box 18808, Raleigh, NC

27619. You can send it in the form of a letter to the editor or just send it.

We would love to hear from you. Don’t forget to share your big church events,

staff changes, large conference events and mission trip photos as well.)