The ominous “Credentials Committee” was the brainchild of the liberalized Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), which has proven itself hostile to conservative reporters and faithful Southern Baptists who oppose their progressive agenda. With the ostensible task of sniffing out “racist” churches and those that cover-up abuse, the committee also has a mandate to root out almost any church they personally don’t are “in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention.”
While the committee may be used to kick out a racist church here and tehre (are there any left?) or a church covering up for abuse scandals or clergy misconduct (like the Executive Committee is currently doing regarding Frank Page), it will mostly be about the task of intimidating and threatening churches who don’t ‘play ball’ with the denominational leaders.
The Credentials Committee was formed the same year that the SBC voted to affirm Critical Race Theory as a valid analytical tool, 2019. Unfortunately, Critical Race Theory claims all white people are racist, so the Credentials Committee might have to end up removing more than 90% of the churches in the SBC if that’s the tool to determine “racism” they’ll be using.
The committee has created a “snitching portal” for people to report churches they feel aren’t in “friendly cooperation” with the SBC. Once the committee receives a complaint about a church (which could be about almost anything, not just racism or abuse cover-up), then they would make a recommendation to the Executive Committee (who are currently covering up the clergy sexual misconduct of its last president) to kick the church out of the SBC.
It’s as simple as that.
Imagine a Southern Baptist pastor preaching a sermon against Critical Race Theory and says that black people are not more likely to be under-privileged because of systemic prejudice but because of the breakdown of community morality, marriage, and the home. Someone hears the politically-incorrect sermon and reports them anonymously to the snitching portal. A faceless bureaucratic drone decides it’s “racist,” and the Executive Committee immediately dismisses them from the SBC (probably with a press release to announce it to the world, thus forever branding your church as “racist”).
Imagine a Southern Baptist pastor preaching a sermon against the corruption and cover-up in the SBC. One would imagine that now they would be seen in violation of the “friendly cooperation” clause immediately. The pastor would lose his Guidestone retirement. The students in the church would lose their SBC discounts at their seminaries, Bible colleges, and Baptist-owned undergraduate schools. The fall-out would be tremendous.
In the meantime, the provost at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has claimed twice that he is a racist and white supremacist. Pulpit & Pen has sent a complaint to the Credentials Committee and are awaiting to hear their response.
The Credentials Committee, with their online snitching portal, is designed to threaten and intimidate local churches into fearing the denomination.
If you’re still in the SBC, it’s time to get out now.
