BF&M noted as a worthy guide for SBC entity trustees
by Art Toalston Vol. XX, No. 4, April 2007
Characterizing the Baptist Faith and Message as a sufficient guide for trustees of Southern Baptist Convention entities, the SBC Executive Committee, during it Feb. 19-20 meeting in Nashville, TN, affirmed both the SBC’s trustee system of governance and its confession of faith, in effect suggesting that trustees do well when guided by the BF&M in crafting doctrinal policies.
The Executive Committee adopted its statement under an SBC bylaw requiring that the convention’s entities respond to motions referred to them from the preceding SBC annual meeting.
The Executive Committee, in response to a BF&M-related motion at last year’s annual meeting in Greensboro, NC, stated that it “acknowledges the Baptist Faith and Message is not a creed, or a complete statement of our faith, nor final or infallible, nevertheless we further acknowledge that it is the only consensus statement of doctrinal beliefs approved by the Southern Baptist Convention and as such is sufficient in its current form to guide trustees in their establishment of policies and practices of entities of the Convention.”
The one-paragraph statement was adopted in response to a motion by Texas messenger Boyd Luter during the ’06 annual meeting. Luter’s motion called for a vote by messengers on any “doctrinal position or practical policy” adopted by an SBC entity “which goes beyond, or seeks to explain the explicit wording of the duly constituted authoritative language of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.”
Such a vote, according to Luter’s motion, would become an amendment to the BF&M. If the vote failed, the entity’s “wording/policy would thereby be rescinded.”
During the Executive Committee's Administrative Subcommittee meeting, Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page spoke in favor of the Executive Committee statement, saying it would give guidance to SBC entities and to all Southern Baptists while not having an undue influence on them. Page added that it will help the convention stay focused on evangelism and missions. Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land also spoke in favor of the recommendation.
Luter’s motion came several months after trustees of the International Mission Board adopted a new policy disqualifying missionary candidates who practice a private prayer language and a new guideline that missionary candidates must be baptized in a church that practices believer’s baptism exclusively, embraces the doctrine of security of the believer and rejects a regenerative view of baptism.
IMB trustees, in responding to an SBC-referred motion during their Jan. 29-31 meeting in California, had stated that “(w)hile the Baptist Faith and Message represents a general confession of Southern Baptist beliefs related to Biblical teachings on primary doctrinal and social issues, the IMB retains the prerogative and responsibility of further defining the parameters of doctrinal beliefs and practices of its missionaries who serve Southern Baptists with accountability to this board.”
The Executive Committee, in another matter touching on issues that have arisen in Southern Baptist life, approved a recommendation to this year’s SBC annual meeting in San Antonio to reinstate the research-related SBC ministry assignment to LifeWay Christian Resources. Research had once been formally assigned to LifeWay’s predecessor, the Sunday School Board, but was amended out of more recent revisions of the SBC’s Organization Manual.
The additional LifeWay ministry assignment, which would join nine other ministry assignments it handles on behalf of the convention, would be titled, “Assist churches by conducting research and compiling statistics.”
The proposed assignment states that LifeWay would: “Conduct research and compile statistics on matters relating to, and of interest to, Southern Baptists, noting future trends and possible effects on church practice, productivity, witness, and health, and tender reports to the Executive Committee for review and possible report or action in an SBC annual meeting.”
In a related action, the Executive Committee responded to two referrals from the SBC annual meeting in Greensboro by requesting that LifeWay, as a “service to the local church … compile additional statistics relating to Calvinism, the emergent church, elder rule, and other topics of interest and discussion in Southern Baptist life.”
A member of the Executive Committee from Missouri, Roger Moran, asked for permission to state a variety of concerns he had about the emergent church movement, which he was given opportunity to do at the close of the meeting. After his statements, Executive Committee President Morris H. Chapman suggested that Moran prepare his statements for submission to LifeWay in conjunction with their work under the referrals.
LifeWay President Thom S. Rainer, in a statement to Baptist Press after the Executive Committee meeting, stated, "We are excited by the recommendation that will be brought before the SBC in June recognizing LifeWay's research role. We believe the information LifeWay Research will gather in the years to come will be vital in helping churches be effective in reaching people for Christ. It will shape what we do as an organization in providing resources, but ultimately we believe research is a tool that can be used for the cause of Christ and we will take this ministry assignment seriously."
Rainer launched LifeWay Research as one of his key initiatives during his February 2006 inauguration as the entity’s new president, succeeding retiring President James T. Draper Jr.
In other business, the Executive Committee:
-- approved a 2007-08 Cooperative Program Allocation budget of $200,601,536 for recommendation to the Southern Baptist Convention during its June 12-13 annual meeting in San Antonio.
With the exception of the allocation to GuideStone Financial Resources, the proposed budget would continue traditional allocations to the convention’s ministries, including 50% of receipts to the International Mission Board and 22.79% to the North American Mission Board. The percentage allocated to the seminaries remains 21.4%. According to the seminary enrollment formula, Southwestern Seminary would receive 4.80%; Southern Seminary, 4.80; New Orleans Seminary, 4.35; Southeastern Seminary, 4.13; Golden Gate Seminary, 1.74; and Midwestern Seminary, 1.57%.
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission would continue to receive 1.49% of the budget, while the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives would receive .24%.
The SBC Operating Budget, encompassing the SBC annual meeting costs, the work of the convention between annual meetings and the Executive Committee, would receive 3.32% of the CP budget.
GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins conveyed to the Executive Committee’s Cooperative Program Subcommittee that GuideStone would be willing to forgo the.76% of the CP Allocation Budget it had traditionally been receiving to assist retired ministers whose annuities were underfunded during their careers. Hawkins explained that GuideStone would continue to provide those retiree relief benefits at its expense so that the CP funds can be used in the convention’s other ministries. The Executive Committee, during its June 11 meeting, is to make a recommendation to the SBC on the former GuideStone allocation.
-- approved recommendations of Orlando, Fla., as the site of the June 15-16, 2010, SBC annual meeting and Phoenix for June 14-15, 2011.
-- approved two fundraising campaigns: Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s “Building for the Future,” concluding in 2010, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s “Preparing Tomorrow’s Ministers ... Until Jesus Comes,” concluding in 2012.
-- approved a 2.5 percent increase for the staff salary structure, effective Oct. 1.
-- elected Tom Boyd and Jerry Tidwell to each serve a second three-year term as Southern Baptist Foundation trustees. Boyd, of Lebanon, Tenn., is a senior vice president with the Bank of America and Tidwell is vice president of church relations at Union University in Jackson, Tenn.
-- received notification that Barry C. McCarty will serve again as chief parliamentarian during this June’s annual meeting. [BP]
[With reporting by Michael Foust.]