MO Baptist leaders praise Chapman's stance on proposed new convention

by Don Hinkle                                                                                                                      Vol. XV, No. 3, March 2002

Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) leaders praised Morris H. Chapman, president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee Feb. 4 for recommending the SBC not accept Cooperative Program money from a proposed new state convention. "Morris Chapman outlined, very adequately, what the proper convention relationships should be with the SBC," said MBC President Bob Curtis, MBC. "He reiterated that we already have a mechanism in place for Missouri Baptist churches to support SBC missions and ministries. They can do that through the MBC. There is no need for another state convention.

Kenny Qualls, first vice president of the MBC, a member of the SBC Executive Committee, and pastor of Springhill Baptist Church in Springfield, called Chapman's stand "loving and Christ-like," but "without compromise." Qualls admonished BGCM leaders for attempting to "wean away" churches from the MBC. "They [BGCM leaders] are saying, 'We'll send the church's gifts to you today so we can take the churches from you tomorrow.' Their actions speak louder than words. Their actions say, 'If we cannot control the MBC, then we will dismantle it, leave it, and lead others away from it."

Messengers to the MBC annual meeting last October in Cape Girardeau, voted overwhelmingly to place more than $2.2 million in CP giving to The Baptist Home, Missouri Baptist College in St. Louis, Windermere Conference Center, Missouri Baptist Foundation, and the Word & Way news journal in escrow until the respective boards rescind their action of self-perpetuating boards. The convention's executive board also is exploring possible legal action to challenge the trustees' actions. A status report is expected when the MBC Executive Board meets in April.

Hill and other leaders of the still-forming group met via conference call Jan. 31 to draft a response to Chapman's letter. They took issue with Chapman's assertion that the BGCM CP funds should not be accepted because the SBC already has a relationship with the MBC. "Of course, the SBC already had a relationship with Southern Baptists in Virginia and Texas, but that did not keep them from developing a new relationship with the new conventions established in these states during recent years," the BGCM leaders said.

Chapman, in a statement to the press, pointed out that in the cases of Virginia and Texas new state conventions were formed "only after the original state conventions had corrupted the historic meaning of the Cooperative Program" by establishing funding channels apart from the traditional SBC-state convention relationship. In this instance the original state convention, the Missouri Baptist Convention remained a loyal, committed partner in SBC missions," Chapman said.

BGCM organizers, in their letter to Chapman, also objected to his belief that "many of those persons opposing the current direction of the Missouri Baptist Convention are the same ones who have been opposing the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention in recent years and who have been attempting to dissuade churches in Missouri from supporting our work." BGCM organizers said many of them are from some of Missouri's oldest and most historic churches, many of which have been faithful supporters of the Cooperative Program. "These churches have been and continue to be loyal Southern Baptists," the BGCM leaders said. "It is absurd to imply that they are not in 'friendly cooperation with the purposes and work of the Southern Baptist Convention.'"

Curtis said that is only partly true. "You still have churches like Second Baptist Church of Liberty and several others that are in one fashion or another sympathetic to the CBF," he said. Indeed, First Baptist Church of Jefferson City has hosted CBF meetings and its pastor, Doyle Sager, as been active in his support of the CBF.

BGCM leaders took issue with Chapman's belief that the proposed convention "plans to incorporate practices contrary to the best interests of the Southern Baptist Convention." "How can it be contrary to the interests of the Southern Baptist Convention to allow Southern Baptist congregations that have formed an autonomous state convention to forward Cooperative Program funds to SBC causes?" they asked.

But Chapman made it clear that a mechanism is already in place for funds to be sent to the SBC - that being through the MBC.

Meanwhile, BGCM organizers settled on a new name for the proposed new convention after two people from an organization loyal to the MBC and SBC filed incorporation papers to block the new group from using the previously announced name, the Baptist Convention of Missouri. Cindy Province and Kerry Messer, members of the Missouri Baptist Laymen's Association, filed the papers obtaining the exclusive rights to the proposed name. They said they did so because the proposed name was too close to the Missouri Baptist Convention and was designed to confuse Baptists around the state.

"I think it probably would have caused some confusion," Curtis said. "I guess they [Province and Messer] were exercising their priesthood-of-the-believer rights."

Qualls, who is chairman of the MBC's executive director search committee, said the MBC is continuing to have "listening" sessions at churches throughout the state to hear what they want in the way of a new executive director. He said the feedback has been positive and the search committee hopes to have a new executive director in place before the MBC's next annual meeting. [BP]