Executive Committee, NOBTS cite initial misunderstanding over action

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October 24, 2004
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Initial perceptions by Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee staff were that New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary trustees fell short of fulfilling the request of SBC messengers during the trustees’ meeting Oct. 13.

Responding to news that NOBTS trustees believed they had fulfilled the request of messengers to adopt sole membership in the fashion and timeline set forth last June, Executive Committee staff attorney and Vice President for Convention Policy, Augie Boto, told the TEXAN: “If Dr. (Charles) Kelley and if Dr. (Tommy) French told you that, then I’m extremely pleased to hear that.”

Boto said he would need additional documentation from NOBTS to show that, because he believed the motions approved were unclear about the trustees’ full action.

Executive Committee lawyer Jim Guenther, who attended the meeting, told Baptist Press Oct. 14 the trustees’ action fell short of the SBC’s request but moved in the right direction.

Kelley, NOBTS president, told reporters the board had acted to amend its charter in compliance with the messengers’ wishes and French, the trustee chairman, contacted after the meeting, said the same thing.

“We didn’t fall short of the request. We did what they said for us to do,” French said. “The convention told us to adopt sole membership, and that’s what we did. And we did based upon what the Executive Committee gave us. We’re using not only their language, we’re using the document they gave us, except we asked our attorney to work with their attorney on a few little items, but it was not anything significant and if they objected we wouldn’t even push that.”

Kelley told reporters the trustees’ action fully fulfilled what NOBTS was asked to do. The SBC Executive Committee must approve an amended NOBTS charter to recommend to messengers at the 2005 SBC annual meeting in Nashville.