Hey, guess where I am?
Memphis!
I was invited to sit down with other thinkers in the SBC to toss around ideas about what we can do to have a positive impact on the Convention. I have read that this was an attempt to create a new “Kingmaker” group. That’s funny. Any group like that is not likely to have me in it.
In fact, no such group exists – that I know of. Every person in this meeting so far has openly expressed that they have no desire for such.
So what’s up with the secrecy?
If you know about it, it is not secret. There is a difference between secrecy and privacy.
Wade Burleson is here, and is planning on blogging the meeting. I am blogging the meeting. Marty Duren left his power cable at the office and so his ability to blog is in question. On top of that, Don Hinkle of the Missouri Baptist paper, the Pathway, sat next to me and will be recording the content of the meeting on tape. He will then compile a press release and make it available to everyone.
Clearly, there is nothing secretive going on here. This is in stark contrast to the “Kingmaker” groups of past and current fame. Those are meetings you never knew happened until they made their appointment public.
Another difference between that group and this one is the subject matter at hand. We are not talking about electing a president, although Wade has taken some good natured teasing about this. I don’t know everything that will come up – most anything is fair game, except personalities. Wade stated he would not participate in any discussion of people, and while no one else verbalized it, I saw most shaking their head in affirmation. That is not what this is.
Then why privacy, if not secrecy?
Several don’t wish to be misquoted. I am one of them. I have the power to clarify my own words, though, and not everyone else does.
Another reason is the sensitivity of perception. Before this group ever met, the nature of it was spun from being a takeover plot to being a gathering of narcissistic trouble makers. Even those sympathetic to many of our thoughts have called the meeting into question. Some within this meeting might face personal and professional turmoil if it is widely publicized that they were here. We know that in certain places within the convention, this is very real.
Finally, some probably wouldn’t be here if it were open to everyone. Because we are all in a room together, we become associated. If someone were to shoot their mouth off in an inappropriate way, their statement, to some degree, would speak for all of us. If this were what this meeting was, I probably wouldn’t be here.
You know me. I like to speak for myself.
Now I have to go call my family and head back to the meeting. I’ll update you again tonight and maybe let Marty borrow my computer or power cord. We are scheduled to be out after 10:00 pm Central, so updates will be late.
I won’t be able to update tomorrow’s meeting until after I drive back to Kentucky, lead church and then go home, so it will be late, too.
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Kevin Bussey
on May 2nd, 2006
@ 7:04 pm:
wish I was there. Look forward to you updates.
Phillips Lynn
on May 2nd, 2006
@ 8:44 pm:
Amen! Pastor Art.
I am praying for you guys.
P L
Dorcas
on May 2nd, 2006
@ 8:49 pm:
Hey Art! Tell everyone I said hello. Yeah, like they all know me right? Ha! I too look forward to the forthcoming updates … like where exactly does a group of people meet when they stay at the Motel 6? Do you have a bunch of folding chairs by the pool? I sent my private investigator out there and all he saw was about 30 or 40 Elvis impersonators … no wonder y’all wanted privacy.
Kevin
on May 2nd, 2006
@ 9:58 pm:
Art
I was one who felt that the appearance was like that of the “King Makers”. From the outside you must admit it does not look any different than the things we have discussed on the blog’s. Sometimes when it looks like a duck you automatically think it is a duck. I am glad that you and Marty and Wade are keeping it as open as possible I does make a BIG difference with the press backing you up. Thank you and the other guys for being there and keeping us informed.
In Him
Kevin Lancaster
Gary Snowden
on May 2nd, 2006
@ 10:41 pm:
I’m curious. By what criteria was Don Hinkle of The Pathway chosen to cover the Memphis gathering? I suppose that most folks within the conservative resurgence movement would be comfortable with his style of reporting, but if you’ve ever compared his reporting of the same events with that of the Word & Way, the Missouri Baptist paper for more than a century before the “conservatives/fundamentalists” group launched their own paper (The Pathway) in response to 5 Missouri Baptist entities naming their own boards of trustees, then you too would question his selection as a reporter to cover the gathering. As an example of such biased and inflammatory writing by Hinkle, I invite you to compare his editorial (linked within the following article) to that of Brian Kaylor, communications specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Missouri. See Kaylor’s article and the link to Hinkle’s editorial here: http://www.baptistgcm.org/staff_articles.asp?Staff_ID=1
wisdomofthepages.com
on May 2nd, 2006
@ 11:03 pm:
Snowden,
Hinkle’s reporting is well-documented.
Perhaps it is for the very reason that Hinkle reports as Hinkle reports that he is at the meeting?
Tim Sweatman
on May 3rd, 2006
@ 2:40 am:
I really wish I had been able to make it down there, but our associational meeting was Tuesday night and we were the host church. I’m looking forward to some great things coming out of this meeting.
JUSTAMOE
on May 3rd, 2006
@ 1:13 pm:
Not all of Hinkle’s reporting is well-documented.
wisdomofthepages.com
on May 3rd, 2006
@ 4:01 pm:
Justamoe,
You misunderstand my meaning. What I am saying is that what Hinkle writes, he writes for public consumption in a large forum of witnesses.
His opinions are not tucked away in obscure denominational journals or in private correspondence.
Point being, Don Hinkle’s reputation is anything but a secret. Hence, if he was asked to be at the meeting, we should assume that it is because of his reputation not in spite of his reputation.
Personal disclaimer: I co-blog with Don (www.thoughtsandadventures.com) and write for him in The Pathway, so I am not exactly an uninvolved opinion-giver on Don.
JUSTAMOE
on May 3rd, 2006
@ 10:09 pm:
wisdomofthepages.com:
All I said was, “Not all of Hinkle’s reporting is well-documented.”
How do you know whether or not I misunderstood what you meant, unless you know what I mean about what I stated (that NOT all of his articles are WELL-documented)–proving my point?