February 25, 2002
Currie invited to visit Rankin, IMB
___CHARLOTTE, N.C. (ABP)--David Currie has accepted an invitation to visit the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board and learn more about its work.
___Currie, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed and national consultant for the Mainstream Baptist Network, was invited to take a closer look at the IMB by David Evans, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Amarillo. Evans serves as an IMB trustee.
___Currie announced the invitation and his acceptance of it Feb. 16 during the first meeting of the Mainstream Baptist Network. The loosely organized group claims to represent traditional Baptist views while rejecting "fundamentalism" they believe dominates the SBC.
___When he goes to IMB headquarters in Richmond, Va., Currie will meet with Evans and IMB President Jerry Rankin, he said. His agenda, he added, will be to "ask questions on behalf of mainstream Baptists."
___In the meantime, Currie is writing Rankin requesting the names and addresses of all missionaries that can be shared and asking what will happen to missionaries if they don't sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message as Rankin has requested. He also is asking for documentation of any charges of heresy against Southern Baptist missionaries.
___"We deserve some answers," he told the group gathered in Charlotte, N.C. "We care for these people. The real question is, Who is going to save these missionaries from their own board?"
___In an earlier address to the Mainstream group, Currie criticized Rankin for asking the IMB's 5,100 missionaries to affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.
___"Jerry Rankin and the IMB have drawn a line in the sand and said, 'If you'll give up your freedom, step over it,'" Currie said. "What they've really said is if you'll replace 'Jesus is Lord' with 'the SBC is Lord,' step over it."
___Currie accused Rankin and other SBC leaders of "spiritual terrorism" or "spiritual clergy abuse."
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