SBC Outpost… Changes Coming Soon!

June 27th, 2007 | Posted in » Baptist Issues, In the News...

Unless you’ve had your head under a rock for the last couple years in the Baptist blog world, you’ve undoubtedly been aware of Marty Duren’s blog, SBC Outpost. You’ve probably also heard that he’d decided to retire the site following the San Antonio convention.

You may have wondered… what will be left to fill the void?

Well… SBC Outpost will, as it re-opens with a new look and slightly new direction on July 2nd.

Check out the following press release from Micah Fries, editor of the new SBC Outpost, for details.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2007

ST. JOSEPH, MO — On Monday, July 2, 2007, the online conversation concerning the future of the Southern Baptist Convention will move forward as a group of prominent bloggers merge their efforts to provide a forum for ministry ideas, missionary support, church revitalization, and denominational reform. SBCOutpost.com, previously administrated by Pastor Marty Duren of New Bethany Baptist Church in Buford, GA, will be launched as one of the premier sites for Southern Baptist news and commentary.

Little doubt exists that blogs have dominated the conversation in Southern Baptist life for the previous 18 months. At times, the conversation has engaged substantive issues of theology and ministry. At others, the dialogue has been shrill and divisive. With the launch of a newly reformatted SBCOutpost.com blog, the chance for elevating the meaningful dialogue and limiting the intensity of contention will arrive for all Southern Baptists.

Intentionally designed as a bridge for the diverse constituencies of Southern Baptist life, SBCOutpost.com will bring together denominational executives with rural pastors and church planters, missional pastors with traditional pastors, seminary theologians with Sunday School teachers, and field missionaries with their prayer partners. The day has passed for monopolies in news and information. SBCOutpost.com will seek to supplement, not replace, the excellent coverage of Southern Baptist life already offered online through Baptist Press, Associated Baptist Press, and various Baptist state papers.

SBCOutpost.com is singularly unique, however, in the chance for reader interaction and commentary, offering a forum for the discussion about the future of culturally-informed, Christ-honoring witness and ministry paradigms for the Southern Baptist Convention. In addition to this unique format, SBCOutpost.com will launch with the largest aggregate readership of any alternative news source dealing with Southern Baptist issues. The mission statement of SBCOutpost.com is “to provide interactive, substantive, and reflective dialogue for Southern Baptist churchmen and women to participate in shaping the future of the Southern Baptist Convention.”

The stated intention of SBCOutpost.com is to become the number one choice for discussion of Southern Baptist news and commentary, and the blog editors would like to encourage all Southern Baptist entities to include SBCOutpost.com as a part of their regular schedule of recipients for all press releases, news updates, and other statements as they are released to major media sources by emailing editor@sbcoutpost.com.

It should be noted that I will be a contributor to the new SBC Outpost. I can’t imagine that my views will really have much to offer (I’m hardly a “prominent” blogger!), but I guess that’s something time will tell. I would anticipate my value to be primarily in the technical administration of things, but I’m also planning on contributing a regular column entitled, “The Layman’s Look”, tackling SBC issues from the perspective of an interested layperson. Although I’m not 100% certain what direction I’m going with the column, I will say this… if you’re interested in contributing your views to these columns in some manner, please let me know (you can e-mail me at the link in the left sidebar)… I might want to incorporate a few quotes into it, or maybe even some interviews.

Anyway… the fun begins (again) on July 2nd. Don’t miss the new debut of sbcoutpost.com!