Anatomy of a Reformation by Paige Patterson

I just finished reading, Anatomy of a Reformation: The Southern Baptist Convention 1978-2004 by Paige Patterson. It’s a short booklet that gives Southern Baptists a little inside picture on the conservative resurgence from one who helped lead the way.

He breaks down the reformation to the phases of (1) Reformation and Captivity; (2) Realism and Renewal; (3) Redirection and Hope. I recommend this to all in my church and have connections to the Southern Baptist Convention.

Here are some nuggets:

• “Many such efforts [at reformation] had been attempted but had uniformly failed because they were launched either by a little-known leaders or else by isolated individuals who knew little of the value of organization or political process” (3).
• “The key was to organize the two groups of conservatives and educate the intuitive conservatives in the methods available to effect change and of the necessity for doing so” (3).
• So if you want to reform a church or association or convention to glorify God, you should work toward being known, getting organized, and knowing politics.
• He spoke of denominational officers and leaders who were supposed to be serving local churches but instead served fellow “elite” denominational leaders on various levels (5).