Criteria for SBC Nominees

by   T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                                          Vol. XV, No. 4, April 2002

In the on-going spiritual battle for the soul of the Southern Baptist Convention and its constituent parts, liberals hurl many invectives at conservatives claiming that we are, inter alia, “creedal”, “authoritarian”, “worshippers of the Bible rather than Jesus”, and that we are not “inclusive”. The critically important locus where the Baptist battle is played out is in the people whom the Committee on Nominations presents to the June convention, for those nominees, once elected, fill trustee openings on all the SBC entities (i.e., the Executive Committee, LifeWay, International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, the six SBC seminaries, et cetera). And the trustees make policy and hire and fire the top executives of SBC agencies.

Because this is so critically important, I thought readers would be interested in the criteria used to select the nominees. Each year the criteria may vary because each committee is free to adopt the standards it wishes. The guidelines below are those proposed to the committee this year by its chairman.

As you read these, ask yourself whether you would prefer any substantive changes, or are these designed to identify the kind of Bible-believing trustees you would like to have making policy for SBC agencies. The first paragraph below is an introductory comment by the committee chairman to the other members of the Committee on Nominations.

“The first order of business for our committee will be to decide on some general qualifications for our nominees. In past years, the Chairman of the Committee on Nominations has proposed to the committee guidelines for nominees. I will request that we adopt the follow guidelines for every nominee:

“Doctrinal fidelity: Each nominee will be personally in complete agreement with all of the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message. Every nominee shall affirm his or her own personal belief in the full inerrancy and complete infallibility of all of Scripture.

“Denominational loyalty: Each nominee will be personally committed to supporting the Cooperative Program and will be a member of a church that regularly gives undesignated funds to the Cooperative Program. No person who supports the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or who is a member of a church that supports the CBF or sympathizes with the CBF will be nominated.

“Conservative resurgence: Each nominee will be committed to the conservative resurgence within the life of the Southern Baptist Convention as seen in its trustees, programs, agencies, institutions, and seminaries. Every nominee shall have no direct or indirect connection with the CBF or with any group that attempts to sever the historic relationships that our state colleges and institutions have to their respective Baptist state conventions.

“Local church loyalty: Each nominee will be a dedicated Christian and a faithful member of a local Southern Baptist church. Each nominee will have a clear testimony of salvation, baptism by immersion, and commitment to servant ministry.

“Perpetuating inerrancy: At the board or agency where he or she serves, every nominee will be committed to perpetuating theological fidelity to the inerrancy of Scripture and will hold the employees of those institutions accountable to affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message.”