Four Reasons to Vote NO re: Troy Gramling As President of the SBC Pastors' Conference
The annual Pastors' Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention will be held on Sunday evening, June 13, and Monday, June 14, in Orlando.
According to the schedule, voting for the officers of next year's Conference should take place on Monday at 2:30 PM. I urge all Southern Baptists reading this blog to go to the Pastors' Conference and to vote AGAINST Troy Gramling, the pastor of Flamingo Road Church, who will appear as a nominee for the President of next year's Conference.
There are at least four reasons I would plead with fellow Baptists to vote NO to Troy Gramling:
1. Under Gramling's leadership, Flamingo Road Church has surrendered the Baptist distinctive of local church autonomy in favor of an extreme "multi-campus" approach. Baptists have historically held to the belief that each congregation is under the direct lordship of Jesus Christ, with no external human organization over the congregation (see the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, article 6). We have held to this belief due to a variety of New Testament texts in which each congregation is seen to elect its own officers (Acts 6:3-6) discipline its own members (Matt 18:15-17; 1 Cor 5:1-13), etc. Under Gramling's leadership, Flamingo Road Church has established dependent congregations (Gramling refers to them as "satellite campuses"), rather than helping to plant independent congregations. Flamingo Road Church has "satellite campuses" in three Florida locations as well as one in Lima, Peru, and even one that exists only on the Internet!
2. Internet baptisms.
[View a video HERE.] Obviously there are some good intentions behind this, but why does Flamingo Road Church feel the need to add "members" in this way rather than caring for people who want to become Christians by directing them to a local congregation which can love them, minister to them, discipline them, and deliver the ordinances to them in a more proper, orderly manner?
3. Women pastors.
Flamingo Road Church has at least one woman on staff with the title of "pastor," who engages in preaching. [A sermon from "Pastor Heather Palacios" can be heard HERE.] This is a direct contradiction of the Baptist Faith and Message, which states, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture," based on New Testament passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-7.
4. Negligible Cooperative Program Giving.
According to Peter Lumpkins, based on information found in the Florida Witness, Flamingo Road Church only gives 0.18% annually to the Cooperative Program, which is the Southern Baptist mechanism for funding missions and education.
Of the reasons listed above, numbers 2 and 4 by themselves would raise serious questions concerning Gramling as a candidate to lead the SBC Pastor's Conference. But numbers 1 and 3 should automatically disqualify him as they place him at odds with the Baptist Faith and Message. Taken together, these reasons make it hard to imagine a worse candidate in post-Conservative Resurgence Southern Baptist history.
According to the schedule, voting for the officers of next year's Conference should take place on Monday at 2:30 PM. I urge all Southern Baptists reading this blog to go to the Pastors' Conference and to vote AGAINST Troy Gramling, the pastor of Flamingo Road Church, who will appear as a nominee for the President of next year's Conference.
There are at least four reasons I would plead with fellow Baptists to vote NO to Troy Gramling:
1. Under Gramling's leadership, Flamingo Road Church has surrendered the Baptist distinctive of local church autonomy in favor of an extreme "multi-campus" approach. Baptists have historically held to the belief that each congregation is under the direct lordship of Jesus Christ, with no external human organization over the congregation (see the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, article 6). We have held to this belief due to a variety of New Testament texts in which each congregation is seen to elect its own officers (Acts 6:3-6) discipline its own members (Matt 18:15-17; 1 Cor 5:1-13), etc. Under Gramling's leadership, Flamingo Road Church has established dependent congregations (Gramling refers to them as "satellite campuses"), rather than helping to plant independent congregations. Flamingo Road Church has "satellite campuses" in three Florida locations as well as one in Lima, Peru, and even one that exists only on the Internet!
2. Internet baptisms.
[View a video HERE.] Obviously there are some good intentions behind this, but why does Flamingo Road Church feel the need to add "members" in this way rather than caring for people who want to become Christians by directing them to a local congregation which can love them, minister to them, discipline them, and deliver the ordinances to them in a more proper, orderly manner?
3. Women pastors.
Flamingo Road Church has at least one woman on staff with the title of "pastor," who engages in preaching. [A sermon from "Pastor Heather Palacios" can be heard HERE.] This is a direct contradiction of the Baptist Faith and Message, which states, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture," based on New Testament passages such as 1 Timothy 2:11-15; 3:1-7.
4. Negligible Cooperative Program Giving.
According to Peter Lumpkins, based on information found in the Florida Witness, Flamingo Road Church only gives 0.18% annually to the Cooperative Program, which is the Southern Baptist mechanism for funding missions and education.
Of the reasons listed above, numbers 2 and 4 by themselves would raise serious questions concerning Gramling as a candidate to lead the SBC Pastor's Conference. But numbers 1 and 3 should automatically disqualify him as they place him at odds with the Baptist Faith and Message. Taken together, these reasons make it hard to imagine a worse candidate in post-Conservative Resurgence Southern Baptist history.
Labels: apologetics
posted by Andrew Lindsey | 6:16 AM
11 Comments:
Does #1 include the multi-campus approach of Highview?
I think it must be acknowledged that Flamingo Road Church is much more extreme than Highview. Though Highview's method does incorporate more than one congregation and stretches the definition of "local," Bishop Ezell has said that he would not have campuses outside of the Louisville area- thus keeping it "local" in some sense- so he would not want to have a "satellite" in Lima, Peru nor an Internet congregation.
I'm not as well informed in SBC politics as I could be, so I'm not trying to pester you. How do you know this guy is going to be nominated? Do you know who the other guys are that will be nominated.
I'm with you, logically, why would you vote for him if he's not that into the manifesto.
But, if I'm going to vote against something I'll have to vote for something. Is there a candidate that you like?
I'm sorry but Pastor Troy is an Amazing Pastor and FRC which is now Potential Church has baptized thousands of people at the campus's. Yes Potential might be a multi-campus church, but that only means we bring MORE people to God.
I agree with Kaitlyn Pastor Troy is a hard working men of God spreding the word of those he can reach.
I also agree with the last two comments. Does it matter more that a church is kept 'pure' of other's because it calls itself Baptist, or is a church that is teaching of Christ and the Way to live and having a woman as a preacher actually make a difference. I am sorry you feel this way as it does not matter who speaks the Bible and of christ and his Way to live. The message is the same. I feel sorry that you do not feel this way,as Pastor Grambling along with Pastor Joel Osteen, has brought me back to Christ and his beliefs and faith in myself. I believe Troy Grambling would make a great candidate.
Yours truly,
Holiday Tasch
He is unable to PROPERLY handle the Biblical text... he is UNABLE to properly distinguish Law and Gospel ... He is IS a rank heretic!! He's preaching people into HELL!
As a basic KJB christian, I believe in a pastor that is NOT wordly in ANY way, (he looks that way with earrings and women pastors are not biblical. End of that.
How can we get our oppisition to the conference?
Jesus answers with a question setting man's tradition against God's will.
He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?"
Love your brother Troy do not be against him. I advise that you repent your no towards him.
I love Jesus Christ.
😂😂😂😂
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