C. Barry McCarty (born 1953[1]) is an American preacher and educator who has been associated with the Southern Baptist Convention and the Christian churches and churches of Christ. McCarty is a former president of Cincinnati Christian University and the current chief parliamentarian for the Southern Baptist Convention. From January 2010 to June 2015 he was the senior pastor of Peachtree Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation, in Atlanta, Georgia. In August 2015, his 30-year relationship with the SBC culminated in changing his church affiliation to Southern Baptist and accepting a call to the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth as professor of preaching and rhetoric.[2]

Early life and education edit

Barry McCarty was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. He graduated with a BS in biblical studies and Christian ministries from Mid-Atlantic Christian University in 1975.[3][4] He later earned an MA in speech communication from Abilene Christian University in 1977 and a Ph.D. in rhetoric and argumentation from the University of Pittsburgh in 1980.[3][5]

Academia and ministry edit

McCarty returned to Mid-Atlantic Christian University in 1980, teaching preaching, rhetoric, debate, and philosophy. In 1988 he left to become the fifth president of Cincinnati Christian University.

His term was marked by record growth in admissions and balanced budgets after the college almost went bankrupt in 1986. McCarty left Cincinnati Christian University in 1993 to enter new church work, leading the Lakota Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio to grow from a small group meeting in a rented schoolhouse cafeteria to over 1000 members in only five years.[6]

McCarty received media attention in 2005 as Preaching Minister of Valley View Christian Church in Dallas, Texas, since it was the church that White House Counsel Harriet Miers attended.[7] Miers's conservative Christian views and relative judicial obscurity made her nomination to the Supreme Court controversial. McCarty supported her nomination without taking an official political position.[8][9]

McCarty was the senior pastor at Peachtree Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation in Atlanta, Georgia, prior to accepting a call to the faculty of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth.[10]

McCarty posted a controversial Twitter photo in April 2017 dressed as a hip-hop/rap artist. The post gained media attention including Black Lives Matter advocate, Shaun King. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary issued a public apology in response to media backlash.[11][12][13] The response included a message from the seminary's president, Paige Patterson.[14]

Other activities edit

McCarty has been the Chief Parliamentarian of the Southern Baptist Convention since 1986.[15]

His Parliamentary Guide for Church Leaders (Broadman & Publishers, 1987, 2012), now in a 25th Silver Anniversary Edition, has become the standard guidebook in the field of church business meetings. He is also the author of Well Said & Worth Saying: A Public Speaking Guide for Church Leaders (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1990), and Parables & Miracles: Blueprints for 30 Messages Built Upon God's Word (Standard Publishing, 1999).[16]

Personal life edit

McCarty has been married to his wife Pat since 1975. They have three adult children.

Preceded by
Harvey C. Bream, Jr
President of Cincinnati Christian University
1988—1993
Succeeded by
David Grubbs
Preceded by
none
Southern Baptist Convention Chief Parliamentarian
1986—current
Succeeded by
incumbent

References edit

  1. ^ "16240851". viaf.org. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Becoming Part of the Southern Baptist Voice to This Generation" http://www.sbclife.net/Articles/2015/09/SLA6
  3. ^ a b "Barry McCarty". LinkedIn. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  4. ^ "Roanoke_Bible_College". Docstoc.com. 2009-05-24. Archived from the original on 2012-09-11. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  5. ^ http://www.peachtree.org/peachtreefamily/resources/mccarty.pdf [permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "Center Pointe Christian Church Liberty Township, OH > About Center Pointe > Our Story". Centerpointechristian.org. Archived from the original on 2010-10-18. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  7. ^ Winner, Lauren (2005-10-14). "Harriet Miers' church". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  8. ^ "The religion of Harriet Miers, Supreme Court Justice nominee". Adherents.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2010. Retrieved 2010-12-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ "Dr. Barry McCarty Press Statement on Harriet Miers's withdrawal as a nominee to the Supreme Court". Prleap.com. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  10. ^ "Barry McCarty | Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary". Archived from the original on 2016-01-14. Retrieved 2016-01-20.
  11. ^ "SWBTS apologizes for Twitter photo | Baptist Press". 26 April 2017.
  12. ^ "Southern Baptist seminary apologizes for photo that shows Fort Worth faculty dressed as rappers". 28 April 2017.
  13. ^ "Baptist Seminary Apologizes for Faculty Members' Racist Photo". HuffPost. 26 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Racism IS a Tragic Sin – A Statement from the President of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary | Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary". Archived from the original on 2017-05-03. Retrieved 2017-05-24.
  15. ^ "SBC Annual Meeting 2006 - Southern Baptist Convention". Sbcannualmeeting.org. 2006-06-21. Retrieved 2010-12-09.
  16. ^ "C. Barry McCarty: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-12-09.