February 11, 2002

Churches leave association due to
Baptist Faith & Message requirement
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___Four South-central Texas churches are making plans to form a new Baptist association along the I-35 corridor.
___Impetus for the new association is displeasure with Bluebonnet Baptist Association, which serves the region around San Marcos.
___Last October, Bluebonnet voted to amend its constitution to require affirmation of the 2000 version of the Baptist Faith & Message. That faith statement, drafted by the Southern Baptist Convention, has been controversial across Texas and has been rejected by messengers to two BGCT annual sessions.
___Bluebonnet is believed to be the only Texas Baptist association to require affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Other associations have endorsed it along with the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message or other previous faith statements, but no other association affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas is known to have adopted the 2000 statement exclusively.
___The constitutional change in Bluebonnet Association was the last straw for some pastors and churches who already were concerned about the direction of the association, said Jim Taylor, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Seguin.
___"It's very clear to me and some of the other pastors that there is a direction our association is moving in terms of attitude," Taylor said. "We just didn't want to be a part of that.
___"I'm looking for ways to include people in kingdom work," he added, suggesting that Bluebonnet Association has created "a pervasive attitude of looking for ways to exclude people from partnership."
___J.K. Minton, director of missions for Bluebonnet Association, did not return a call from the Standard.
___One month after Bluebonnet's constitutional change, Trinity Baptist's membership voted to review the church's relationship with the association. That led to a vote last month to leave the association.
___"Our first concern was that the (2000 Baptist Faith & Message) is divisive in nature," Taylor explained. "That ought to be enough for us to be concerned. And there are theological problems with it, I believe."
___Lytton Springs Baptist Church in Dale, Cranes Mill Baptist Church in Canyon Lake and Shepherd's Fellowship in Boerne also have left Bluebonnet Association over the constitutional change.
___Three of those churches, along with First Baptist Church of San Marcos, are leading the effort to establish a new association. First Baptist of San Marcos is one of at least three churches that have left Bluebonnet Association previously over related doctrinal differences.
___"We've just begun the process of writing a constitution and values statement," Taylor said. "We're also immediately thinking in terms of missions, what can we do to partner in enhancing the kingdom of God. We want that to be our foremost value. Want to make sure we don't get sidetracked."
___After a Feb. 19 meeting to make a preliminary presentation of organizational documents, the group will move toward a formal constitution, he said. No official start date has been set.
___Although a name has not been finalized, the new association most likely will be called Four Rivers Baptist Association, Taylor said.

Send this story to a friend

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook