Changing names is good, changing actions is better

This week an administrative committee for my denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, approved a recommendation that the SBC adopt the informal name of "Great Commission Baptists."

The proposal will be presented at the SBC Annual Meeting in June, and I will support it.

Initially, I would have liked to see something more than an "informal name," but I think the change will help in many local church situations (though for the foreseeable future, my church will still list itself as SBC, rather than GCB).

I understand this is a tough decision with many layers of complexity ranging from legal issues to public perceptions to historical accords, and this gives churches a choice. I might have made a different choice, but I will support this one.

I agree with the task force that the equity we have in the SBC name is helpful in many respects and whatever could be gained by changing the name of the denomination cannot measure up to what would be lost from our nearly 170-year history. However, there is also much negative baggage that comes with the name -- some because of what we believe, but some because of how we act. Keep reading