What is the largest Protestant denomination in the world? By some counts, the answer to that question is the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).
The SBC is just astonishingly big. Imagine the biggest big thing you can think of then times it by something even bigger. That's about it. Since its organisation in 1845 in Augusta, Georgia, the SBC has grown to 15.8 million members who worship in more than 40,000 churches in the United States.
Books and seminaries
Its publishing arm (LifeWay Christian Resources) is the world's largest publisher of religious materials; its Sunday school literature is the choice of more than 37,000 Southern Baptist churches; orders come as well from churches of other denominations and from more than 70 countries around the world. The seminary education of SBC is unmatched by any other denomination; America's 237 theological schools average about 290 in enrolment but the six Southern Baptist seminaries average about 2,000. This means that one out of every six theological students in America is enrolled in a Southern Baptist seminary.
Missionaries and money
The SBC funds a large proportion of world mission; Southern Baptists sponsor more than 4,000 foreign missionaries in 126 nations of the world. And they're still growing: Southern Baptists average four new congregations each day. This all reminds me of the story of the Englishman being told by a native Texan that the whole of the UK would fit comfortably within the borders of Texas. To which the Englishman replied, 'And wouldn't it make a difference'.
Size, pure massive enormity, finances, grandiose institutions, all seem to make one quail. Of course the mega-bigness of the SBC does have its problems. It attracts unflattering press from nay-sayers (like the time when it was dubbed for 'boycotting Disney'). And mega-institutions tend to have mega-politics, to which the SBC is no stranger.
Tooth, nail and co-operation
The liberals in the denomination are fighting it out tooth and nail with the conservatives. What's more the smell of money can spoil things, or lead people to feel cynical about the motives of those involved. Salaries for home missionaries are not quite of the 'don't even take a purse with you' kind.
Nonetheless, the size of the SBC, its willingness to co-operate for important gospel ends is surely a lesson worth taking. I wonder what would be the effect of English evangelicals from various backgrounds uniting under a common banner for the cause of Christ? Our bucks would not be so big, but our voice might be heard a little louder.
