baptist history says no- baptist continue to divide over church theology that the local church
cannot by nature address. the sbc is a victim of
the clique mentality. running ,hiding and spinning from tough issues. there are signs of hope in new young leadership. ken
young leadership

I believe the time has come for us to rethink the concept of church autonomy. It was valued for its time when the state would impose the Church- especially the Church of England, as the official state religion in the colonies. Such an imposition was insufferable. However, we live in such a time as to make this concept of church autonomy as overwrought at best or irrelevant in the worst. We are now overly-independent in an age where it is next to impossible to get churches to cooperate together in the name of church autonomy. Less than a hundred years ago, several churches shared pastors in a “field” of churches because they could not singularly afford to pay one pastor per church. Now with the health care crisis and other issues, many churches find themselves in decline where they can no longer afford one. Southern Baptists may find themselves going back to the field model, and loosen their grip on church autonomy if they are to remain viable.