I think that the trend within the SBC has been to increasingly view it as a denomination (whatever that means.) I was reading a recent SBC publication called
Building Bridges: Perspectives on Baptist Unity (not the Building Bridges book on Calvinism) and Thom Ranier, head of Lifeway referred to the SBC as a denomination. I really don't have a background in the SBC and am by no means an expert on SBC history, but I suspect that denominational identity was forged in the early and middle years of the 20th century with practically all of the churches using the same Sunday School lessons, the Baptist Hymnal and organizations like WMU, Brotherhood, GA's, RA's etc. (This uniformity no longer exists and Dever's comments can perhaps be read in that light.)
The church we have been attending has the following in their constitution under "Affiliation":
Quote:
Scripture warrants the association and cooperation with other churches for the
purpose of advancing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. While the local
church is autonomous, we choose to affiliate with the Southern Baptist
Convention, the Louisiana Baptist Convention and the local Baptist association
so that we might promote visible unity with other local churches and mutually
cooperate for the advancement of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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This agrees in large part with what Dever said. But if I poll the members tomorrow, my guess is that most if not all of them will think that being in "cooperation" with the SBC is something more substantial than giving money to Wycliffe Bible Translators. (Our interim pastor is now an employee of the state convention as well.) I would like to see Dever clarify some of the remarks more fully. For example, he said CHBC gives money to the Conservative Baptists. But I don't believe they are affiliated with the Conservative Baptists the way they are with the Southern Baptist Convention, so how can it be the same thing? Would he run for some position within the Conservative Baptists or Wycliffe Bible Translators the way he did for 1st VP in the SBC a couple of years ago? The answer would seem obvious.