BGAV or SBCV?

by T. C. Pinckney                                                                                           Vol. XVIII, No. 4, April 2005

It should come as no surprise to any Virginia Baptist that the Baptist General Association of Virginia persists in its determined opposition to the Southern Baptist Convention. This article will draw heavily on two recent publications and offer some closing comments on the facts and views they present.

The most recent of our sources is an article on page 3 of the 3 March 2005 Religious Herald by Robert Dilday, interim editor. Titled “Crossing Borders” Dilday’s article reports that First Baptist Church of Rome, GA, and two other Georgia churches are considering ending affiliation with the Georgia Baptist convention and joining the BGAV.

[First, Rome, decided 13 March, to leave the GBC and join the BGAV by a vote of 321 to 16. Their announcement on their website includes the following sentence, “The Rome church is already a strong supporter of another organization of congregations, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.”]

The Georgia Baptist convention has for several years moved increasingly conservative doctrinally and is strongly aligned with the SBC. In contrast, First Baptist, Rome, ordains women deacons and supports the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Dilday’s article quotes Dr. Joel Snider, pastor of First Baptist, as saying, “In looking at our options, we found the BGAV’s principles are very much like our own.”

A second Georgia church evaluating BGAV affiliation is North Broad Baptist, also in Rome, which has a husband and wife as pastor and associate pastor respectively. Regarding the third church, First Baptist, Dalton, no reason for possible re-affiliation was given other than they had joined a BGAV mission project to Brazil last year. The pastors of the last two churches previously served churches in Virginia.

The second source is the December 2004 issue of the Evangelical Forum Newsletter, edited by Jeffrey T. Riddle, pastor, Jefferson Park B. C., Charlottesville. Riddle reports his observations of the BGAV annual meeting. Herewith some excerpts:

“The gathering offered another entertainment-based format that limited any sustained or serious discussion by the messengers on substantive issues. The leadership also patted itself on the back for its ‘reality-based’ budget. In other words, self-congratulations were said to be in order for the decision to stop spending at a rate out of all proportion to giving. ...”

“The BGAV leadership continued its lockstep march to the left, with several knee-jerk reactions to the SBC bogey man. Most notable was the move toward full membership in the Baptist World Alliance (BWA). Sadly, no question was raised from the floor by the messengers as to whether or not the SBC might have some legitimate gripes about the alleged liberalism of the BWA. [To provide BWA funds] the WM-2 allocation for the International Mission Board (IMB) was decreased to just 17.43% and the allocation for the BWA increased to 10%. When the WM2 track was started in 1992, it was allocated 45% to the IMB and just 1.65% to the BWA.”

“Also passing without controversy was the decision to retain Averett University in the 2005 BGAV budget ($150,000) despite recent controversy over outspoken advocacy of homosexual behavior by the chairman of the Averett Religion Department (see the June 2003 EFN). These funds are to be escrowed until Averett and the Mission Board arrive at a plan as to how they might be used for training bi-vocational pastors at Averett. The plan of the BGAV leadership seems to be to remove controversial matters from the annual meeting of messengers and insulate them within the smaller Mission Board. No one raised any question from the floor challenging this process or asking why Averett might be considered trustworthy in training ministers if it has apparently failed in forming an evangelical Religion Department for training impressionable undergraduates.

If there is any noticeable trend in the giving of BGAV churches it is that more of them are choosing to bypass the tracks designed by the Budget Committee (WM1, 2, and 3) in favor of creating their own customized “Individual Church Design.” In 2003, 281 churches chose this option and their combined giving was over $2.5 million (22% of total giving). In 2004 the number of churches who have opted out of the liberal leaning BGAV budget tracks has risen to 295 with combined giving of over $3.3 million (32% of total giving). Though the Treasurer has offered no analysis of this trend, it seems likely that most of the churches that have chosen to design their own plans have done so in order to avoid support for liberal causes (BWA, BTSR, Leland, Averett, etc.) in the BGAV budget and increase support for traditional SBC ministries.

“So, what are evangelical, SBC churches, pastors, and laymen to do who remain in the BGAV? Many feel that it is past time to abandon the BGAV and affiliate with the SBCV which continues to grow and offer programs and services that are more in harmony with the spirit of doctrinally traditional churches. Many churches will, no doubt, consider dual affiliation. For those who remain related to the BGAV alone, it certainly makes sense to join the 295 churches in Virginia that have chosen a customized budget plan. A customized plan allows the church positively to designate more money to SBC causes and negatively to remove support for liberal causes.”

Commentary: So, what does one make from all this?

First, the BGAV’s liberal stance is inescapable. Note the female deacons at First Baptist, Rome, that church’s support of the CBF, the female associate pastor at North Broad Baptist. If you go to North Broad’s website you will find they proudly announce their support of the CBF and CBF of Georgia, but never mention the SBC. These are the type churches attracted to the BGAv.

Second, looking more directly at the BGAV via Jeff Riddle’s annual meeting report, consider all he says. Go back and re-read “BGAV budget moves away from the SBC yet again” in the Nov/Dec 2004 Baptist Banner. And then take to heart Riddle’s last paragraph quoted above. “Many [conservative pastors of churches still aligned with the BGAV] feel it is past time to abandon the BGAV and affiliate with the SBCV ... For those who remain related to the BGAV alone, it certainly makes sense to join the 295 churches in Virginia that have chosen a customized budget plan ... to designate more money to SBC causes and ... to remove support for liberal causes.”

Amen. I will add that to contribute any money at all to the BGAV is to help support liberal causes, oppose the SBC, and to affirm to some extent anti-biblical doctrine and practice (e.g., women pastors, homosexuality, and the Bible as “the record of man’s search for God” rather than the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God).

The issue, of course, is not this organization or that one. The real questions are which state convention attempts to maintain unswerving loyalty and obedience to God’s Word, which provides the best home where my church and I can best glorify God and add to His Kingdom.

After reading the above, can there be any doubt. Join the SBCV and help us storm the gates of Hell.