October 14, 2002

Mission board offers compromise
on covenant agreement with BGCT
___ALPHARETTA, Ga.--The Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board has proposed language to "accommodate (the Baptist General Convention of Texas') concerns" with the document that directs cooperative ventures between the two groups.
___NAMB's board of trustees approved cooperative agreements with 18 state Baptist conventions at its fall meeting Oct. 9. All but one were approved as negotiated with state convention staff. However, the proposed Texas agreement was amended in response to the BGCT's problems with the document, reported Harry Lewis, NAMB's director of strategic coordination.
___The agreements define how NAMB and individual state conventions work together to jointly fund missions efforts. The Texas agreement--originally struck with the SBC Home Mission Board in 1991--predates NAMB's 1997 formation from the HMB and two other agencies.
___The issue arose in Texas when the BGCT Executive Board amended the proposed cooperative agreement. The Executive Board deleted a sentence stating jointly funded personnel "shall comply with the Baptist Faith & Message 2000."
___Executive Board members who advocated removing the sentence expressed concern that the sentence could leave the impression the BGCT approves the 2-year-old SBC faith statement.
___In fact, the BGCT has declined to affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Critics contend it is a non-Baptist creed with a distorted view of Scripture, Jesus, local-church autonomy and women's roles in the home and church.
___Missions leaders said the issue was resolved in the original agreement by the BGCT's offer to solely fund any missionaries who could not in good conscience signt the 2000 BF&M.
___But the Executive Board solidly voted to remove the statement of compliance with the BF&M.
___NAMB trustees responded by moving the reference to the faith statement into a parenthetical phrase to clarify it is NAMB's requirement, not the BGCT's, Lewis said.
___The affected section now reads: "Selection of jointly supported personnel shall conform to procedures and requirements of both entities. (This includes NAMB's requirement for those personnel to conform to the Baptist Faith & Message 2000.)"
___Because both groups have approved different agreements, the issue probably will go back to the BGCT Executive Board, Lewis predicted.
___"At this point, we don't have a new cooperative agreement, because we've both signed differing versions," he said. "But we've made adjustments to try to accommodate their concerns."
___E.B. Brooks, coordinator of the BGCT's missions programs, said the mission board's new proposal "compromises with our concern but does not eliminate their insistence their employees comply with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message."
___"I believe it is a concession and a compromise," Brooks said. "It is something I hope our Executive Board can approve."
___The existing cooperative agreement will remain in effect until a new agreement is approved by both groups, Brooks said.
___Compiled from Baptist Standard and Baptist Press reports

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