Having spent 40 years on the "professional" side of the Baptist world -- as pastor, journalist, and professor -- I've seen my share of "Buzzard Baptists" -- the sort of folks who seem to enjoy dragging up things that stink, flocking around, and generally making life miserable for those who are more interested in congregational life and health.

Any church that's been around long enough to go through a couple of growth cycles and several pastors is likely to have a few vultures on the roll: they hold to the vision of a former golden age -- which has probably grown far better with the telling than it ever really was -- and prefer to pick over the past than to participate in the present.