State Wrap 2008
by T. C. Pinckney Vol. XXII, No. 1, January 2009
Five Focus States (Note: This year we have dropped LA from the focus list and added MO.)
Arkansas: It seems that AR is inching slowly in the right direction. The state leadership is in the middle, bloated, and out of touch with the churches. A positive factor: CBF activity is very limited. One problem is the state paper editor. A couple of years ago he had to be instructed not to carry CBF ads. One idea being floated is to close the state paper altogether and move to online communication.
The Ouachita Baptist University trustee board is another problem in that a majority of the board is self-perpetuating, less than half being elected by state convention messengers. Thus the state convention has little influence in how funds it supplies are used. Sooner or later Arkansas Baptists must deal with this problem.
Mississippi: No improvement. All officers in the pocket of the Baptist Building. All officers theologically conservative, but will not make waves. The state Executive Director is 68, and one potential bright spot is that he may retire before too much longer. Of course then the challenge will be to hire a more conservative exec. One bit of good news is that the conservative group, Southern Baptists of Mississippi, is growing. Some 35 to 40 CBF churches in state. State unwilling to do anything about women pastors. Budget down slightly less than 2%. SBC remains at 35%.
Missouri: You may recall that last year a new MO group, Save Our Convention ... SOC, had formed and won all the elections, displacing the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association which had led MO conservatives for a number of years. This year no candidate was openly endorsed by either group, but those reputedly in sync with SOC won.
MO had the smallest attendance in 36 years, 1,058 messengers; in 1972 the total was 1,030. There were four nominees for president this year. In the first round the two leaders had 369 votes to 364. In the runoff Pastor Bruce McCoy won 404 to 387 for Rev. Danny Decker.
Messengers approved a budget of $16.3 million, down $200,000 but also endorsed an increase for the SBC from 36.25% to 36.5%.
The MBC Legal Task Force reported concerning the 7-year legal battle with the five breakaway agencies whose trustees voted to amend their charters without MBC approval, making their boards self-perpetuating. The struggle continues over the status of the Windermere Conference Center, Missouri Baptist College, the Baptist Home Retirement Center, the Missouri Baptist Foundation, and Word & Way news journal. The MBC’s appeal of a Cole County Circuit Court ruling in favor of the Windermere trustees was heard 25 November by the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals. A decision could come in early 2009. A motion to drop the lawsuits was defeated with only about 25 of some 1,000 messengers present voting for it.
North Carolina: For about 18 years NC has had four giving plans: Plan A sends 35% to the SBC CP. Plan B sends only 10% to SBC. Plan C is like B except that the 10% goes to CBF. And in Plan D, the BSCNC keeps 50%, 32% goes to the SBC, and the other 18% to Fruitland Bible Institute, church planting, and missions partnerships.
Messengers received the report of the Giving Plans Study Committee which recommended moving back to a single giving plan but with the option that a church could check a box on the remittance form to designate 10% of its gift to CBF. Considerable discussion ensued with the study committee members on the platform strongly supporting their recommendation. Finally, however, messengers voted 431 to 354 to delete the CBF option. (Of course, churches can still give to CBF simply by sending CBF a check.) After that decision the single plan recommendation was approved with only some 50 votes against it. The change takes effect with the 2010 budget.
The state Executive Board is now about 90% conservative and has a very good spirit. State officers are solidly conservative and were unopposed. This coming year for the first time the board of The Biblical Recorder, the state newspaper, will have a slight conservative majority.
Last year the NC WMU decided on their own initiative to vacate the offices they had shared with the BSCNC since 1947 and give up CP-funded support of about $400,000 annually. This year a motion recommended including $500,000 for WMU in the NC Missions Offering. It was defeated, receiving only about 10% of the vote.
Messengers approved launching three new ministries: North Carolina Baptist Aging Ministry, Embrace (a women’s ministry focussing on evangelism, discipleship, and missions), and a low interest church loan program.
Tennessee: Proceedings were uncharacteristically calm this year. The agreement last year which allows Belmont University to go its own way in return for financial reimbursement to the state convention removed one contentious issue. And the growing strength of conservatives dampens the incentive for liberals to raise issues or even attend. And of course, if it appears liberals won’t come, fewer conservatives do too. For whatever reason, this year’s 1,255 messengers were the fewest since 1974 when 1,352 attended.
Dr. James Porch, the state Executive Director, announced his retirement for August 2010. Many conservatives would like him to depart sooner. The Administrative Committee has formed a Search Committee. Depending on how the search progresses and upon agreement with Porch re finances, his departure may be sooner than August 2010. Porch has been under pressure to retire for at least a couple of years.
At the 2006 state convention messengers voted by a strong majority to add to those questions asked of prospective nominees, “Do you affirm your belief in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000?” Amendments were proposed to revise the question to apply to any of the three versions of the BFM: 1925, 1963, or 2000, but that change was soundly defeated.
This year the Committee on Boards was asked whether any of the nominees they were presenting had answered “no” to the BFM question. The Board Chairman replied that one had answered “no” and 12 wrote comments. In response to a query, he also stated that committee members had not evaluated nominees’ answers! This would appear to be a serious violation of board responsibility. The state convention had established a criterion which the board refused to apply in choosing nominees.
State Budgets
Overall Budget: Twenty-seven states increased their budgets, compared to 31 last year. Energized by continuing growth, the SBTC raised its budget 14%! Other leading increases were in LA 6.37%, DK 5.4%, CA 4.73%, and WV 4%. Five states were in the three percent range (AL, AZ, NV, UT-ID, and SBCV). The other increases ranged from 1% to 2.5%.
Twelve states (twice as many as last year) reduced their budgets with the largest cut by far being MD-DE down 12.7% followed by the BGCT down approximately 8%, PA-SJ 5.45%, BGAV 3.8%, GA 3.6%, and MI 3%. Other decreasing states, whose cuts ranged from 0.3% to 2.1%, were FL, MO, NE, NY, DC, and MN-WS. This was the fourth consecutive year of budget reduction for Minnesota-Wisconsin. WY was the only state with no change.
An interesting comparison is that the Baptist General Convention of Texas budget for 2009 is down $4,400,000, but the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention is increased $3,009,434.
SBC Contributions: Fourteen states increased the percentage going to the SBC. Three of these increases were for 1%: TX-SBTC to 55% (highest of any state), IN to 35.5%, and CA to 30%. Other increases ranged from 0.1% to 0.5%. Those giving 40% or more to the SBC in addition to TX-SBTC are: AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, MD-DE, OH, OK, SC, TN, and of course the SBCV (50%). No states decreased the SBC percentage.
As noted in the Focus States discussion, NC has just replaced its four giving plans with one united plan which sends 34% to the SBC. VA-BGAV continues to have three plans plus a church may design its own, so it is impossible to project accurately what the SBC will receive. TX-BGCT sends a form to churches on which they can indicate where 21% of their undesignated offerings should be sent, to the SBC, CBF, BGCT missions, or other causes the church specifies.
Resolution Roundup:
Of course, each state’s Resolution Committee words its own resolutions, so resolutions with a common theme may be worded quite differently. In the following summary I have combined those with overlapping topics.
Support traditional marriage; commend CA citizens for passing Proposition 8; sexual purity 7: AL, CA, CO, LA, OK, TX-SBTC, WV.
Oppose abortion; support adoption 6: AL, AR, KY, OK, SC, TX-SBTC.
Affirm Christian citizenship 6: AR, AZ, KN-NE, MI, NM, NW.
Pray for government leaders 6: IL, LA, NW, OK, TX-BGCT, WY.
Schooling 4, but these were divided among three quite different aspects of education: OH & OK encouraged parents to take more responsibility to teach their children biblical truth. CO urged Christians to engage the public school system. And TX-BGCT supported adult education.
Salvation of souls, participate in Crossover 4: DK, KY, MI, TX-SBTC.
Support out troops, honor veterans 4: NW, OH, OK, WV.
Religious liberty, against religious persecution 3: LA, SC, TX-SBTC.
No other topic was addressed by more than two state conventions.
Officers Summary: Read the following summary with care. This is a collection of judgments from one or more contacts in each state Baptist convention. Therefore, a state officer whom one person judges as conservative, someone else might term “middle” or “go-along”. And in some cases there may have been a tendency to put the best light on their state’s elections. Nevertheless, this is the best I can offer. State presidential officers (president and vice-presidents) were evaluated as:
Conservatives: 73 (My guess: likely an overstatement)
Theological conservatives: 2 (My guess: likely an understatement)
“Go-along” 1
Middle/Center/Okay 4
Liberal 6
Unknown 22
Whatever the actualities, this is far, far better than it would have been just ten years ago.
State Roster:
Let me remind readers once again that in the discussion below the terms “conservative”. “moderate”, and “liberal” refer to the individual’s denominational stance, not necessarily his theology. A theological conservative may cooperate organizationally with liberals and vice versa. though it is indeed rare for a theological liberal to cooperate with conservatives organizationally.
AL: Things are going well. The colleges all appear to be moving in a much better direction. The state board is okay with strong support for th SBC. CBF has a very insignificant presence in Alabama. The Alabama Baptist newspaper is no longer covering CBF. Samford University has been receiving $5.3 million annually from the state budget, more than any other SBC state school. But Samford has voluntarily asked for a cap on their funds and that the remainder be given to Judson College and the University of Mobile.
AK: No changes. Attendance 165 from 53 churches. State has a total of 99 churches with membership of 9.264. Problem: AK pastors tend to leave in an average of two years. Many are unhappy with remoteness, and if the pastor is not, his wife almost certainly is.
AZ: A non-controversial annual meeting. All business was completed in less than 25 minutes. At the ‘06 meeting messengers adopted a plan to increase the SBC percentage of CP gifts. In accord with that plan, the ‘09 budget increases the SBC by 0.38% to 25.88%. No visible CBF.
CA: Good news: Overwhelmingly defeated a motion to change their name from “California Southern Baptist Convention” to “Network of California Baptist Churches”. 2009 budget raised 4.73% and the SBC portion increased 1% to 30%. Bad news: Some associations take over local church property. Conservatives have formed own group. Moderates seeping back onto some boards.
CO: A quiet meeting. All officers are conservative. Six new churches welcomed. CBF floundering. No or few emergent churches. Budget increased 1.5%. SBC continued at 29.5%.
DK: Dakota messengers were met with heavy snows whipped by winds above 50 mph. Consequently, attendance was only about 75, some 40 less than last year, and the meeting concluded five hours early. DK is decentralizing state staff to 4 regions (two in each state) to improve church planting and develop leaders. DK is increasing the SBC CP percentage a half percent each year, this year to 14.5%.
DC: The DCBC is aligned with three national organizations: SBC, American Baptist Churches, and the Progressive National Baptist Convention. They consistently opposed the conservative resurgence. NAMB no longer supports DCBC. There is no known good news about DCBC. They continue to go their liberal way.
FL: In the first contested presidential election since 1999, John Cross, pastor of South Biscayne BC in North Port was elected over Richard Powell, pastor of MacGregor BC in Fort Myers by just 12 votes, 357 to 345. John Sullivan is the longest serving state executive director having begun 9 February 1999. His retirement is not set, but finding a replacement will be a major challenge.
GA: Overwhelmingly approved a policy allowing convention officials to refuse donations from individuals and churches. This policy apparently applies to FBC of Decatur which has a female pastor and is aligned with both the SBC and the CBF. The text of the new policy says it applies to “a church, organization, or donor not in cooperation and harmony with the approved work and purpose of the Convention”. In such a situation, the executive director and the administrative committee “shall review the matter and they shall have authority on behalf of the Convention to determine whether or not to accept or retain such funds or property.” Messengers received 85 new churches and missions and approved a 2009 budget of $49 million, down from $52 million in 2008.
HW: Seoul International Church became the third church to join the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, and seven new churches in Hawaii were welcomed. The new president is go-along, the 1VP is conservative, and the 2VP is moderate. Messengers approved a three-year partnership with IMB workers is West Africa. No CBF and conservative graduates of the changed SBC seminaries are being called.
IL: No CBF activity; only one pro-CBF pastor in the state. Upcoming issues are economic due to the recession. SBC was increased again, to 43.25%.
IN: The state has been re-organizing from associations to regions in the last two years as the result of the retirement of many DOMs. Celebrated the 50th anniversary of the state convention. There is at least one call per month from an American Baptist church inquiring about joining the SBC and Indiana Baptist Convention, a result of liberal issues within the ABC. Cedarville College has dropped its affiliation with the General Association of Regular Baptists and is now only associated with the SBC. Only one known CBF church in the state.
IA: There is no liberal-conservative argument in Iowa. The two known CBF churches may have left the IA convention. All officers elected by acclamation. The president is a sound conservative, 1VP is theologically conservative and is Afro-American. 2VP unknown stance. Budget is up 2% but SBC portion remains at 20%.
KN-NE: State office is moderate. but no fighting in the state. Only one CBF-giving church. The president is a middle-of-the-roader; 1VP solid conservative. Has about 400 congregations with 63,000 members.
KY: Last year messengers approved conducting all convention business in one day, and this year that policy was implemented. All officers elected by acclamation. President is conservative; the two VPs are unknowns. Budget up 2%; SBC increased 0.28% to 37.32%. Another state with an executive director who could retire at any time.
LA: There were 558 messengers from LA’s 1,592 congregations at the state meeting. All officers were elected by acclamation. The budget was increased 6.37% and the SBC’s part raised 0.45% to 35.95%. LA Baptists continue to actively support rebuilding homes destroyed by hurricane Katrina.
MD-DE: All officers elected by acclamation and all are soundly conservative. There were 28 new church starts in the last year. But MD-DE faces financial stringency. The budget was cut 12.7% though the SBC will continue to receive 41%. there are approximately 350 churches and missions in the convention.
MI: Faced by serious problems in the American auto industry, MI reduced its budget by 3% and kept the SBC at 30.5%. All officers were elected by acclamation and are sound conservatives. Some report a “rather listless” feeling in the state.
MN-WS: After a brief discussion, messengers soundly defeated a constitutional amendment that had been approved on first reading the year before. The amendment would have barred pastors of churches receiving MWBC financial assistance from serving as convention officers or executive board members. The amendment had been proposed by the administrative committee in an effort to avoid possible future conflict of interest in such situations. Charles Dunning, a member of Valley Baptist Church in Appleton and a past convention president, spoke against the amendment, comparing it to "using a large blunt instrument to solve what I consider to be a theoretical problem" which could better be handled by adding a policy to executive board guidelines. After the amendment was defeated, Dunning moved that the executive board be instructed to include in its guidelines a policy regarding voting on matters that represent a conflict of interest. Dunning's motion was approved. No CBF activity. Budget slightly lower, the fourth year of decreases. SBC continues at 13%.
MS and MO see Focus States.
MT: The conservative president and 1VP were re-elected by acclamation. No known liberals in the state. MT reorganizing around regions. 140 churches and missions. MT needs more church planters. Budget up very slightly. SBC remains at 22%.
NV: Celebrated its 30th anniversary by welcoming 9 new congregations including Filipino, Hispanic, Vietnamese, and Korean churches. NV has 201 churches and missions with more than 34,000 members. It is focussed on church plants. The new president is in the center, 1VP a sound conservative, and 2VP unknown. The budget grew 3%, and the SBC portion was increased 0.25% to 29.5% marking a continuous yearly increase ever since the state convention was founded in 1978.
NE: Both the president and VP are solid conservatives. Only 2 known CBF churches. 2009 budget down slightly and SBC stays at 21.5%.
NM: Some 481 churches and missions in the state. The president and both VPs are conservative. No liberal organizational effort. NM is a very conservative and loyal SBC state. Budget up 1.86% and SBC continues to receive 30.5% after some preferred items.
NY: New president conservative. VPs unknown. No sign of liberal activity though there are a couple of CBF churches. The SBC Executive Committee representative reported that NY led the nation in the ratio of baptisms to resident members on the past year. A definitely conservative state convention.
NC: see Focus States.
NW: President and both VPs conservative. Approved re-organization from 14 associations to 6 regional teams. Former DOMs will become part of the state team in the region. Teams will work with church leaders to develop local ministry strategies. A motion to table the recommendation was overwhelmingly defeated. Approved 21 churches for affiliation. Budget up 1.75%. SBC up 0.25% to 25.5%. Cancelled evangelism conferences in 2009 and 2010 due to declining attendance.
OH: Recognized 30 new church starts. Last year messengers approved a proposed amendment to the state constitution adding a sentence, “Among churches not in cooperation with the Convention are churches which act to affirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior, and churches which have female senior pastors.” The amendment had to be passed again in 2008. However, some messengers spoke against the amendment expressing concern about the extent to which the constitution might be used to enact other limitations on church membership in the convention. The amendment received a majority but not the require two-thirds. Officers are conservative. Budget up 1.86%. SBC remains at 40.25% Also approved was a resolution on “Parental Responsibility for Training Children in a Biblical Worldview.” While not as strong as I would prefer, it is a good step in the biblical direction. The resolve clauses read:
Therefore be it resolved, that the parents in churches affiliated with the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio are urged to thoroughly examine the content and curriculum their children are being taught; and
Be it further resolved, that we encourage and appreciate all Christian teachers who have chosen to be spiritual salt and light in the government school system; and
Be it finally resolved, that parents are urged to take specific and proactive steps in their children’s academic and spiritual education by means of several options: being an active change agent in the government school system, removing their children from public education and providing home schooling, or placing their children in Christian private schools.
[Comment: This resolution at least raises the issue. However, it fails to make the critical point that the very intent and purpose of government schools from their very beginning in the 1830s has been to remove children from the influence of their parents and the churches at as early an age as possible and train them up as obedient servants of the government. No Christian parents should ever turn over God’s next generation to those who will intentionally destroy their faith and hamper their intellectual growth. TCP]
OK: By a vote of 243 to 203 elected the first Native American president of a state Baptist convention. 1VP is okay. 2VP a sound conservative. CBF is virtually invisible if not non-existent. Budget up 2.4%. SBC stays at 40%.
PA-SJ: The new president is conservative, the VPs unknown. Interestingly an Afro-American nominated a Filipino for president. State leaders are a bit more conservative than they used to be. Church planting is quite strong and is having success with ethnic groups. Reorganization into regions begun last year is on hold. The budget is down 5.45% but SBC portion up 0.1% to 25.1%, the 18th year of SBC increases.
SC: 1,000 messengers in attendance, the least since 1953. The new president and 2VP are conservatives, the 1VP unknown. Budget increased 1% and SBC unchanged at 40.35%. CBF is a non-issue.
TN: See Focus States.
TX-BGCT: The BGCT still has some 5,600 churches affiliated but only 550 were represented his year. 1,891 messengers came, the lowest turnout since 1949. The budget is down around 8%. A shortfall of receipts caused the BGCT to reduce its 2008 budget by about $4 million. Of undesignated receipts the BGCT retains 79% and sends 21% to other causes as designated by churches. We know the BGCT is one of the more liberal state conventions, but they passed some good resolutions: Encouraged churches to support adult education; opposed gambling; encouraged members to pray for national and state elected leaders; urged churches to support churches & individuals continuing to rebuild from the hurricanes.
TX-SBTC: Celebrated their 10th anniversary. During this decade the SBTC has funded nearly 400 new church starts. Now has 2,079 affiliated churches, 111 more than last year. so a new church joins on average about every three days. In contrast to the BGCT 8% budget cut, the SBTC increased budget 14%. The SBC allotment was raised another 1% to 55%, the highest percentage of any state convention. Not surprisingly, al officers are strong conservatives, biblically and denominationally. Indeed, Conservative Resurgence leader Paul Pressler nominated the young preacher who was elected 1VP.
UT-ID: All three officers are conservatives, and the 2VP is Hispanic. The budget was increased 3.09% and the SBC portion is unchanged at 21.5%. Three new churches were welcomed making a total of 157. The new executive director is solid. There is no liberal activity. UT-ID is organized into 11 associations that minister in 11 languages.
VA-SBCV: See the Nov/Dec ‘08 Baptist Banner.
VA-BGAV: True to liberal form the BGAV had Tony Campolo as one of its speakers, and true to form Campolo opposed Proposition 8 in California which outlawed homosexual marriage. Messengers approved a 2009 budget of $13.8 million, $500,000 or 3.5% less than 2008. (For comparison, the 2009 SBCV budget is 3.3% higher than 2008.)
Churches are offered three budget tracks, or they may custom design their own.
Track % BGAV % to Others # of churches % of churches % of receipts
WM1 66% 34% SBC 297 20.7% 27.06%
WM2 72% 28% SBC & CBF & VA 576 40.2% 30.00%
WM3 72% 28% CBF 104 7.3% 11.61%
custom designed 256 17.9% 31.51%
gave nothing 199 13.9%
1,432
Messengers adopted a constitutional amendment which establishes new criteria for affiliation, requiring a minimum contribution of $500 a year from every church. Previously any amount would qualify a church to send one messenger to the annual meeting. (Note: This does not affect a church’s relationship to the SBC.) Last year 200 churches contributed less than $500 and 199 gave nothing.
WV: Added 6 new churches. All three presidential officers were re-elected by acclamation. All are conservative. Increased the budget 4% and continued SBC at 38%. Adopted a resolution urging a WV constitutional amendment to prohibit homosexual marriage.
WY: The three presidential officers are conservatives. About 93 churches in the state. Budget and SBC part remain the same. Have planted a “set free” church specifically designed for post-imprisonment and/or post-drug/alcohol individuals.