Rain in Indianapolis

Messengers from across the nation and around the world will gather in Indianapolis June 10-11 for the 151st session of the Southern Baptist Convention. For the third time Indianapolis will be the host city for the SBC Annual Meeting. Previous such gatherings in the Indiana capital city were 1992 and 2004.

The convention in 2004 was marked by an inordinate amount of rain and reminded me of the words of Roger Miller’s song “Little Green Apples.” Miller recounts an early morning amiable exchange with his wife at the breakfast table and sings the chorus of the song:

“And if that‘s not loving me, then all I’ve got to say,

And Mother Goose, no nursery rhymes …”

Oh, did it rain during that 2004 Convention meeting! Umbrellas were in short supply. Puddles of water were everywhere. Believe me, it rains in Indianapolis in the summer time.

There are several meetings that serve as a prelude to the Southern Baptist Convention, one of which is the Pastors Conference. The theme for this year’s conference is “Prepare for Rain.” Michael Catt, president of this year’s conference and pastor of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, wants to us to pray and prepare for rain.

Catt’s desire is that the rain of genuine revival falls upon the churches of our Convention. He has indicated that he longs to see “the wind of God blowing through our midst as we focus on the necessity of revival.”

G. Campbell Morgan commented, “Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again.”

Stephen Olford stated, “Revival restrains the righteous anger of God, restores the conscious awareness of God, and reveals the gracious activity of God.”

There is no greater need in our denomination than the need for revival. Messengers would do well to come prayerfully, expectantly, and prepared to encounter the Lord. God could very well send enough “mercy drops” around us in Indiana to inspire us to plead for the “showers of blessing” we need.

In terms of convention business, the election of officers seems to be gathering much attention because of the number of candidates to be nominated. Presently there are six announced candidates for convention president. Will the Cooperative Program become a major issue in this election of officers? Will vision and leadership become the deciding factor? Will doctrinal issues tip the scale in this contest for the presidency? Will there be a run-off?

In the long history of the SBC only eight presidents have been elected from Georgia. This year two of the six presidential nominees are Georgia Baptist pastors: Frank Cox and Johnny Hunt. It is likely that the next SBC president will be a Georgia Baptist pastor.

Will the election of a president inspire a higher attendance than in recent years? There were 45,519 messengers registered for the SBC annual session in Dallas in 1985. No convention has had a larger number of messengers. Last years’ convention in San Antonio drew 8,630 messengers.

A demographic study of the messengers show that they are aging. In 1985 there were 38.2 percent of the messengers that were under 40 years of age. Last year only 13.09 percent were under 40 years of age.

Some have expected the motion made by Rick Garner of Ohio to resurface again this year. Garner’s motion, which was approved by the Convention by a vote of 57.55 percent, specified that the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message “is sufficient in its current form to guide trustees in their establishment of policies and practices of entities of the Convention.”

The motion was vigorously debated and there seemed to be a lot of confusion as to the implications of the motion and whether or not Convention entities could retain or develop additional guidelines and policies to govern their operations. Some felt that the motion was an unwarranted reaction to decisions made by the trustees of specific agencies and institutions.

The report of the Resolutions Committee generally addresses some issues of interest. Although this committee has presented resolutions on the environment and global warming for the last two years it is quite possible that something similar will surface again.

The Index has received news that a resolution will be submitted on the indoctrination of children in sexual deviancy in California public schools. The proposed resolution relates to the recently enacted legislation that mandates that all children in the California public schools, including kindergartners, be indoctrinated to believe that the homosexual, bisexual, and other sexually deviant lifestyles are normal, acceptable, and the moral equivalent of biblical heterosexuality.

It has also been suggested that representatives from the Founders Ministry will introduce a resolution on a regenerative church membership.

However, there will be one tragic void in this year’s convention. Florida pastor Forrest Pollock will not be there. As reported in the last edition of The Index, Forrest and his 13-year old son, Preston, were killed in a plane crash in the mountains of western North Carolina on May 12. He was scheduled to preach at this year’s meeting in Indianapolis.

I got to know Forrest when I was a pastor. We were members of the Large Church Roundtable. I served with him on the SBC Resolutions Committee. We corresponded by mail and telephone. His 2006 nomination speech for Frank Page for president of the SBC was a masterpiece. His effervescent personality, winsome smile, and sterling leadership will be missed. He longed for revival.

Perhaps the best way to honor his memory is to go to Indianapolis and “prepare for rain.”