SBC won’t urge public school pullout; end BWA ties

SBC won’t urge public school pullout; messengers nix name change study, end BWA ties

Debates in Indy show conservative

don’t march in lockstep on secondary issues.

INDIANAPOLIS–More than 8,600 messengers to the June 13-14 annual meeting in Indianapolis dispelled any notion that Southern Baptists march in lockstep now that conservatives lead the largest non-Catholic denomination. Over two days, messengers:

>voted overwhelmingly to sever ties with the 211-member Baptist World Alliance due to objectionable theological differences that indicate “a continual leftward drift,” according to BWA study committee member Paige Patterson of Fort Worth. The allocation of funds to BWA will be honored for the current budget year;

>agreed by a margin of 63.5 to 36.5 percent to an Executive Committee recommendation requesting New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary amend its charter to “name the Southern Baptist Convention as the sole member” and thereby “clarifying the messengers’ historic rights and giving the Convention legal immunity,” and

>in a very close vote, rejected an idea floated by Plano pastor Jack Graham to study whether to change the denomination’s name.

>refused to amend the SBC Resolutions Committee report to include a widely publicized call for parents to remove their children from what two laymen described as “godless” government schools;

>and elected a new president, Bobby Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church of Daytona, Fla.

Virginian T. C. Pinckney and Texan Bruce Shortt drew widespread secular media attention weeks before the convention meeting when they publicized their proposed resolution urging a Christian exodus from public schools. The Resolutions Committee chose not to recommend any proposals on education, noting the convention had passed 11 resolutions on education in the last 19 years, pronouncing its support for public, private and home schooling.

Chairman Calvin Wittman of Colorado said the Resolutions Committee believes “this is a responsibility that God has given to the parents of each individual child, and we encourage parents to exercise that God-given responsibility.” He added, “We must be careful as a denomination not to usurp the authority that God has placed firmly in the home.”

The conservative variation on “unity in diversity” demonstrated a common commitment to the authority of God’s word for faith and practice while offering different perspectives on new issues put forth for debate. Even this year’s presidential election featured a last minute alternative candidate who received 20.3 percent of the vote against Welch, whose nomination was announced last summer.

Also elected were Gerald Davidson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arnold, MO., as first vice president and David Young Hwan Gill, pastor of Concord Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif., as second vice president. Re-elected were Recording Secretary John L. Yeats, editor of the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger, and Registration Secretary Jim Wells, director of missions for Tri-County Baptist Association in Ozark, Mo. The five officers represent the regional diversity of the SBC, including Southern Baptists from California, Oklahoma, Missouri and Florida.

Twenty-five years ago the SBC began a conservative resurgence that, in the words of a resolution honoring the anniversary, “led our beloved Southern Baptist Convention back to its original foundations, rooted in and committed to Jesus Christ and to the Scriptures as the inspired and inerrant Word of God.”

With appreciation expressed to “those elected and employed leaders who now effectively maintain a Christ-centered emphasis in life and work” of the SBC, it came as a surprise to critical onlookers when several key issues led to spirited debate that required extension of time allotted for business.

Still, the unity of purpose was clearly demonstrated during the International Mission Board report on Tuesday evening as the capacity crowd rose on four occasions to applaud record-setting financial support and risk-taking missionary service. Carrie McDonnall, the lone survivor of an attack that killed her husband and three other workers in Iraq, received a standing ovation at the beginning and end of her brief testimony.

When SBC President Jack Graham urged Southern Baptists to step up to the assignment to evangelize, wise up by thinking biblically and living truthfully, speak up on moral issues such as same-sex marriage and gear up to preserve and protect God’s territory, the audience frequently applauded.

In an introduction of President George W. Bush–who spoke to messengers on a live video feed–Graham praised the fellow Texan’s “strong and courageous appeal to our shared values of the sanctity of life, moral responsibility, individual freedom and personal faith that provides us all with hope and encouragement.”

Messengers rose with cheering affirmation when Bush appeared on projection screens and offered applause at least 19 times in the brief speech.  The strongest responses came when the President called for passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment, respect for the sanctity of marriage and an end to partial-birth abortion.

In his convention sermon, Alabama pastor Steve Gaines said America is hungry for a greater emphasis on authentic, prophetic preaching and weary of other aspects of some contemporary churches.  “I think America is fed up with drama skits, coffee talks, interpretive dances, operatic cantatas, operatic Frankenstein music [and] pop psychology sessions from the pulpit.”

Numerous references to the importance of encouraging voter registration and participation in upcoming elections surfaced throughout the meeting.  The ERLC emphasis known as iVoteValues drew attention through a semi-trailer truck debuted on the exhibit floor that will carry the message across the country.

Expressions of concern regarding the SBC came from a number of speakers. Newly-elected SBC president Bobby Welch called for a recommitment to evangelism and SBC executive Committee President Morris Chapman warned Southern Baptists not to fall into the error of Pharisaism.

“Could we ever, while priding ourselves on orthodox beliefs, be out of fellowship with the Living God and the true saints of God? The threat is real,” Chapman stated.

“It is the sin of Pharisaism when good people, whose theology and ministry are above reproach, are slandered, discredited or ostracized simply because they refuse to blindly follow particular political posturing.” Chapman added, “Innuendos, unfounded rumors, sly winks and nods are as deadly as an assassin’s bullet and usually as ungodly.”

Lifeway Christian Resources President James T. Draper spoke of the decline in baptisms and lack of involvement among younger ministers in leadership as two significant challenges that the SBC faces.

Annual sessions were once marked by caustic debate requiring ballots to count divided votes. More recently the SBC transitioned to unopposed presidential candidates and abbreviated business sessions where messengers uniformly raised ballots demonstrating approval.  The series of unpredictably divided votes at this year’s meeting dispelled moderate claims that messengers were under the spell of influential leaders who called the shots.

Still, when several SBC leaders offered honest assessments of disconcerting trends—declines in stateside baptisms and dwindling denominational interest among young adults—moderate editorial writers snatched the opportunity to spin the meeting in a negative light.

Routine motions recommending the next year’s budget and new committee assignments sailed through without question. Messengers approved the 2004-05 SBC Operating Budget of $7,975,000 and SBC cooperative Program Allocation Budget of $183,201,694.

They also approved an amended ministry statement allowing the Annuity Board to serve other evangelical ministry organizations and change its name to GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention pending a second vote next year. The SBC Calendar of Activities was approved through 2006.

Texans approved for various assignments include: Randy White of Katy and Wayne Lee of Southlake to next year’s Committee on Nominations; Jim Caldwell of Plano as Annuity Board trustee; Louis A Moore of Garland and Bob Graham of Cleburne as International Mission Board trustees; IMB trustees Skeet Workman of Lubbock and A. C. Halsell of Plano were re-elected.

Also re-elected were LifeWay trustee Rocky C. Weatherford of Trinidad; John Mark Caton of Coppell, Sandy Killebrew of Lubbock, Geoffrey M. Kolander of Amarillo and Stacy W. Taylor of Houston as Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees; Penna C. Dexter of Plano as Ethics & Religious Liberty commission trustee and Bruce G. Coe of San Antonio to the Committee on Order of Business.

Of the 29 motions introduced from the floor in Indianapolis, four were made by Texans, including:

> Stephen Parks of Lufkin presenting a motion celebrating associational ministries in 2007 that was referred to North American Mission Board.

> Claude Thomas of Euless seeking the creation of a committee to study the name of the SBC. After considerable debate, messengers turned down the request by a vote of 55.4 to 44.6 percent.

> Ed Ethridge of Irving asking that 2005 be designated as Southern Baptist year of the Bible and that LifeWay produce materials to help in fulfilling the Great Commission. The motion was referred to LifeWay for further study.

> Bruce Shortt of Spring, seeking to amend the Resolutions Committee report in order to urge Christian parents to give children a Christian education.

Other motions that were referred to appropriate SBC entities for consideration included:

> asking NAMB to assist in creating Good News Clubs in public elementary schools;

> amending SBC Bylaw 11 to refer to Roberts Rules of Order, Newly Revised,

> asking the Executive Committee to study SBC ministries to single adults,

> seeking study by a committee of hearing-impaired, visually-impaired and physically disabled messengers to assist in logistical planning at the annual meeting

> asking all SBC entities to comply with a federal law requiring companies establish a system for employees to anonymously report financial misdeeds;

> asking state conventions to provide a good faith estimate as to when they will begin to divide Cooperative Program gifts equally between state convention ministries and SBC ministries as originally intended;

>asking that more time be scheduled for business in future meetings;

> asking that the text of proposed resolutions be published no later than the first day, part two of the SBC Bulletin;

> asking the Executive Committee to adopt sole membership at its next scheduled meeting in time for approval at next year’s annual meeting;

> studying trustee orientation and education;

> moving college campus ministries from LifeWay to NAMB,

> boycotting Carnival Cruise Lines for promoting gay cruises and requesting the Annuity Board to divest any holdings in Carnival,

> instructing the ERLC president to produce and promote a comprehensive resource on domestic and foreign adoptions of children; and

> asking the SBC to state that local church ordination is not required for service as a military chaplain and that qualified men and women be endorsed.

Motions ruled out of order addressed child abuse, seminary ministry to international students, commendation of Walt Disney Pictures for releasing “America’s Heart and Soul,” commending the work of Vision America, reinstatement of an IMB Office of International Outreach, opposition to killing babies under any circumstance and keeping the King James Bible preeminent in churches and curriculum.

The Southern Baptist convention is a voluntary association of 43,000 affiliated churches having 16.3 million members representing all 50 states.

With Baptist Press reporting by Keith Hinson, Michael Foust, Tom Strode, Chris Turner, David Roach and Jeff Robinson.