25.92 25.92 25.92BGAV Moves Away from SBC
by T. C. Pinckney Vol. XI, No. 1, January 1998
Everyone has heard the caustic statement, “Put your money where your mouth is.” Although that phrasing is brusque, there is validity to a demand for consistency between words and actions. For the purposes of this article, as well as in Baptist life and perhaps life in general, it is more important to consider “where the money is” than what words say.
Political science teaches that all governments have both a declaratory policy (what they say the policy is) and an action policy (what the policy really is). That is often true of organizations other than governments.
With the above in mind, consider the figures below. Data in the bar chart were taken from BGAV Virginia Baptist Annuals, specifically the tables which itemize how funds contributed under World Missions 1, 2, and 3 budget tracks are distributed. If your church or local association has a file of the annuals, you can verify these percentages in the tables found near the front of each Annual, for example on page 39 of the 1995 Annual. Because all the WM-1 track money that does not go to BGAV line items goes to the SBC and all the WM-3 money not going to BGAV line
% WM-2 $ Going to Non-SBC Causes 44.27
25.92 25.92 25.92
18.7
18.35 18.35
13.3
Bdgt yr: 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
items goes to the CBF, only the out-of-state funds contributed through WM-2 are affected by recommendations of the BGAV Budget Committee and votes of messengers at the annual BGAV meeting.
It is clear from the above percentage changes that the Baptist General Association of Virginia is moving further and further away from the Southern Baptist Convention. A fellow may say he loves his wife, but if over a few years he shifts his financial support from 100% to his wife, and currently only gives her 55%, she will quite correctly conclude she is being gradually displaced by a rival.
There is another development which suggests strongly that the BGAV will continue to reduce its financial support for the Southern Baptist Convention, perhaps even speeding the pace of reductions. The new BGAV president, William Wilson, pastor of First Baptist, Waynesboro, in his first address to the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, criticized the SBC and — according to the Religious Herald of 11 December — “added he would ask next year’s BGAV budget committee to consider the meaning of partnership as it prepares the 1999 budget, and bring a budget at next year’s annual BGAV meeting that is ‘simpler and clearer,’ and which recognized ‘those who want to join with us in our mission and will treat us as a full partner in God’s family.’” Later he added, “‘We’re looking for partners ... people that can help us.’ Such future partnerships, cautioned Wilson, should ‘perform ministry consistent with the vision and values of the BGAV’ in addition to accepting BGAV money.”
With the record reflected above and leadership of the mindset expressed by Pastor Wilson (who significantly has served on the search committee which recommended Daniel Vestal to be the new National coordinator of the “Cooperative Baptist Fellowship”) it seems certain that the BGAV will continue to abandon the SBC.
Prior to 1991 ALL Cooperative Program funds that went out of state were sent to the SBC budget. As the table above shows, in the current BGAV default budget (WM-2) only 55.73% of the out-of-state money goes to the SBC ... and the percentage going to non-SBC causes grows over time, having taken a large jump upward to 44.27% in the 1998 budget.
Keep in mind that the WM-2 track is the default track. That simply means that unless your church has taken a church vote to donate its Cooperative program gifts through [a] WM-1 (in which all the money going out of state flows to the Southern Baptist Convention), or [b] WM-3 (in which all the money that flows out of state goes to the “Cooperative Baptist Fellowship”), or [c] a giving plan designed by your own church — unless your church has voted to go one of those routes — your money automatically is going to the WM-2 track.
Breakdown by Churches
The table below provides a look at the number of churches in each of the giving plans. Some churches have designed their own plans and are listed in the table on the “Individual” line. Some of those churches have chosen to give more than the standard BGAV budget amount to the SBC, some less. They are shown in parentheses below the Individual line.
# Churches Giving through Different Plans
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
WM1 (SBC) 273 165 233 255 273 293 280 **
WM2 default 1,170 1,255 1,063 934 908 870 830
WM3 (CBF) * * 81 127 143 150 152
Individual 95 118 168 235 237 257 198
— More to SBC (95) (118) (168) (202) (199) (189) (146)
— More to CBF — — --- (33) (38) (68) (52)
Total Churches 1,538 1,538 1,545 1,551 1,561 1,570 1,460
* There were only two tracks in 1991 & 1992. **1998 figures not available; fiscal year has just begun.
There is always some fluctuation in the total number of churches as new churches are founded, a few churches disband, and others merge. However, clearly the total churches decrease in 1997 is primarily due to the 108 churches which left the BGAV and aligned uniquely with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (as of 29 September, the date of the SBCV annual meeting). (In addition, at that time there were 49 churches aligned with both state conventions.)
Conclusion:
Virginia Baptists who believe in the complete authority and accuracy of Scripture and likewise believe that the Southern Baptist Convention is the most doctrinally correct and fiscally efficient organization for spreading the gospel will want to check their church’s giving plan and be sure to which state convention their church belongs. Note that (1) the numbers cited above are BGAV numbers, not originated by any conservative, and (2) the quotes above are from the CBF-active president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia as reported in The Religious Herald.