But those efforts have been obscured at times as some in the denomination reject calls to be more deliberate about diversity, likening that to racial quotas. And while the 15.3-million-member denomination says about 20 percent of its churches are now predominantly non-White, including many African American churches, the top Southern Baptist leadership remains entirely White.
The position of president is largely ceremonial and usually consists of two 1-year terms. Reverend Floyd, who was replaced at the organization’s conference, made leading the conversation on racial unity one of his last acts as president.
The fact that the discussion will took place in St. Louis, just down the road from Ferguson, is more than symbolic to Rev. Floyd. “It’s providential and amazing!” he said, since the meeting place was set years before the fatal shooting of Michael Brown during a confrontation with a Ferguson police officer.
Reverend Floyd said the nation’s political leaders have failed to address the racial issues facing America. “But the churches are the ones that really need to be speaking about it anyway because church is where the solution is.”
However, he said, “The church can’t call on America to repent of anything until the church repents. And Southern Baptists can’t call on the country to repent until Southern Baptists repent.”
The convention has passed resolutions denouncing racism at least seven times at its annual meetings, including a 1995 resolution that apologized for the Nashville-based denomination’s role in supporting slavery and racism and asked for forgiveness from African Americans.
The discussion came at a time of declining membership for the SBC, which says it lost more than 200,000 members in 2015. Some leaders see more racial diversity as a key to turning that decline around.
Like us at https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Pittsburgh-Courier/143866755628836?ref=hl
Follow @NewPghCourier on Twitter https://twitter.com/NewPghCourier
About Post Author
