February 25, 2002

NAMB expands requirements on 2000 BF&M
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___The Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board has declared that home missionaries receiving NAMB funding must sign a statement affirming the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.
___Missionaries only partially funded by NAMB who already are under appointment will be exempt from the requirement, according to a letter mailed from NAMB to state Baptist convention executive directors Feb. 8. However, all current missionaries fully funded by NAMB and all jointly funded missionaries appointed in the future "will be required to sign a statement," the letter explains.
___Since the SBC adopted the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, NAMB missionaries jointly appointed through state Baptist conventions have been required to affirm that faith statement. That caused concern within the Baptist General Convention of Texas, prompting a missions study committee last year to recommend changing the way the BGCT and NAMB cooperatively fund missions work in Texas.
___Because NAMB was requiring jointly funded missionaries to sign an affirmation of a doctrinal statement rejected by the BGCT, the BGCT is in the process of no longer asking for NAMB funding of projects and personnel in Texas. Instead, the BGCT is moving toward retaining from Cooperative Program gifts the amount that would have been returned to the BGCT from NAMB according to the old formula.
___This change already has taken place as it relates to non-personnel expenses. It is still in transition, however, as it relates to missionary personnel expenses.
___The concept of retaining missions funds from NAMB's allocation was not originated by the BGCT. A similar approach was adopted by the Mississippi Baptist Convention several years ago.
___What's new about the latest request from NAMB is the requirement that all missionaries fully funded by NAMB must sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. This impacts about 59 missionaries nationwide, according to NAMB spokesman Marty King.
___The vast majority of missionaries counted by NAMB are jointly funded with state Baptist conventions.
___NAMB President Bob Reccord called this "the last step in a process we started 18 months ago to provide our employees with the opportunity for affirming the current Baptist Faith & Message."
___Fully funded missionaries will receive a letter from Reccord soon asking them to indicate agreement or disagreement with this statement: "I have read and am in agreement with the current edition of the Baptist Faith & Message." The missionaries must check either "yes" or "no." If the answer is "no," they are asked to explain.
___The form then asks the missionaries to sign a statement agreeing "to carry out my responsibilities in accordance with and not contrary to the current Baptist Faith & Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention."
___NAMB administrators were required to sign similar forms last year. And jointly funded missionaries now are required to sign the same forms before appointment.

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