Passing motions at SBC tough sell

Getting a motion passed from the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting is an uphill battle. Convention bylaws stipulate motions that deal with the internal operations or ministries of an SBC entity must be automatically referred for consideration by that entity, which then reports its decision at the next year’s annual meeting.

The man who wrote the book on Baptist polity–former Baptist Sunday School Board president James Sullivan–said the wisdom of this procedure can be understood when it is remembered that occasionally, motions have been made from the floor of the conventions that have dealt with matters already under study or consideration by the trustees of an institution.

“For the Convention, not having all details in hand, to try to deal with complex situations would probably intensify the problem and slow down an ultimate, satisfactory solution.”

The number or motions introduced from the floor of the convention settled down to about a dozen in 2002 but grew to a record number of 29 proposals in 2004, 24 in 2005 and 25 in 2006.

While most proposals end up being referred to an SBC entity, many of the suggestions made by messengers are accepted favorably and lead to the development of ministry initiatives or changes.

Here are a few proposals offered last year that led to changes or recommendations this year:
• A request to improve physical accessibility accommodations at the annual meeting led to this year’s Local Arrangements Committee adding a subcommittee to consider those needs.
• This year’s Committee on Order of Business considered a call for 15 minutes of praise, confession and prayer during the annual meeting.
• A call for an administrative expense analysis of SBC entities led the SBC Executive Committee to ask trustees of the boards to be mindful of fiscal responsibility and stewardship and recommend revisions to strengthen the SBC Business and Financial Plan relating to audits, administrative expenses and business procedures. The EC declined to recommend the proposed analysis, feeling that would “usurp the role or invade the province of trustees.”
• Calls for study regarding the influence of Calvinism, unregenerate church membership and the emerging church movement may be undertaken if this year’s messengers approve an EC recommendation to reinstate the research-related SBC ministry assignment to LifeWay Christian Resources.
• An EC statement drafted in February suggests trustees do well when guided by the Baptist Faith and Message in crafting doctrinal policies. They stopped short of recommending Texan Boyd Luter’s proposal that messengers vote on any doctrinal position or practical policy adopted by an SBC entity that goes beyond or seeks to explain the explicit language in the BF&M. (See related article by David Roach on Luter’s motion in this issue of the TEXAN.)

Ryan Johnson of Birmingham, Ala., initially called for a study of the emerging church movement, fearful that some Southern Baptist leaders “are drifting dangerously close to identifying the SBC with this movement.”

Johnson told the TEXAN he has come to believe the North American Mission Board and Southern Baptist seminaries are equipping Southern Baptists with both the doctrine and methodology to reach the culture and re-establish the church’s witness.

“I am confident that LifeWay will put the right people on the case to research it,” Johnson said, expressing gratitude that the matter is being addressed.

Following a vote calling for LifeWay to examine these issues, Executive Committee member Roger Moran of Missouri charged that the Acts 29 Network of churches, which has hosted meetings at which Southern Baptists have spoken, encourages lax attitudes toward sinful behavior in order to gain a hearing among unbelievers.

Moran argued that because some of the network’s churches have allegedly sponsored meetings at pubs to facilitate theological discussions, presented what he said were R-rated movies during film nights to address ethical concerns, and hosted poker nights as fellowship, Southern Baptists, by any association with the network, are nurturing the “fleshly nature of our people.”

Regarding the call for a study of the influence of Calvinism, John S. Connell of Georgia told the TEXAN of his concern that “the Calvinistic cauldron is already boiling in Southern Baptist churches” and if not addressed will cause the SBC to explode within 10 to 15 years.

Connell shared a manuscript he wrote on the subject with EC members and convention officers, as well as seminary presidents, in which he warned that Calvinism would ultimately destroy the greatest mission program in the world.

Another motion that prompted further study asked GuideStone Financial Resources to consider allowing members of SBC churches to participate in their financial and insurance products. GuideStone will report this year that such a study is underway.

CONCERN ALREADY ADDRESSED
Sometimes SBC entities respond to a referred motion by stating that the desired action is already being taken, as happened in these cases:
• NAMB trustees declined to employ a disabled person in order to raise disability awareness by SBC churches, stating their own sensitivity and inclusiveness toward those with disabilities and the lack of ministry assignment in this area of local church policy.
• Jerilyn Leverett of Wesleyan Drive Baptist Church, Macon, Ga expressed gratitude for the subcommittee and regret that NAMB had not devoted more energy to the 95 percent of disabled persons who do not attend church. “There needs to be a coordinated missions emphasis utilizing people with disabilities,” she said, to reach people with disabilities so they in turn can serve through their local churches.
• When one messenger shared his concern that Cooperative Program giving has been presented as “the only legitimate way to determine if a church or pastor is genuinely mission minded,” the Executive Committee explained that reporting in the Annual Church Profile currently includes a category reporting total mission expenditures of each church. While G. Wayne Dorsett was not surprised that ACP reports include that information, he remains concerned that CP giving is the only criterion for considering candidates for SBC offices and trustee posts.
• Last year a Lufkin pastor proposed that the Executive Committee develop a plan of action in the event that a disaster prevents the annual meeting from being held. According the Article XI of the SBC Constitution, such provision has already been made.
• Similarly, a call by a Texas pastor to amend bylaws to require convention officers to be chosen from churches that give 10 percent through the Cooperative Program and the local Baptist association was regarded by the Executive Committee as having been addressed. Last year messengers voted to remove a similar stipulation from the Ad Hoc Cooperative Program Committee’s final report, while embracing other initiatives to heighten CP giving.
• A messenger asking that a LifeWay store be opened in Phoenix was told that the city remains a potential site.
• After a messenger asked for a committee to be appointed to examine how IMB and NAMB might work in greater partnership, both entities responded that such a mechanism for cooperative work already exists through the Inter-Missions Council that meets regularly throughout the year.
• A call for an external audit of all funds handled by the IMB Central Asia Region for the years 1999-2005 was rejected after being referred to IMB trustees who concluded appropriate action was taken in 2004 following both an audit and supplemental procedures accomplished by a qualified CPA.

But Texan Ron McGowin express dissatisfaction with the response, raising questions about the amount actually embezzled and the efforts to return funds to the region. He also questioned the limitation of the audit to a smaller time-span than the 1999-2005 period called for in the motion.

ACTION NOT NEEDED

Several messengers appealed for changes that the Executive Committee rejected.
• A call for the Committee on Nominations to appoint at least one pastor under the age of 40 to committees and boards was declined. The EC noted that trustees under age 40 are regularly appointed for service “without regard to their age, gender or ethnicity.”
• A call for a comprehensive study of the makeup and function of all SBC entity boards was declined, noting that such information is included in the 2006 SBC annual and in governing documents available online. EC staff agreed to compile the information for a chart in the SBC Book of Reports.

Just because an SBC entity doesn’t think an idea merits consideration doesn’t mean a messenger won’t urge an action that overrules or limits an SBC entity. Repeated calls have been made in recent years to give immediate consideration to a matter if sought by a simple majority of the messengers instead of the two-thirds now required.

A similar call has been made repeatedly to allow a simple majority of messengers to consider a resolution that was not brought to the floor by the Resolutions Committee.

The Executive Committee argues that such issues “should be sufficiently compelling to sustain the two-thirds vote required to preempt the referrals normally made to the entities involved” in the case of motions to bring out of committee a resolution not introduced by the committee assigned to consider it.

Rodney Albert of Missouri said the two-thirds majority requirement has the potential of thwarting the will of the majority. Believing the Executive Committee is “more inclined to dispose of these matters than to understand them,” Albert expressed disappointment that greater concern is not shown in protecting “the right of the majority” on either a motion or a resolution.

Another effort was rejected that called for amending the bylaws so that trustees serve a single seven-year term.

“We are ignoring a huge talent pool…when we continue to allow the repetitious service of policy makers” through renewed terms of service, said Barrett M. Lampp of Florida.

Messenger Wiley Drake of California remains dissatisfied with the Executive Committee’s refusal to recommend his repeated calls for allowing the submission of resolutions by messengers on the first day of the annual meeting. The EC said the current deadline of 15 days before the convention provides for thoughtful deliberation by the Resolutions Committee. Drake told the TEXAN he will again call for this change at this year’s convention meeting.

Two of last year’s proposed motions prompted spirited debate before being referred—one calling for an investigation of the IMB for allegations of impropriety and the other asking the 2008 annual meeting to be moved to hurricane-stricken New Orleans.

An Oklahoma messenger called for the EC to appoint a committee to investigate what he alleged was impropriety among IMB trustees. He deferred to SBC President Bobby Welch’s suggestion that the matter first be given consideration by an internal IMB committee.

IMB trustees responded last January by approving without dissent a report presented by their executive committee in consultation with executive staff. Trustees did not address fellow trustee Wade Burleson’s charge that the nominating process for appointment of trustees had been manipulated or that undue influence by outside SBC agency heads had occurred, finding those requests outside their authority—a point which Burleson later cited as a reason for his initial call to have an outside committee conduct the investigation.

The IMB response noted their prerogative and responsibility to further define parameters of doctrinal beliefs and practices beyond the BF&M for missionaries who serve Southern Baptists.

David Crosby of New Orleans told the TEXAN that the SBC fails to understand the “wonderful mission opportunity and powerful witness they could have by immediately scheduling our annual meeting in New Orleans.” While larger secular conventions are making the city a destination, Crosby said the SBC postpones selection of that site “because we are still in recovery.”

The EC estimated that breaking contractual agreements with the city of Indianapolis would cost the SBC approximately half a million dollars and questioned whether the city could accommodate the large crowd.

Crosby countered by citing the tens of thousands of Southern Baptists who have endured inconveniences by “sleeping on cots and eating bologna sandwiches” in order to share the gospel “with powerful words and deeds.”

As messengers hear reports from the SBC entities to which last year’s motions were referred, they will have an opportunity to question the decisions that were made and even call for the original motion’s reconsideration if two-thirds of the messengers agree.

In his book on Baptist polity, James Sullivan praised the fairness shown each messenger even during years when spirited debate was commonplace. “Extremisms are usually discouraged by the very process of democracy,” he wrote. “If an extremist persists in presenting prejudiced and unjustified view or making extremist motions, a deliberative body will soon recognize his off-center positions. This person will tend to lose his influence with that body.

They may vote to hear him, but they will cease to respect his views if he has moved very far from the center of the assembled constituency.”