ATLANTA — The Great
Commission Resurgence Task Force (GCRTF) made “enormous” progress in its Nov. 30-Dec. 1
meeting in Atlanta and plans to present a substantial report during the
February meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee, task
force chairman Ronnie Floyd said.
“We made great, enormous
progress today,” Floyd told Baptist Press after adjourning the meeting, which
was held in the Renaissance Hotel near Atlanta’s Hartsfield International
Airport.
“We’re wrestling; we’re going through it. But the group has been
great. Yesterday and today we ended with tremendous oneness, tremendous
togetherness.”
The 23-member task force
heard reports from North American Mission Board (NAMB) leadership; Ed Stetzer,
director of LifeWay Research; and Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC
Executive Committee, Floyd said. The NAMB updates came from trustee chairman
Tim Patterson; interim president Richard Harris; and Ted Traylor, chairman of
the board’s presidential search committee and GCRTF member.
That report was followed
later in the day by Stetzer’s presentation, which focused on church planting in
North America. Stetzer had been co-chairman of a 24-member task force appointed
by NAMB’s then-president, Geoff Hammond, to “take a fresh look at how Southern Baptists
should look at the Great Commission in times such as these” but that group
dissolved after Hammond’s resignation Aug. 11. After Stetzer completed the
report, task force members discussed issues related to NAMB until they
adjourned just before 11 p.m. Monday.
The Tuesday morning session
opened with an address from the Executive Committee’s Chapman, Floyd said.
“Dr. Chapman spoke to us
about the status of the Executive Committee, what was on his heart, and then
talked to us about some future thoughts about the SBC,” Floyd explained. “Then
we had a question and answer time with him. The rest of our day was talking
about how to reach North America, the role of some of our denominational
entities in that. We talked some, obviously, about the Executive Committee
because Dr. Chapman had given us a report about the Executive Committee.”
Floyd said the task force
has notified Chapman’s office that they intend to present a substantial report
to the Feb. 22-23 Executive Committee meeting in Nashville.
“We’re pretty committed that’s
when we’re going to have our coming-out party,” Floyd said. “Will we be
bringing a once and for all final report? … No, I don’t think we’re going to
be able to get there at that point. Our goal would be to get what I would call
the body of the report — the things that would require cooperation and
understanding of why we are doing what we want to do and this is what we want
to do and how do we get there.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Kelly
is an assistant editor with Baptist Press.)