November 28, 2018

Dr. J.D. Greear, Pastor
The Summit Church
2335 Presidential Drive
Durham, NC  27703

Dear Mr. President:

Congratulations on being elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention! Since I have been in the ministry, I have never felt more positive about the election of a President and what he will be able to do in our denomination than I do today. Your encouraging words to the Executive Committee were unique and a pleasant change from what has been the norm. Continue to provide that kind of leadership, and I believe we can win over any middeline Southern Baptists who believe in the Book.

While everyone else is telling you what they wish you would be able to do, I only have one suggestion. I believe it is critical in the next four or five months for you as President to call together fifteen to twenty-five of the leading conservatives of our convention for a meeting. I feel the purpose of that meeting needs to be to make a fresh commitment of departing from the past and a fresh commitment in planning a strategy for the future. It is obvious that we got ourselves into trouble in the past year by not having a specific strategy to follow. I encourage you strongly in this area because I believe it is so greatly needed.

Being President of the Southern Baptist Convention is one of the secondary things that you do. As the Pastor of one of the greatest churches in America, please know that this is where I have the deepest respect for you. Your visionary leadership continues to motivate me as much as any other person in my life toward building the church for the glory of God.

Thank you for your friendship. I promise to pray for you and your wife every day. God bless you. I look forward to seeing you again.

Sincerely,

The Baptist Blogger

P.S. We are not known for plagiarism, but we confess our near absolute dependence on another prolific letter writer for the tone, focus, content, and wording of this unsolicited letter. Our research efforts found the original correspondence in the Presidential Papers of H. Edwin Young, located in the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives in Nashville, TN. To view the original letter, click here.