A Statement Regarding the Affiliation
Of Oak Cliff Baptist Church
With the Southern Baptist Convention
July 18, 2018
Recently, it came to the Elders’ attention that word was going around among the membership via text and email that Oak Cliff was leaving the Southern Baptist Convention. There were also some other questions that came up recently among other church members regarding this possibility.
As your Elders, Lyndel and I want to make it very clear to everyone that Oak Cliff is a Southern Baptist Church. We support Southern Baptist Missions through the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board; and we support Southern Baptist seminaries. We support the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. And we are thankful for the ministry of Lifeway and many of the other resources the SBC provides for churches.
In 2015, our church elected a special committee to look into doctrinal concerns at the IMB, and in the SBC in general, when the IMB no longer screened applicants regarding the Charismatic practice of speaking in tongues.
The Committee concluded that there were indeed issues of concern at the IMB but recommended at the time that those issues were not sufficient to warrant our withdrawal of support. The committee recommended that we wait and watch.
And so, that is what we have done. The SBC is a very large and diverse denomination, to be sure. There may be churches in our own local Association with whom we might disagree on a number of doctrinal issues in addition to our Reformed position on salvation. None of those issues, however, in our opinion, would warrant our withdrawal from the Association.
There are also those individuals and churches on the state convention level with whom we might disagree on a number of doctrinal and/or methodological issues. But, again, we are not at a point that is anywhere close to warranting withdrawal from the convention.
If or when such a time should come that we believe it to be necessary for Oak Cliff to leave the SBC, I think we will all know it. It will be obvious to everyone at Oak Cliff. Until that time comes, however, as your Elders, we assure you that we will keep you apprised of any issues that we think might warrant any move away from the SBC.
So, we are Southern Baptist in our affiliation. It may be that in addition to the SBC, we would want to support other mission causes or projects or persons that we deem worthy of our support. But we want to make sure that everyone at Oak Cliff is clear on where we stand in regards to our affiliation with the SBC: We are a Southern Baptist Church.
Dr. Kent E. Sweatman
Senior Pastor/Elder
Rev. Lyndel E. Hobbs
Assoc. Pastor/Elder