May 5, 1999
Texas won't cut funding,
Midwestern administrator tells trustees
___KANSAS CITY, Mo. (ABP) --Nothing will come of a prediction by Russell Dilday that Texas Baptists might divert funding away from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a seminary administrator told trustees in their April meeting.
___The reference was to an earlier statement by Baptist Gener-al Convention of Texas President Dilday that messengers to this year's annual session likely will consider a motion to diminish Cooperative Program funding to some Southern Baptist Convention agencies and institutions. Dilday specifically named Midwestern, Southern and Southeastern seminaries as institutions he frequently hears Texas Baptists say they no longer want to fund.
___Mike Whitehead, Midwestern's vice president for business affairs, picked up on Dilday's statement in presenting the seminary's budget for 2000.
___"It was the recommendation of the staff that we not anticipate any decline in Cooperative Program giving," he told the board. "Our source is not the state of Texas or any other state convention--our source is God and his provision through the Cooperative Program."
___In addition to approving the seminary's $4.59 million budget for next year, trustees approved a $12 million capital campaign, a goal four times greater than one initially set last October. The campaign will fund construction of a new building for administration and classrooms, as well as a gymnasium and assembly hall
___Midwestern trustees also heard a report addressing concerns about the seminary's relationship with Minnesota-Wisconsin Southern Baptists.
___President Mark Coppenger noted the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention has entered into a theological education partnership with Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., an institution of the Baptist General Conference. This is peculiar, he suggested, because the SBC has charged Midwestern with training ministers for the Midwest/Great Plains region.
___"We're going to help the Minnesota-Wisconsin convention realize they ought to be working with us instead of Bethel," Coppenger said during his president's report. The 136,000-member Baptist General Conference is a small group of churches, concentrated in the Upper Midwest and composed mainly of Baptists of Swedish descent.
___Though Coppenger did not speak on the record about his specific concerns with Bethel seminary during the board meeting, he told a reporter in a brief telephone interview that Midwestern has received requests from Baptist pastors in Minnesota and Wisconsin who would rather study at Midwestern.
___"As we understand it, the (Minnesota-Wisconsin) convention has subsidized or contributed to that study effort at Bethel, and we hope they would consider subsidizing those who want to do work at Midwestern," he said.
___Coppenger also said he believes Midwestern's official positions favoring biblical inerrancy and opposing female pastors would attract many students from the Minnesota-Wisconsin convention. He noted that Bethel has offered some classes on Southern Baptist history that were taught by a faculty member from the Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.
___"We would say that we think the six SBC seminaries, most clearly and to the point, do an excellent job of teaching (Baptist history) too, and we would like for students to be linked with them."
___But Bill Tinsley, executive director of the Minnesota-Wisconsin convention, said he was surprised by Coppenger's comments. "I have said to Mark before that if they have any concerns or ideas, to tell me about it. I haven't heard anything," he said.
___"Our primary goal is to try to keep students in Minnesota-Wisconsin to train indigenous leaders for the future," Tinsley said. "In the past, whenever we have had pastors who were called to go off to seminary, they rarely came back."Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!