I just received confirmation from MULTIPLE sources that Sutton is back in the Presidential race.
EVERY SOURCE has said that Sutton is Judge Paul Pressler’s choice for the Presidency. Let me make this clear: I have heard from multiple sources the exact same story – Judge Pressler does not want Floyd and is now in opposition to Paige Patterson in their respective selections for president of the SBC this year.
There is still a debate about the nominator. David Dockery’s name was floated, but I was told that he is steering clear of the entire situation.
There is a split at the very core of the Inner Circle.
What does this mean for the SBC next week? Anybody’s guess.
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Alan Cross
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 7:25 pm:
I don’t know a whole lot about either Pressler or Patterson, but I know that they have worked together closely over the years, or so I understand. What kind of rift must have taken place for a division to be this public, if Patterson and Pressler are each backing different candidates? It is hard to imagine – this is a huge story, if it is true.
By the way, I noticed the link on SBCOutpost stated that Sutton’s church gave 7% to SBC Causes. While this is better than .27% to the CP by Floyd’s church, it is still less than the Executive Committee recommended for SBC churches at large. Do all megachurches give less than 10%? Does that standard just apply to the smaller churches? I’m not trying to be smart – I’m sincerely posing the question.
tl
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 9:22 pm:
Who will be impacted most by Sutton’s hat now being in the ring?
Is this an effort to get someone other than Frank Page (assumes Sutton splits the Page voting block)?
Is this an effort to get someone other than Ronnie Floyd(assumes Sutton splits the Floyd voting block)?
How much exactly did Two Rivers give to CP through traditional CP means (i.e. through the Tennessee convention)?
Very interesting days.
Dorcas
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 9:27 pm:
The public appearance of a rift does not actually mean there is one. This is just my take on things as an outsider to the politics of it all … a theory let’s call it:
I am thinking about the quote that was published on a couple blogs wherein Dr. Patterson said he thought the firetruck baptistry thing was blasphemous. From what I recall of the quote Dr. Patterson did not know it was Dr. Floyd’s church that had this. I only point this out to keep the quote in context. Nevertheless, even though Patterson publicly endorsed Dr. Floyd as candidate, we should remember that Johnny Hunt was the first choice. Therefore Dr. Patterson’s public endorsement of Dr. Floyd may have been for political reasons rather than a personal endorsement. I do not know this to be the case, I am just positing a theory.
So there has been much discussion on the blogs about the .27% CP giving, and some admittedly non-scientific polls of the blog world showed Dr. Page gaining support. So what happens?
The Powers-that-Be find a better candidate. But Patterson cannot just switch his endorsement now. So instead, Judge Pressler steps into the picture. It is no harm to themselves if people think they disagree with each other. Actually it would help them “demonstrate” the lack of a power structure. They can now say, “look at us, we are operating independently. No power structure here.”
So I see Jerry Sutton as being the new, replacement establishment candidate. His church’s CP giving is up to 7% which though not the 10% some would like is admittedly better than the .27%. Also, from what I have read from commenters so far about Sutton, I haven’t seen many complaints raised against him.
Now the powers-that-be won’t just drop Dr. Floyd cold. After all they have three very public endorsements out there. But when they realized that didn’t work to overcome the other factors against Dr. Floyd, they found a better candidate to support. Now all they have to do is pass the news by word of mouth, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we find the run off election to be between Sutton and Page, with Ronnie Floyd a distant third.
In the end, I expect we will discover that Patterson and Pressler are still as much friends and allies as they ever were.
But who knows … I could be totally wrong and have given those in the “know” quite a jovial laugh at my expense.
Wes Kenney
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 9:53 pm:
I’ve posted CP and mission offering charts, as you knew I would.
The seven percent number must be talking about those famous “SBC causes,” because the ACP data for 2005 shows $0 (that’s no dollars, not no data) for 2005, and something short of 7% for the years immediately previous.
art rogers
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 9:54 pm:
Nevertheless, even though Patterson publicly endorsed Dr. Floyd as candidate, we should remember that Johnny Hunt was the first choice. Therefore Dr. Patterson’s public endorsement of Dr. Floyd may have been for political reasons rather than a personal endorsement. I do not know this to be the case, I am just positing a theory.
So there has been much discussion on the blogs about the .27% CP giving, and some admittedly non-scientific polls of the blog world showed Dr. Page gaining support. So what happens?
The Powers-that-Be find a better candidate. But Patterson cannot just switch his endorsement now. So instead, Judge Pressler steps into the picture. It is no harm to themselves if people think they disagree with each other. Actually it would help them “demonstrate” the lack of a power structure. They can now say, “look at us, we are operating independently. No power structure here.”
So I see Jerry Sutton as being the new, replacement establishment candidate.
I thought this originally, also, but I am assured that the split is very real. I am not saying that there is animosity between the tw, but they are split and their split endorsements will confuse the massive middle.
You probably won’t see Pressler be the one to nominate Sutton, but it has become public by now (I’ve seen it cited on two other blogs tonight) and there will be no hiding it.
Alan Cross
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 10:14 pm:
I’m just jumping around to the different blogs right now learning about Sutton, but I want to say that, if accurate, his church’s CP giving according to Wes’ charts is beyond frustrating. I’m o.k. with churches not giving 10%, as I think there are other ways we can do missions, and I am not married to the CP, but if it is important, how can we choose leadership that doesn’t believe in it? It seems that this should be as big an issue for Sutton as it was for Floyd, unless there is some hidden explanation. Check out Wes Kinney’s charts.
Michael DeBusk
on Jun 5th, 2006
@ 11:20 pm:
I am inclined to agree that there is not a split between Patterson and Pressler on this, especially if there is as much at stake as many believe. I think the next few days will play this out. Is it possible Floyd might back out?
martyduren
on Jun 6th, 2006
@ 6:44 am:
Art-
I’m going to nominate you for president and Wes for the counter of the offering.
Tom Bryant
on Jun 6th, 2006
@ 6:58 am:
wow… wheels within wheels…
Don’t think I’ve seen this many conspiracy theories since I googled the Kennedy assassination. (;
art rogers
on Jun 6th, 2006
@ 7:56 am:
Michael,
I don’t think so. Further expounded upon in the next post.
Art
Anonymous
on Jun 6th, 2006
@ 4:40 pm:
Not sure about the numbers Wes referred to but I know for a fact that Jerry Sutton’s church gave more than $0 to CP. Either ACP published the wrong # or the church didn’t report it.
Anonymous
on Jun 6th, 2006
@ 7:30 pm:
I know for a fact that Pressler is not the one nominating Jerry Sutton for president as I spoke with him (Sutton) earlier today and discussed the matters with him. Dr. Sutton is running because many pastors of many small churches(as in non-mega and non-powers-to-be) have asked him to run because they know the kind of man he is and the valuable leadership he can offer to our convention
I apologize for this being anonymous, I just really don’t have time at the moment to create an account.
ydarg
art rogers
on Jun 6th, 2006
@ 9:50 pm:
Anon- ydarg,
You are correct that Pressler is not going to nominate him – at least according to my sources. However, the original thought was that he was going to do it.
I think that they decided the two publicly endorsing seperate candidates would hurt them. The OTHER theory – that holds MUCH credibility – is that they are afraid an insider endorsement would hurt Sutton with the Younger Leader group.
They want him to win, and if certain guys (I know of at least one more that has been rejected) who are seen as insiders do the nomination, they believe that YSBC will run away.