Pastor Calls Association to SBC Roots

by A. C. Smith                                                                                                     Vol. VII, No. 4, May 1994

Ron Lee is a busy pastor, putting in at least six long days every week. But when he saw on the front page of his associational newsletter that the association's WMU was having Keith Parks, who is the missions coordinator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Pastor Lee was moved by his convictions to take action.

Lee, who is pastor of Princess Anne Plaza Baptist Church in Norfolk Baptist Association, decided to present a motion at the associational spring meeting reaffirming "our commitment and loyalty to the Southern Baptist Convention."

The meeting, held on the evening of March 24, 1994, had 284 messengers in attendance. This was four to five times the usual attendance, said Tommy Taylor, pastor of London Bridge Baptist Church. Danny Owens, a moderate pastor who opposed Lee's motion, admitted calling a number of pastors and WMU directors to encourage them to come to the meeting.

Lee's motion was effectively killed when it was tabled. The motion to table was originally ruled out of order by the moderator, Judge Preston Grissom. A majority of the messengers, not trusting the parliamentary knowledge of the judge, voted to override the chair 147 to 124. The final vote was to postpone Lee's motion indefinitely by a margin of 185 to 95.

[NOTE: According to Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised the chair was right. On page 177 Robert's Rules reads, "The motion to Lay on the Table enables the assembly to lay the pending question aside temporarily { emphasis added } when something else of immediate urgency has arisen, in such a way that: there is no set time for taking the matter up again; but its consideration can be resumed at the will of the majority and in preference to any new questions that may then be competing with it for consideration. (Paragraph) This motion is commonly misused in ordinary assemblies – in place of the motion to Postpone Indefinitely, to Postpone to a Certain Time, or other motions. Particularly in such misuses, it is also known as a motion "to Table." (paragraph) By adopting the motion to Lay on the Table, a majority has the power to halt consideration of a question immediately without debate. Such action violates the rights of the minority and individual members if it is for any other purpose than the one stated in the first sentence of this section. In ordinary assemblies, the motion to Lay on the Table is out of order if the evident intent is to kill or avoid dealing with a measure. ..... {emphasis added)]

Lee was surprised at how much the moderates seemed to know about his motion, which was not shared publicly before being presented at the meeting. He was also surprised that his motion was killed by being postponed indefinitely. "It appeared that all they did was postpone whether they were going to be Southern Baptist," said Lee. "The main thing is we couldn't get together as an association to declare that we're Southern Baptist."

Lee, noting the organized opposition to his motion, said, "If all the folks that spoke [against his motion] could get as excited about Jesus as they got about this issue tonight, we could really have a mission-minded association of churches."

[Editorial Comment: This meeting was essentially a replay of what has happened frequently in Virginia Baptist life: an issue arises, conservatives become concerned and decide to propose some action, but the moderates out-organize the conservatives and turn out more messengers, so the conservative proposal is defeated.

Many conservatives have bought the liberal propaganda attack that it is wrong to work together, to organize in favor of a biblical, orthodox, pro-SBC position. So conservatives naively make little effort to bring messengers to associational or state meetings and consistently get out-voted. This is not a criticism of moderates and liberals, but of naive, lazy, and/or don't care conservatives. It is not enough to believe the Book. We have to be willing to exert ourselves, to adjust our schedules in order to go and vote for what we believe is right!]