The Fellowship Launches
by T. C. Pinckney Vol. IV, No. 4, May 1991
The group of dissident moderate and liberal Baptists known as the Fellowship met in Atlanta 9-11 May. Though they had earlier estimated that 10,000 would attend, the Washington Post reports "about 6,500" present.
Fully documented accounts are not yet available as this is written, but this first organized and planned annual meeting seems to have approved all the recommendations of the interim steering committee which met earlier (see article in the previous Banner). Messengers adopted an official name, The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, and approved establishment of a Center for World Missions with a $500,000 budget to found new churches in Ireland, the Soviet Union, Romania, and New York. Also endorsed were three alternative giving plans to channel funds to selected Southern Baptist and other institutions while by-passing the SBC Executive Committee.
Organizationally, they created a 78 member coordinating council to conduct business between annual "general conferences." Without further detailed information it would appear that the coordinating council parallels the SBC executive committee though with a different title and method of selection. Fellowship by-laws were endorsed which require representation on committees and boards of women, ethnics, clergy, and laity. The conference also authorized incorporation in Georgia.
Regarding their budget, the delegates voted a $520,000 operating budget for this year, plus a $20,000 capital budget to establish a national office in Atlanta, and the $500,000 Missions Center budget noted above. The group also voted to support financially the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond.
Personnel actions of interest include election of Rev. John Hewett of Asheville, NC, a leading and vocal North Carolina moderate/liberal to replace Dr. Dan Vestal as moderator and Patricia Ayres of Texas as "moderator elect." The latter term means that Mrs. Ayres will be number two or vice moderator this year and presumably will be selected as moderator next year. Interestingly, the Banner is told that both Mrs. Ayres' husband and son are Episcopal priests.
Reportedly there are six Virginians on the newly elected coordinating council: Rev. James H. Slatton, River Road Church, Richmond; Rev. Raymond L. Spence, Jr., Second Baptist Church, Richmond, and former BGAV president; Linda Bridges; Edna Frances Dawkins; Frank Mancusio (sp ?); and (first name unknown) Rainwater.
Several quotes are of interest: Nancy Tatom Ammerman, professor of sociology at Emory University in Atlanta and authoress of a recent book, Baptist Battles, compared the Fellowship to the Israelites escaping from Egyptian slavery and to East Europeans casting off communism. Dr. Dan Vestal, outgoing moderator, said the Fellowship would include everyone who proclaims Jesus as Lord. When asked by a member of the press whether that included Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses, he replied that he would not define it further. John Hewett, the new moderator, is quoted by the Washington Post as saying, "The war is over." He said moderates will not run a candidate against Dr. Morris Chapman in Atlanta this June. Stan Hastey, executive director of the most liberally inclined group, The Southern Baptist Alliance, stated, "There were a lot more fundamentalist folks out there than we realized." (Note: That's what we have been saying all along. It is unfortunate that it has taken Mr. Hastey 12 years to recognize that fact. The great majority of Southern Baptists believe the Book, as Zig Ziglar says, "from Genesis to maps.")
The Post article notes that "about 3,000 moderates held a meeting in Atlanta (last August) to discuss a possible schism." It continues, "Their momentum lost steam, however, as those steering the movement discovered that the average Southern Baptist was unwilling to leave ... Only about 211 churches have signed onto the moderates' movement by sending it money. (Note: That is out of approximately 38,000 SBC churches. In addition the Banner is told 570 individuals have sent contributions out of some 15,000,000 total Southern Baptists or perhaps about 11,000,000 resident members.)
Of course the salient question in everyone's mind, whether moderate, liberal, or conservative, is, "Is this a new denomination?" Long-term Banner readers may recall that the 20 September 1990 Banner quoted Jack Harwell, editor of SBC Today, the liberal newspaper, as saying during the August 1990 Fellowship meeting, "I am an organizer of this meeting, and this is definitely a new convention. We will be fully operable within three years."
Harwell's judgment was confirmed by Al Mohler, editor of the Georgia state Baptist paper, The Christian Index, who said after last week's Fellowship meeting, "I would say clearly it is a new denomination. When you put together the kind of structure you see here, by any customary view of a denomination, it is one." The Atlanta Constitution's Sunday, 12 May, headline seems to agree with Harwell and Mohler, "Moderate Baptists Launch Group." The Washington Post headline is a bit more uncertain, "Moderate Baptists Set Autonomous Group within Denomination."
Editorial comment: No one should quarrel with the right of any Baptist to create and/or move to any type denominational organization he may wish. One would hope, however, if it is the intent of Fellowship leaders to establish a new denomination, as appears to be the case, they would acknowledge that frankly and make the break as cleanly and quickly as possible. Bible-believing Virginia Baptists need to recognize that we live in the most liberal Southern Baptist state. (Note that last November ONLY Virginia approved an alternate funding plan.) We must be in earnest prayer for God's guidance during the critically important months ahead. We must inform ourselves about the true issue, the authority and nature of the Bible, and decide calmly, quietly, and with utmost fealty to our Lord (not to any man or group) what the Holy Spirit is leading us to do. We must study the state budget that cuts giving to the SBC Cooperative Program by 50% and lead our churches to make the proper decision. Every church has the right to direct its giving be used as it desires. Finally, without question we must attend the state convention in Salem this November in record numbers.
[Above is based on the Washington Post, 12 May, p. A9; the 12 May Atlanta Constitution per telephone discussion; and personal report from Atlanta.]