Virginia Convention Report

by T.C. Pinckney                                                                                       Vol. V, No. 7, December 1992

 The annual Virginia state Baptist convention took place 10-11 November in the Pavilion Center at Virginia Beach. During the afternoon and evening of Monday, the ninth, conservatives met at the fourth Virginia Baptist Bible Conference, held at First Baptist Church, Norfolk. The VBBC was wonderful. Speakers were Jim Henry from Florida; Paige Patterson, president of Southeastern Seminary; and Charles Fuller, pastor of First Baptist, Roanoke. The choir of First Baptist, Norfolk, and the soloist were outstanding. At the evening session approximately 1,000 were present. Unfortunately, the next two days were all downhill for conservatives.

Budget: Several motions were offered to modify the WM 2 budget track, and another to delete entirely the WM 3 track (in which ALL the money leaving Virginia goes to the moderate-liberal Cooperative Baptist Fellowship [CBF], NOT A PENNY to the SBC Cooperative Program). All such motions were defeated by large margins on hand votes. The decision to fund the CBF makes Virginia the only state Baptist convention to initiate ties to the moderate-liberal Fellowship.

Shared Ministries: By similarly large votes the convention passed amendments to the state constitution to institute "shared ministry" status with the seminary in Richmond, the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs, and Associated Baptist Press. All these agencies are part of or supported by the new undeclared denomination, the CBF. This action paves the way for the BGAV to elect trustees to these liberal agencies.

Resolutions: – Homosexuality: Two biblically based resolutions were offered from the floor, but the Resolutions Committee only reported out a resolution encouraging redemptive ministry to homosexuals. Several strengthening amendments were offered, but each was rejected by large margins. Of particular note is the fact that Rev. Charles Waller, Fork Baptist Church, moved to amend by including exactly the wording previously passed by the Virginia General Board, " which stated that homosexuality is a biblical sin and that homosexuals are not acceptable in leadership positions." Even this minimal but correct statement was rejected by the messengers. Thus by implication (though not explicitly) Virginia Baptists have voted that homosexuality is not a sin and to accept homosexuals even in leadership positions!

Also defeated was a proposed constitutional amendment excluding from BGAV membership any churches which "act to confirm, approve, or endorse homosexual behavior," language similar to that approved in the first of two votes last June for addition to the SBC constitution. "This is not a theological issue dividing conservatives and moderates," said Rev. Bill Foster of Roanoke, who proposed the amendment. "It is an issue on which we can all agree." But Rev. Steve Cromer of Lynchburg called it a "terrible mistake" and "a major step away from our practice of seating churches which want to cooperate in supporting missions." [Comment: Pastor Cromer may not have thought through the implications of his statement. Cooperation to support missions is important, but cooperation in obedience to God's perfect Word is essential. There is no basis for cooperative missions between Bible-believing Baptists on the one hand and those who reject God's Word on the other. "Can two walk together except they be agreed." (Amos 3:3) The history of many once evangelistic denominations who strayed from devotion to the inerrancy of Scripture into the siren toils of liberalism demonstrates conclusively that once devoted commitment to God's Word is replaced by deviating compromise, once scriptural purity is sublimated to societal accommodation, the mission imperative withers and dies. Yes, missions are important, but God and His will revealed in His Word are primary. Absent that commitment to His Word, soon there ,will be no missions.]

Prayer: A messenger moved that the body encourage Virginia Baptists to pray for the collapse of Islam as the Soviet system has collapsed. The body overwhelmingly voted down encouraging this prayer.

Elections: Conservatives did not expect to win any of the officer elections, but we did expect to have more votes than last year. In this we failed. For president we received 877 votes, 14 less than in 1991, six more than 1990. On the other hand, moderates did a good job of turning out their messengers with 500 to 600 more present than last year. The result of our slight decrease combined with the substantial moderate increase was that our percentage dropped from 33.85% to 23.3%. The 1VP & 2VP percentage results were just about the same.

In summary, it is hard to imagine how the results of the convention could have been worse for conservatives. We did not turn out anywhere near our potential number of messengers, and we faced a large, determined, doctrinaire opposition. The BGAV took a giant step away from the Southern Baptist Convention and toward alignment with the CBF. During the days, weeks, and months to come conservatives must be in sustained, fervent prayer and will be faced with important decisions. [BP & notes]