Large Church Joins Texas Conservatives

                                                                                                                  Vol. XIII, No. 8 Sept/Oct 2000
 

The 17,000 member Prestonwood BC in Dallas, pastored by Jack Graham, unanimously voted to align with the conservative Southern Baptists of Texas Convention on 23 July.

A 10-member committee had been working since February, and its report was first approved by the deacons. The two key provisions of the report are that Prestonwood will dually affiliate with the SBTC and will remain affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas through this fall (when the BGCT will hold its annual meeting). Then the study committee will reconvene "to recommend whether to continue this relationship or uniquely affiliate with another body."

The church noted its actions were necessitated by a "concern for Biblical integrity and the stewardship of [Prestonwood's] resources." The church committee listed eight concerns related to the BGCT, topped by the BGCT's "rejection of the 1998 version of the Baptist Faith and Message," which incorporated a new article on marriage and the family to the longstanding SBC statement of beliefs. A key theme in all eight concerns was actions by the BGCT leadership to distance the state convention from the Southern Baptist Convention.

In its conclusion, the Prestonwood committee stated in part: "In recommending temporary dual alignment, the Committee does not expect the Church to continue supporting both state conventions indefinitely. Rather, it hopes that the BGCT will take some action at the fall 2000 convention to reverse its stance against the 1998 version of the Baptist Faith and Message, and to address the other issues outlined above. It is important that the leadership of the BGCT make some verbal statement at the annual meeting in the fall of 2000 affirming its intention to support all of the ministries of the SBC on a long-term basis." [BP]