October 29, 2001
Word & Way newspaper becomes fifth Missouri agency to change its charter
___JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.--The Word & Way newspaper has become the fifth agency of the Missouri Baptist Convention in a year's time to amend its board-selection process in anticipation of fundamentalists gaining complete control of the Missouri Baptist Convention this fall.
___The exodus of agencies from the nominating process of the state convention has been fueled in part by the work of this year's fundamentalist-dominated nominating committee, which has established its own guidelines for qualifying trustee candidates and then denied renewals for some qualified board members without explanation.
___Jim Hill recently resigned as executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, explaining that he no longer could work with the fundamentalist leadership that will gain a majority on the convention's Executive Board this week--a shift hastened by the work of this year's nominating committee.
___Four trustees eligible for renomination to the Word & Way board this year were denied second terms of service by the nominating committee, even though three of those individuals met the nominating committee's new guidelines, noted Bob Johnston, chairman of the paper's board.
___"Increasingly, the trustees came to believe that the mission of providing a free press for all Missouri Baptists was in jeopardy," Johnston said. "As a journal for all Missouri Baptists, and not just a select group, Word & Way must stay true to its mission of providing Missouri Baptists with information that is accurate, free of distortion and helpful in decision making."
___Word & Way trustees finalized the vote to create a self-perpetuating board during a telephone poll Oct. 19. Previously, the state convention had elected all the board members.
___This makes Word & Way the first state Baptist newspaper to be managed by a self-perpetuating board. Several other state papers, including the Baptist Standard, have autonomous boards that are elected by their state conventions in consultation with staff and trustee leaders.
___Four other Missouri Baptist Convention agencies preceded Word & Way in making a similar move within the last year. They are the Baptist Home, Windermere Conference Center, Missouri Baptist College and the Missouri Baptist Foundation.
___None of the agencies has expressed a desire to stop serving Missouri Baptists or the Missouri Baptist Convention, although to what degree leadership of the convention will allow that remains to be seen.
___Leaders of Project 1000, the fundamentalist political organization behind the sweep of power in the Missouri convention, have suggested they might file suit against the defecting agency boards.
___"If conservatives were doing this, it would be called stealing," explained Roger Moran, Project 1000's research director and a member of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.
___Word & Way Editor Bill Webb said his board members understood in making their decision that the paper could lose its $450,000 in annual funding from the state convention.
___"We hope we are not defunded," he said. "But even if that happens, one thing won't change. Word & Way has no plan to abandon the good work we do every week on behalf of the Cooperative Program. Traditionally, churches that have made sure their members received Word & Way have been among the strongest givers through CP and mission offerings at local, state and national levels."
___A covenant relationship proposed by Word & Way trustees asks for continuing financial support from the state convention. In exchange, the paper offers "an awareness of and sensitivity to the purposes of the Missouri Baptist Convention" and "consideration of opinions, recommendations and other commentary by the convention" regarding potential members of the paper's board of trustees.
___Changes instituted by the Missouri nominating committee this year, without consideration by the full convention, included allowing only two people from the same church to serve anywhere within state convention governance simultaneously and requiring trustee nominees to affirm the 2000 version of the Baptist Faith & Message.
___Compiled from new services
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