In the coming days, The Baptist Blogger will be publishing a series of motions for this year’s annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas, TX.

MOTION #1:  “Mr. President, my name is ____________________________ and I am a messenger from _________________________________ in (City, State). I move that the Southern Baptist Convention request the Executive Committee to consider appropriate amendments to the SBC Constitution and/or Bylaws that empower the President of the convention, in consultation with the Vice Presidents and the Committee on Order of Business, to select a preacher for the annual convention sermon.”

RATIONALE:  There is really no good reason for the convention to be in the situation it is this year. Give the president of the convention the authority to select the annual preacher. The president already has great latitude as an ex-officio member of the Committee on Order of Business to establish the convention program, and often there are numerous “mini” sermons and theme interpretations throughout the convention that are made at the president’s invitation. Requiring the convention to elect a preacher and alternate one year in advance of a convention does not adequately empower the convention president to shape the Order of Business or prevent men who like to “break down” rape victims from preaching the annual sermon.

Every pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention has the right to decide the preachers who fill his pulpit. The president of the Southern Baptist Convention should have the same discretionary authority for the annual meeting.