August 28, 2000
SBC & SBTC appeal to associations
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___Two upcoming meetings illustrate the changing way national and state Baptist entities are relating to Baptist associations.
___In years past, Texas Baptist associations related to only one state convention and one national convention, because that's all there was. Even though the associations, state convention and national convention all were autonomous bodies, most contact and mission planning between the national convention and associations passed through the state conventions.
___Even today, most Southern Baptist Convention funding for mission work in associations is done cooperatively with state Baptist conventions, although the SBC North American Mission Board has begun some direct funding of associations.
___But for perhaps the first time ever, the SBC has called a meeting of Texas directors of missions without consulting the Baptist General Convention of Texas--or even inviting BGCT officials to attend.
___Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee in Nashville, Tenn., has mailed a letter to all Texas directors of missions inviting them to meet with him and other SBC agency heads at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth Sept. 21.
___Other SBC entities to be represented at the meeting include the Annuity Board, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, International Mission Board, North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources and all six SBC seminaries.
___Chapman's letter says the purpose of the meeting is "to enhance communication and cooperation among all Southern Baptists."
___He acknowledges that such a meeting is "unprecedented."
___"To my knowledge, this is the first time this has ever happened," said Lynn Eckeberger, associate director of the BGCT's State Missions Commission and the liaison between the BGCT and associational directors of missions.
___Just five days later, Texas directors of missions are invited to another unusual meeting.
___The new Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has invited all directors of missions to a meeting to "explore ways we might be able to do missions and ministries together," as explained by the convention's executive director, Jim Richards.
___"We want to facilitate churches that wish to affiliate with Southern Baptists of Texas Convention within that association," Richards said. "One of the primary purposes is the church starts. That's the largest single item in our in-state budget. We are deeply interested in knowing the local needs and the heartbeat of directors of missions toward the unevangelized and underevangelized areas in their association."
___Richards said he expects about two-thirds of Texas Baptist associations to be represented at the meeting.
___The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention's meeting has been scheduled in Dallas just one day after an annual meeting for directors of missions sponsored by the BGCT. As in previous years, the BGCT will pay all expenses for directors of missions to travel to Dallas for its meeting.
___The BGCT's Eckeberger finds it ironic that directors of missions, if they choose to do so, could piggyback their attendance at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention meeting on the BGCT-funded meeting.
___Out of all the days of the year the new convention could have called a meeting, it is curious they chose the day after the BGCT meeting and the same city, Eckeberger said.
___The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention has encouraged its affiliated churches to remain a part of their existing associations if possible, Richards said.
___"Some churches have chosen to create new associations," he acknowledged. "We're knowledgeable of at least four such circumstances. In those cases, we respond to associations of churches as they seek to work with our state convention. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention definitely wishes to work with the directors of missions to assist the local churches in carrying out their missions and ministries."
___Of the nearly 400 churches affiliated in some way with Southern Baptists of Texas, about 60 percent are uniquely aligned with the new state convention, Richards said. The "vast majority" of those uniquely aligned churches continue to participate with their local associations, he added.
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