September 25, 2000
Campbell responds to criticism of committee
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___ DALLAS--Some of the charges presented against the Texas Baptist committee studying theological education by Southern Baptist Convention officials are "ludicrous," the chairman of the Texas committee said Sept. 26.
___Bob Campbell, chairman of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Seminary Study Committee and a Houston pastor, presented his committee's report to the BGCT Executive Board. The report and its recommendations for funding changes were approved by a strong majority vote.
___ Campbell outlined five criticisms of the study committee's work and responded to each.
___ First, he responded to criticism by the seminary presidents that the Texas committee did not interview current students or faculty.
___ When the Texas committee arranged its on-campus visits to each of the seminaries, the presidents were told to "ask anyone you would like" to participate in the meetings, Campbell said. "They chose not to invite a single student."
___ To say the Texas committee limited student input is "ludicrous," he asserted.
___ Further, the study committee did talk to current faculty, although not in formal on-campus interviews with the presidents listening in, Campbell said. These faculty members felt they "couldn't talk freely" otherwise, he added.
___ Even so, the questions the study committee wanted answered pertained largely to administrative and trustee decisions, Campbell said. "Faculty and students have very little say in the matters we were studying."
___ The seminary presidents themselves have not demonstrated an interest in the opinions of students, Campbell added. As evidence, he recalled a statement by Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., during the crisis that led to dismantling the Carver School of Church Social Work there. Mohler told students at the time: "You cannot hold us accountable. That is not your job."
___ Second, Campbell responded to a Sept. 21 Baptist Press story that said the Texas committee held up as theological role models former professors at SBC seminaries who don't believe the Bible and don't believe Jesus is the only way to salvation.
___ The article was written by Russell Moore, a student at Southern Seminary. Moore also was the Baptist Press reporter sent to cover this summer's Cooperative Baptist Fellowship general assembly, where he later claimed he was subjected to verbal abuse and physical shoving, charges that have been denied by others present and never substantiated by any other eyewitesses.
___ Moderate Baptists nationwide were outraged by Moore's reports from the CBF meeting, which largely focused on controversial issues such as homosexuality that weren't even discussed as official business. His reports also prompted protests from state Baptist newspaper editors, including a complaint from the press services liaison committee of the Association of State Baptist Papers.
___ In his Sept. 21 story on the Texas committee, titled "Texas committee embraces profs who doubt salvation alone in Jesus, Bible's facts," Moore cited Russell Dilday, Molly Marshall, Wilburn Stancil and Alan Neely as examples of individuals embraced by the committee but who hold what he implied to be liberal theology.
___ His reference apparently comes from a footnote in the Texas report that says: "Molly Marshall and Paul Debusman at Southern, Wilburn Stancil at Midwestern and Russell Dilday at Southwestern are representative of the high-handed methods that lack due-process or smack of less than fair."
___ These individuals were cited as "examples of persons who were mistreated," Campbell responded. Neither the committee nor the report endorses their theology, because that was not the focus of this footnote, he added.
___ Third, he answered charges that the committee's report is vindictive.
___ "There is no glee in this report," Campbell said, explaining that his committee agonized over its work and that this was the most unpleasant task he's ever tackled in denominational life.
___ Fourth, he responded to a Sept. 22 story in Baptist Press that attempted to link the Texas committee to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
___ That story, titled "Three BGCT seminary committee members also CBF steering committee leaders," was written by Todd Starnes of the Baptist Press staff.
___ When he read that story, it was "the first time I ever heard CBF mentioned in our work," Campbell said. "This is not a CBF report; this is a report about Texas."
___ Finally, Campbell responded to a charge by Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, that Campbell had misquoted him as saying seminary faculty members could not criticize the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message even in private conversations at an off-campus party.
___ Campbell acknowledged that he had issued a retraction and had apologized to Kelly for the misstatement. The committee had been told Kelley made such a comment in a July faculty meeting but had not asked Kelley specifically about it, he said.
___ The misquoted comment is not part of the Texas committee's formal report but had been passed on by Campbell in an early presentation of the committee's work.
___ Even withdrawing that statement does not change the fact that Kelley and the other seminary presidents said their faculty members cannot criticize or question the Baptist Faith & Message, Campbell said.
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