We need remote location, remote access participation in the SBC.  When churches see secrecy rather than transparency, and when they don’t see accountability for failure, they end cooperation.  That’s what we’re seeing happen.  Over 5,000 fewer churches are cooperating.  People are concerned about a few high profile people leaving the SBC.  I understand the concern.  We’re dividing over multiple issues.  But most don’t seem too concerned that over 5,000 fewer churches (5,258) contributed to missions through the CP in 2019 than 2007.  Every week we’re losing more churches.  That’s what I’m concerned about.  SBC churches are rapidly losing confidence, they are losing trust, in our missionary system.

The Great Commission Resurgence, adopted by the SBC in 2010, has played a large role in destroying trust and the resulting decline.  It created a top-down missions system with NAMB keeping about $50 million more that used to be spent through local Associations and State Conventions.  Also, NAMB largely “took control” of church planting outside the south and the numbers of new churches being started has collapsed to the lowest levels we’ve ever seen, even as the church planting budget exploded by over 300 percent.