August 7, 2000

EDITORIAL:
Budget reflects matters of the heart
___"Show me a church's budget, and I'll show you its heart," a wise Baptist once said. He could have drawn the same analogy for individuals, families and even conventions. That's why Baptists care so passionately about budgets and contribution programs. It's not the money; it's the causes we hold dear.
___It's also why one of the most important articles of the year appears in this paper. Managing Editor Mark Wingfield has written a timely report on the budget relationship between the Baptist General Convention of Texas and the Southern Baptist Convention. For years, our political and theological relationships have captured headlines. Now, Baptists are really getting serious. We're talking money. Increasing numbers of Texans are calling for the BGCT to decrease the amount of funds it provides to the SBC.
___Two state committees already are studying aspects of the conventions' relationships--theological education and missions. These committees could impact financial relationships for years. Even if neither committee issues a final report before this year's BGCT annual session in late October--and one committee is expected to produce at least an interim report --concern for this issue is building. We can expect to vote on funding changes this fall. If recommendations don't come through channels, they will be raised from the convention floor.
___So, you need to know the funding details. The article outlines pragmatic as well as theological/political dimensions. A chart compares the money Texas Baptists' Cooperative Program provides to state and national Baptist organizations. Please study this material; you'll need to understand the degree to which Texas Baptists have supported both in-state and out-of-state causes. (And you'll note the Standard does not have a vested interest in Cooperative Program changes. The paper does not receive CP; it's not asking for CP.)
___As you think and pray about this issue, keep several thoughts in mind:
___ No "Ugly Texans." We don't want to become provincial, convinced the world ends at the Red River and the Rio Grande. No Texas Baptist is speaking forcefully of curtailing support for the SBC's International Mission Board. And wherever our missions study committee's research leads, we still will be Great Commission Baptists, concerned for taking the gospel to "the uttermost parts of the earth."
___ You choose. Texas Baptists honor local-church autonomy. Whatever happens to the funding process, you won't be told your church cannot support a particular SBC or BGCT cause.
___ Effectiveness. We need to empower our BGCT agencies and institutions to do what we ask them to do.
___For example, the BGCT consistently has expressed its strong pro-life beliefs. But the state convention has provided only a single grant of $15,000--less than the cost of one adoption--to Buckner Baptist Benevolences to promote adoption alternatives. Appropriate concern for reducing abortions and increasing adoptions would result in greater financial support.
___Similarly, Texas Baptists care for the "least of these" in society. Yet we give more money to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary than we do to South Texas Children's Home, Texas Baptist Children's Home, Baptist Child & Family Services, Buckner Child Care, Baptist Health System, Baylor Health Care System, Baptist Memorials Ministry, Hendrick Medical Center, Valley Baptist Medical Center, Baptist Healthcare System, Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center, Baptist Community Services or Buckner Retirement Services.
___We also affirm our desire to reach Texas --the second-fastest-growing state in the nation--for Christ. Yet we woefully underfund our BGCT training of ministers. In 1999, the BGCT provided $29,948 per Texas student to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kentucky. Meanwhile, we provided just $1,269 per Texas student to Truett Seminary at Baylor University in Waco and only $933 per Texas student to Logsdon School of Theology at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene.
___ Accountability. Like it or not, the budgeting issue also hinges on accountability and responsiveness. The SBC systematically has removed from meaningful participation all but those who unfailingly affirm every aspect of the national convention's "conservative resurgence." In so doing, it has distanced itself from untold numbers of Texas Baptists. Consequently, the SBC's new leaders have taken many stands--such as several articles of the new Baptist Faith & Message statement, resurgent Calvinism at some seminaries and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's partisan politics--that are contrary to the views of many, many Texas Baptists.
___When Texas Baptists consider these issues and more besides, many begin to feel serious reservations about continuing to fund several SBC agencies, particularly to the detriment of BGCT causes that are loved and cherished.
___Texas Baptists will express our concerns as we address the budget.
___As you prepare for the BGCT annual session this fall, think deeply and pray hard.
___ Marv Knox

E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com


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