February 25, 2002
Texas Baptist Men board deliberates
relationship to alternative convention
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___AQUILLA--The Texas Baptist Men board of directors has allowed a proposed working relationship between the men's missions organization and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to be tabled "until the Father himself lifts it off" the table.
___The board had wrestled for two years with the question of how Texas Baptist Men could serve all the Baptist men in Texas--those in churches affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and those in the SBTC.
___But after prolonged discussion and impassioned prayer during its Feb. 15-16 meeting at Latham Springs Baptist Encampment near Aquilla, the board could not reach what Texas Baptist Men President Leo Smith of Alvin considered a clear consensus.
TEXAS BAPTIST MEN board members gather in prayer around Roger Hall, treasurer and chief financial officer of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, and Gary Ledbetter, communications director for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
___A task force of former Texas Baptist Men presidents and retired staff presented a resolution that would have expressed the organization's desire for a "working relationship" with the BGCT, the SBTC, the Southern Baptist Convention and all associations of Texas Baptist churches.
___The resolution was drafted after extensive meetings with both SBTC and BGCT leaders. It included a doctrinal statement affirming the historicity, accuracy, inspiration and truthfulness of the Bible, but it did not mention the term "inerrancy."
___It also affirmed basic Baptist beliefs such as baptism by immersion, salvation by grace through faith and a commitment to following Jesus' example in ministry.
___The final paragraph stated, "Therefore, be it resolved, that Texas Baptist Men go on record, by board action, that we desire to have a working relationship with the Baptist General Convention of Texas and with the Southern Baptist Convention, the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and all associations of Baptist churches in Texas to assist them to encourage their men in their churches to be a part of the family of Texas Baptist Men as we work together for the glory of God."
___Smith, who allowed former president Andy Andreason of McGregor to moderate discussion regarding the resolution, said, "I grieve that words--even though words are important--are threatening the possibility of some men not being able to work with Texas Baptist Men."
___Smith told the board he believed no action taken would be acceptable to both the BGCT and the SBTC. He noted that if Texas Baptist Men did not work out a relationship with the SBTC, that convention would launch its own competing men's ministry.
___"If we do not adopt a resolution like this, there will be another Baptist men's organization in the state of Texas, starting sometime the latter part of this year. If we do this, we are jeopardizing our longstanding relationship with the BGCT, where we get our funds from," Smith said.
___Discussion among the group included assessments by some that the SBTC had "threatened" Texas Baptist Men. Others used the same term to describe the men's group's financial dependence on the BGCT.
___Several board members spoke in favor of the resolution, presenting it as the most neutral statement possible. "We're striving to be Switzerland in the middle of World War II," said John LaNoue of Lindale.
___Bryan Crittendon of McCamey urged the board to follow principles of spiritual leadership and set an example of unity for all Baptists in Texas. "Let's follow God, let's be unified, and if it takes putting some words on a page for people to come alongside, let's set the example of unity."
___Others said the organization's relationship with the BGCT, which has provided financial support for Texas Baptist Men for nearly 35 years, was significantly different than its relationship with the SBTC.
___The resolution did not mention that since 1967, Texas Baptist Men has been a self-governing affiliate of the BGCT. The missions organization elects its own officers and governing board, but it is financially dependent on the BGCT.
___Last year, Texas Baptist Men received about $700,000 through the BGCT Cooperative Program and another $150,000 in BGCT endowment funds, plus funds for projects such as disaster relief. The total Texas Baptist Men budget for this year is $938,000, with $776,888 expected to come through the BGCT.
___The SBTC, which was formed by fundamentalists upset with the BGCT's unwillingness to follow the new direction of the SBC's national leadership, has no agencies or institutions of its own. SBTC leadership last year sought to create "formal fraternal relationships" with all the BGCT's agencies and institutions, but none of them accepted the offer.
___By policy, the SBTC provides no funding to any Baptist agency or institution that has not signed a formal agreement with the new convention, including statements on doctrine.
___The SBTC has developed a relationship with Criswell College in Dallas, an independent school affiliated with First Baptist Church of Dallas.
___In trying to prevent the SBTC from starting a competing men's organization, Texas Baptist Men stood in danger of violating their own theology of looking for the activity of God and responding to his invitations, said Bill Arnold, a Texas Baptist Men committee member.
___"If God is inviting the Southern Baptists of Texas to start men's work, let them go. If that's God's invitation to them, we shouldn't stand in the way. If God's not inviting them, and they're doing it to get back at TBM, we're going to let God take care of that," he explained.
___Several board members expressed "grief" and frustration that the missions organization was being forced into making a political choice.
___"To be honest, I really don't like us being in this situation. It's an embarrassment," said Jerry Smith, manager of Latham Springs Baptist Encampment and a Texas Baptist Men regional director. He suggested if the SBTC felt the need to start its own men's ministry, the TBM response should be, "What can we do to help?"
___Harry Campbell of Killeen said he found it "difficult to speak against leadership" who had "agonized" over the proposed resolution. However, he said, "if by doing this we jeopardize where we've come from, we should not change course."
___The 197-member board voted 44-15 to approve the resolution as recommended by the task force. Of those board members present, the president estimated at least 20 abstained from voting.
___But citing "principles of spiritual leadership," Smith ruled that the matter was tabled "until the Father himself lifts it off."
___Smith, who started the board meeting the previous night with an emotional one-hour-and-20-minute prayer meeting, quoted from Henry Blackaby, a guiding force in the spiritual renewal ministries of Texas Baptist Men. One of the teachings of "Experiencing God," he noted, is that when a vote by a body of Christians is not strong and not clearly decisive, the matter being considered is not in God's timing.
___"I am going to rule that the vote taken was not in God's timing," he said. "It was too divided, in my opinion."
___Smith offered to entertain a motion that the chair's ruling be overturned. Nobody spoke publicly against the ruling.
___After being approached by the SBTC in December 2000 and declining its invitation to sign a formal fraternal relationship agreement, Texas Baptist Men attempted to open its work more clearly to all men in Texas Baptist churches.
___Instead of limiting its membership to men in churches affiliated with the BGCT, the organization revised its constitution and bylaws to open Texas Baptist Men to "members of Baptist Men's groups in churches affiliated with either a Baptist association in Texas, the Baptist General Convention of Texas or the Southern Baptist Convention."
___At its October meeting, the board also approved a resolution stating, "Texas Baptist Men stands ready to assist any Baptist church in Texas to lead men into a love relationship with Jesus Christ which thrusts them and their families into a lifestyle of missions and ministry."
___But those changes were not enough to satisfy the SBTC leadership, according to Smith: "The mandate that came from the Southern Baptists of Texas is that if we do not recognize them as a viable convention, there can be no working relationship."
___Members of the Texas Baptist Men task force on convention relationships met on several occasions with Jim Richards, executive director of the SBTC, in attempts to find a solution.
___Bob Dixon, immediate past president and former executive director of Texas Baptist Men, told the group last week that financial support from the BGCT should not be the deciding factor in making any decision.
___"When we do God's work God's way for God's glory, he will supply the resources," Dixon argued.
___Speaking in support of the resolution and the recommended relationship with the SBTC, Dixon said: "Everybody in the SBTC was part of the BGCT when we formed this organization. ... These are all the same churches we always have served."
___Bill Noble of Brownfield expressed concerns that the SBTC would continue to make demands of Texas Baptist Men.
___"I think it's already been taken care of last year," he said. "If we pass this, then probably we'll be back here next year needing to add something else to it."
___Gary Ledbetter, communications director for the SBTC, was asked to address the board. Ledbetter noted he had come simply as an observer, and he was not prepared to make any official statements on behalf of the convention. But he did assure the board, "Nobody has ever had any doubt about the reputation of Texas Baptist Men."
___Responding to a direct question about whether the SBTC would launch a rival men's organization in competition with Texas Baptist Men, Ledbetter said: "All I can say with any certainty is that the purpose of our convention is to meet the needs of our churches and to assist them in Great Commission work. We are going to do what we need to do in order to assist our churches to do that."
___Roger Hall, a member of the Texas Baptist Men board by virtue of his position as treasurer and chief financial officer of the BGCT, also was asked to speak. He expressed empathy for those on the task force who had been "struggling" with the issue for months.
___While noting the longstanding relationship and financial ties that have joined Texas Baptist Men to the BGCT, he assured the board: "We at the Baptist General Convention of Texas are not going to try to tell you what to do. We respect the process whereby you make decisions."
___Hall noted the long history of BGCT involvement with Texas Baptist Men, including ongoing financial support. "I would hate to see anything come into a position of jeopardizing that kind of support, that kind of walking together with you."
___After Hall and Ledbetter addressed the board, Smith asked them to come forward, sit next to each other and allow all of the men present to lay hands on them and pray.
___Jim Furgerson, executive director of Texas Baptist Men, led a tearful prayer for unity and for God's guidance.
___After the vote, BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade said: "I am grateful for the work of Texas Baptist Men and for their heart to work with all churches and men to help them be on mission for God. All Texas Baptists can be proud of those who lead TBM. I am proud that the BGCT has a partnership with them that blesses and helps so many."
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