December 4, 2000
Virginians to study relationship with SBC
___By Robert Dilday
___Virginia Religious Herald
___ROANOKE, Va. (ABP)--Virginia Baptists approved a $15 million budget Nov. 15 that dramatically increases funding to start congregations and reinvigorate existing ones in Virginia.
___The action, taken during the Baptist General Association of Virginia's Nov. 14-15 annual meeting, creates a new program of "church planting and revitalization" called Acts 17. Almost $1.3 million is allocated for Acts 17 in the 2001 budget, which began Dec. 1.
___State leaders said the move is necessary to respond to Virginia's population growth, especially among ethnic and international groups.
___But some of the 1,560 messengers at the meeting opposed the project's means of funding, which will require a 2 percent decrease in allocations for national and world ministries. The redirection from worldwide causes will impact contributions to the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship alike.
___During its meeting, the state association also authorized a committee to study its relationship with a variety of national ministry partners, including the SBC, whose shift to the theological right in the past two decades is at odds with the more moderate stance of the Virginia association.
___The tension between the two organizations was highlighted at the outset of the meeting by outgoing president Thomas McCann, who said Virginia Baptists and the SBC are "on divergent paths."
___"Remember, Virginia Baptists helped create the Southern Baptist Convention," McCann said. "It is our child, not our parent. Clearly, it has grown away from us and no longer needs us. It is time to create something new."
___The fact that Texas Baptists recently distanced themselves from the SBC by substantially reducing funding to its seminaries, social issues agency and Executive Committee was not lost on the Virginians.
___"What Texans have done, added to what Virginia Baptists have already done, demonstrates that we are in the midst of denominational upheaval," said McCann. "A revolution began in the '70s. It was based on the appointive power of the (SBC) president. A counter revolution began in the '90s. It was based on the budget power of the state associations and local churches.
___"It is clear to me that historic Virginia Baptists and the Southern Baptist Convention are on divergent paths. Virginia Baptists are one thing. The Southern Baptist Convention is something else.
___"While we used to walk side by side, it is clear that the distance between us is growing. ... The Southern Baptist Convention holds title to vast amounts of property, but it cannot hold title to our hearts."
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