Other Concerns
The CBN went on to express concern about certain speakers who had been invited to the SBC’s Pastors Conference, as well as who current SBC president Bart Barber has selected for the Abuse Response Implementation Task Force.
The CBN also alleged a lack of financial transparency by the North American Mission Board for their investment in properties used to house church planters during their period of training and preparation.
The report also criticized the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the sloppy language it used to describe SBC polity in a court filing, something which the CBN fears opens other denominational entities to liability. The ERLC subsequently apologized for the error.
The report further criticized the ERLC for not standing against pandemic safety guidelines in 2020 and beyond, which the CBN framed as an infringement on religious liberty.
Lastly, the CBN condemned the SBC’s involvement in the “He Gets Us” evangelistic campaign by way of the efforts of North American Mission Board president Kevin Ezell, who hosted a virtual event with Outreach Editor-in-Chief Ed Stetzer to promote the campaign.
The CBN expressed that they feel the theology of “He Gets Us” is “anti-gospel and unorthodox.”
“Intended or not, the attack on the sufficiency of the Word of God in these evidences presented cannot be tolerated in the Southern Baptist family—a family long-characterized by a commitment to Scripture as the hallmark of its cooperative practice,” the report’s conclusion stated. “Southern Baptists must not abandon Scripture; we must change the current direction.”
