November 11, 2015
A Baptist 21 panel discussion designed to improve communication among the generations of pastors serving in the Sunshine State was held in conjunction with the Florida Baptist State Convention.
Moderated by Dean Inserra, pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, the panel included: Ted Traylor, pastor, Olive Baptist Church, Pensacola; Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of Family Church (formerly First Baptist Church), West Palm Beach; and Tommy Green, Florida Baptists’ newly elected executive director-treasurer.
Inserra, who represents the demographic group known as “the millennial generation,” said the purpose of the inaugural panel discussion was to “have honest conversation and ask questions out loud to some key Florida Baptist leaders that I’m being asked right now from my peers.”
Generally, the millennial generation can be described as people who were born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s.
Although a Baptist 21 discussion has been a part of the national Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in past years, this is the first time it has been held among Florida Baptists.
“This is the first year we asked for a Baptist 21 discussion,” said Inserra, emphasizing that Florida Baptist leaders had been very open to the idea.
Nearly 70 persons attended the forum Sunday evening, Nov. 8.
During the Florida Baptist panel discussion, no question was off limits, although most questions related to “what it means to be a Southern Baptist in the 21st century,” said Inserra.
Much of the discussion centered on the Cooperative Program (CP) and the percentage division between state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention.
Green and others referenced the 50/50 division as recommended by the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force, approved by SBC messengers in June 2010 and the Florida Baptist State Convention in November 2010. The recommendation urged state conventions to evenly divide their CP receipts between the SBC and state convention.
After the decision was made in Florida to go 50/50, “we were so zealous,” said Inserra, referring to other young pastors like him. He asked why the SBC percentage increases had not occurred more quickly.
Scroggins said he too was excited about being a part of the decision, “and disappointed it took this long to get here. “
Traylor said part of the reason it has not happened sooner was because of “relationships.” Decreasing budgets mean downsizing staff. “These are real people who did nothing but be faithful,” he said. “They did nothing immoral. They have been on their knees.”
But he predicted, “Once Florida drives this stake in the ground and says, this is where we are going,” others will follow.
With such difficult decisions, Scroggins said that Florida Baptists should be “loving people for who they are when they are at their best and giving them grace for when they’re not.”
Traylor pointed out, “Passion is not marked by speed but by direction,” saying that Florida Baptists are moving intentionally in the right direction.
All panelists agreed that they expect other state conventions to follow Florida Baptists’ lead in increasing their financial gifts to the SBC.
“We will probably end up in a race to see who can give the most to the nations,” predicted Scroggins.
Through its new formula of giving, Florida Baptists are “going to release $3 million to global missions. We believe what we’re giving is making a difference in the world,” said Green, who admitted being humbled in his new role leading Florida Baptists.
As discussion continued, Green said that if every Southern Baptist state convention increased its percentage of giving to the SBC to 50 percent, the CP of the SBC would see an additional $60 million.
“I have such a stewardship of responsibility to every pastor in the state,” he said. He pledged to not “make pastors feel guilty about their CP giving.”
He suggested that Florida Baptists may need to “redefine how we look at cooperation. We are about churches fulfilling their mission,” he said.
Looking toward the future, Scroggins urged Florida Baptists to put aside artificial barriers and focus on our common mission, saying Southern Baptists “have the “greatest, most vital mission organization in the world,” adding it would be a sin for him not to encourage his church members to give to support Southern Baptist missions.
By Margaret Colson, Florida Baptist Convention