When their pastoral offices becomes vacant, many Baptist churches form what is know as a “pulpit is committee”. A pulpit committee typically consists of several church members whom the body has tasked with seeking, interviewing, and recommending pastoral candidates. Have you ever wondered what kinds of questions these churches ask pastoral candidates? How do you think potential pastors should answer these questions? In this on-going series, I will provide actual inquiries from a questionnaire sent to me by the pulpit committee of a Southern Baptist Church, along with my answers. Each part of this series will examine a different question and answer from the church’s questionnaire. Feel free to interact in the comment section with your own opinions of how the questions should have been asked and answered.
(Note: The identity and location of the church has been replaced with generic terms).
Question:
Do you support the Cooperative Baptist Program or the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship?
Answer:
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is liberal; I do not support it. I do not support giving through the Cooperative Program. I think it is wiser to give directly to specific entities (IMB, seminaries, children’s etc.…) I think there is bureaucratic waste in the SBC and even some error. Writing a blank CP check supports the bad with the good. We will be held responsible before God for our stewardship. Many people in the pews do not even know what all the Cooperative Program supports! I think direct giving to SBC entities is a “free market” solution to seeing a more efficient SBC. If people just give ignorantly through the CP then money-spenders will be less accountable. I am an accountant. I have really thought this through and I think the CP is pretty outdated. There are more efficient ways to support the denomination. There is an unfortunate attitude out there that the local church owes the convention money. That is not the case, the convention helps the church fulfill the great commission. The convention answers to the local church, not the other way around. I wrote a free e-book called The Cooperative Program and the Road to Serfdom. Please read it.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
Seth Dunn 