How Donald Trump is highlighting divisions among Southern Baptists

• Old guard Southern Baptists and the Protestant denomination’s younger generation leaders clashed over Donald Trump.
• Is division a new thing for Southern Baptists? No way.
• The Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting is June 13-14 in Phoenix.

Ask a historian about the newest tensions in the Southern Baptist Convention, and you'll hear words like theology, polity and methodology.

Dig a little deeper into those tensions, closer to the congregational level, and you'll hear words like evangelism, missions and morality.

Should there be an altar call after every service?

Should the congregation be led by a dominant CEO-type pastor or a clergy-lay partnership?

Should a presidential candidate's party affiliation or political views trump flaws in his or her moral character?

Those are some of the pulpit-and-pew level tensions straining the faith, fellowship and funding in the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.

Those tensions — racial, sectional, but mostly generational — have been forming for more than a decade, thanks in large part to the rise of social media and millennials, and will be on full display this week when the convention holds its annual meeting in Phoenix.

They flared considerably — and publicly — during last year's presidential campaign when old guard Southern Baptist leaders like Richard Land and new generation leaders like Russell Moore began to clash over Donald Trump.

► Related:Russell Moore, Frank Page unite in wake of Baptist controversy over Trump

It was the first time that had happened since conservative, nondenominational Ronald Reagan faced moderate Southern Baptist Jimmy Carter in 1980.

“Barack Obama didn’t divide us,” said Nathan A. Finn, dean of the School of Theology and Missions at Union University, a Southern Baptist college in Jackson, Tenn.

"Donald Trump divided us. His personal behavior, his policy views, his temperament and character, his religious values, all were highly questionable."

Some think Trump deserves a chance, Finn said. His policy views, especially on abortion, are close enough to those Southern Baptists hold. Plus, supporting Trump lets Southern Baptists keep their seat at the table.

But others believe they don’t need to be at the table, Finn said. It’s partisan politics, not morality and integrity, being served up.   

"Trump's candidacy, and now his presidency, are causing us to consider whether we are just a chaplain for the Republican Party or do we have a prophetic role to play for both parties?" Finn said.

Moore, the president of the convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the public face of the network of churches, emerged as a consistent, vocal critic of Trump, even sparring with the candidate on Twitter. Moore issued post-election apologies for his approach, but not his positions.

► More:Trump taps outgoing Southern Baptist head for religious board

Land, who is Moore’s predecessor and now the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary, joined Trump’s evangelical advisory board and marveled at the access to the incoming administration.

Stretched across the divide

Finn's office in Jackson, Tenn., is between Nashville and Memphis — between Moore's office at the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and SBC President Steve Gaines' office at Bellevue Baptist Church.

That's where Finn, now a leading Southern Baptist historian, finds himself, not just geographically but generationally.

► More:Should Trump's win change how conservative Christians engage politically?

"I'm a member of Generation X, the generation between the older 'resurgence generation' and the younger millennials," Finn said. "In some ways I am like each of them.

"To the older generation of Southern Baptists, there are issues that are non-negotiable, that are worth fighting for," Finn said. "Those are important issues to younger Southern Baptists, and they are worth discussing, but we can disagree on them and still work together."

► More:White evangelicals stand with Donald Trump, surveys say

Southern Baptists unite around core doctrine and mission, but the division comes from disagreements on secondary issues, said Jon Akin, the new director of young leader engagement for the Southern Baptist-supported North American Mission Board.

The immediacy of social media exacerbated those differences during the recent election cycle, he said.

“The thing that we need in each election cycle is to be able to work through those things, through those convictions," said Akin, who helped found Baptist21, a group of younger Southern Baptist ministers who explore church-related issues, including the need for a clear division between their Protestant denomination and the GOP.

"Be a part of the political process, but also unite around the things that we can all agree on.”

That was the gist of an open letter Finn and Akin, along with Pastor Micah Fries of Chattanooga, wrote last year.

They called on Southern Baptist leadership to be the "statesmen we need them to be in this season of denominational tension."

"When that letter came out, people accused us of being on one side or the other,” Fries said in an interview. “But our intent was to say to both sides, ‘We agree on far too much and far too many issues’ and to pursue cooperation."

'We don't always agree'

Calls for unity rose post-election as did criticism of Moore’s posture toward Trump. Questions were raised about whether Moore’s job was at risk. Moore says it wasn’t and he has the support of his trustees.

► More:Russell Moore receives support, talks Baptist controversy over Trump

"The Southern Baptist Convention is ultimately a close-knit family," Moore said in an interview. "We love each other and we work together. We don’t always agree on everything."

But the disagreements are serious, have the attention of leadership and could pose a financial threat to the Southern Baptist Convention, which unlike some other denominations is a network of independent churches.

► More:What Southern Baptists were told about religious right's political future

Several Southern Baptist churches across the country pulled or threatened to withhold the contributions to the denomination’s Cooperative Program, the convention’s funding mechanism for state and national initiatives.

A Texas church led by Pastor Jack Graham, the former president of the convention, resumed contributions soon after Moore met with Frank Page, the president of the Executive Committee, an SBC advisory board, and the pair issued a joint statement for unity.

Graham, who is a member of Trump’s evangelical executive advisory board with Land, had said Prestonwood Baptist Church was withholding funds over concerns for the future of the denomination.

A Tennessee church continues to withhold its contributions and will vote after the annual meeting on whether to resume. 

First Baptist Church of Morristown’s decision was prompted by the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the International Mission Board signing a legal brief supporting construction of a New Jersey mosque.

First Baptist Church of Morristown Pastor Dean Haun told the USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee that signing the legal brief violated scriptural authority and created an "unholy alliance." 

"I think our church is really just wanting to make sure that we don’t compromise the word of God," Haun said. "If we feel like the Convention has gotten their house in order, we feel like we can cooperate again."

The Executive Committee decided to study how many churches are holding back their funds and why they’re doing it.

That report is due in September, but the committee will receive an update before the annual meeting. 

A history of why there's tension

Finn was born in 1979, the year doctrinal and social conservatives began to reassert themselves in the denomination's power structures.

Conservatives believed the nation's largest association of Protestants had gotten caught in the cultural currents of the 1960s and 1970s and drifted too far from biblical moorings.

In 1979, they set out to right the ship by electing Adrian Rogers, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, as the first in a now unbroken line of conservative SBC presidents.

► More:Can evangelicals ignore Trump, Clinton character flaws?

Rogers, for decades the face and voice of the Southern Baptist Convention, became the George Washington of the conservative resurgence. Some call it a fundamentalist takeover.

He and his conservative successors controlled appointments to the boards of SBC colleges, seminaries and agencies.

Over the course of the next two decades, they set a direct course for doctrinal fidelity by purging theological and social moderates from all leadership positions.

The resurgence culminated in 2000, when the SBC made historic revisions in the confession of faith, known formally as the Baptist Faith & Message.

"We needed to clarify that the Bible is not merely the record of God's revelation but is itself God's revealed word in written form," Rogers, who led the historic revision, explained in 2000.

The revision helped the resurgence become institutionalized.

Now, younger Southern Baptists are questioning the institution's policies and priorities, especially since the SBC has seen an overall decline in baptisms every year since 2000.

"Some people feel like the days are dim for the future of our convention — baptisms are down, missionaries are coming home and churches are closing," Jimmy Scroggins, pastor of First Baptist Church in West Palm Beach, Fla., said at last year's Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis.

Scroggins was nominating J.D. Greear, a 43-year-old pastor from Durham, N.C., to become the SBC's next president.

Gaines, the 58-year-old pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, was the other leading candidate.

"We have to get younger and more diverse," Scroggins said.

But after a second ballot proved inconclusive, Greear withdrew from the contest and Gaines was elected by acclamation.

► More:Theologian calls election cycle 'dumpster fire,' finds silver lining

"We exist as a convention of churches because we believe that we can do more together than we can do apart," Greear told the convention.

Politics and baptisms 

While Moore acknowledges generational division, he pointed to the SBC election as an example of just how connected Southern Baptists are across age groups. Moore expects Gaines to win a second term in Phoenix.

"It ended up with those two solidly supporting each other and moving forward with a great deal of goodwill," Moore said.

But Moore says politics is not the primary issue on the minds of Southern Baptists. Increasing baptism rates and being the church for changing cultural times are the biggest concerns he hears.

"Most of sort of the outside media world focuses inordinately on political questions because that’s what’s at the forefront of sort of the conversation bubble of America right now," Moore said. "But that’s really not what most Baptists are talking about right now."

Gaines grew up in Dyersburg, Tenn., played football at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and met his Memphis-born wife at Union University. His son, Grant, is pastor of Calvary Baptist in Jackson.

West Tennessee isn't just his home. It's his mission field.

"Our mission isn't that complicated," he said. "Love God. Love people. Share Jesus. Make disciples. Everything else is secondary."

► More:New faith group gives evangelicals a voice in political process

Gaines has been senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church since Rogers retired in 2005. Bellevue is one of the SBC's largest congregations and arguably its most influential.

Over the years, its legendary senior pastors — R.G. Lee, Ramsey Pollard and Adrian Rogers — have served eight terms as SBC president.

Gaines made it nine.

"I don't see myself as a Republican or a Democrat," he said. "As Dr. Rogers used to say, I try to stay far away enough from each so I can preach to both."

Gaines doesn't believe the intergenerational tensions are any greater than they were in the 1960s. And he doesn't think the political or cultural tensions are any greater than they were during the Reagan or Clinton years.

"The internet and social media make it seem that way, but the church has always reflected the times," he said. "We live in challenging times, but I have great hope in the younger generation."

Reach David Waters at waters@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2377 and on Twitter @DavidWatersCA. Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer. Reach Amy McRary @amy.mcrary@knoxnews.com or 865-342-6437 and on Twitter @KNSAmyMc.