The name “Southern Baptist” is rooted in the division of Baptists in 1845 over the issue of slavery. It has been associated with Baptists in the South who are, for the most part, mission-minded and conservative in theology.
However, outside the South, the southern part of the name has a different connotation. My experience in the difficulty with the name “Southern” comes from many experiences. My father was a pastor in Utah during my high school days, and the term “Southern” didn’t describe our church in any way except the way we sent and received money for missions. It didn’t help us get members, except for those who had moved to Utah for work and were looking for a church similar to one they attended in the South.
My mother was a missionary in Africa, and “Southern” meant nothing to them there. It would just help if we had a more generic name, or a more descriptive name that didn’t include the word “Southern.”
I did some mission work in Philadelphia, and if you called yourself Southern Baptist, the people there associate that with being a black Baptist church. It’s confusing to people. Changing the name would facilitate mission work outside the South.
Since I have been a staff member in churches in the South, I have taken students on mission trips every summer to help plant churches in the Northeast and the Midwest. In those regions, the name “Southern” didn’t help the church grow but only hindered its work.
In fact, most churches didn’t include the name “Southern” or sometimes even “Baptist” in their names. Usually, they would list their name and say affiliated with the SBC. In Philadelphia, to call yourself a “Southern Baptist Church” would bring stereotypes that did not help you grow a new church.
Since churches are congregational, they can call themselves anything they would like and still be a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. Many churches in areas outside the South have dual affiliations — Southern Baptists and other denominations.
In the South, being a Southern Baptist Church is not a bad thing, but even new church plants often don’t include Baptist or Southern Baptist in their name. To grow the kingdom for God, churches look to attract people from all backgrounds, not just Baptist or Southern Baptist.
Looking forward, I think the name Southern Baptist would be better changed to initials SBC to keep with historical roots, but not hinder the growth in areas that are not Southern. Other groups have used initials successfully, and it would work in describing our beginnings but not hinder our future. We should want to remove any obstacle in reaching people for Christ, yet have a description that would let people know we stand for missions and conservative theology.
Tom Wickes is an associate pastor at First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tenn.
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