February 25, 2002
Texas WMU board appeals to three SBC leaders
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___CEDAR HILL--The Woman's Missionary Union of Texas board of directors is asking three Southern Baptist Convention agency executives to reverse course on recent actions and policy changes that impact missionaries and missions support.
___Specifically, the Texas WMU board has sent letters asking:
___Jerry Rankin, president of the SBC International Mission Board, to reconsider his decision requiring missionaries to sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.
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___Meeting Feb. 21 at Mount Lebanon Baptist Encampment, the 39-member board approved the letters proposed by a critical issues task force. WMU President Kathy Hillman of Waco and Executive Director-Treasurer Carolyn Porterfield appointed the task force in January to address challenges facing Texas Baptists.
___Gerry Dunkin of Lufkin, former president of Texas WMU, recommended the board's approval of the letters on behalf of the critical issues task force. With 33 members of the board in attendance, motions to approve the letters passed unanimously.
___Hillman and Porterfield told the board they were willing to sign the letters on board members' behalf. However, several board members and staff specifically asked that they be allowed to sign the letters personally.
___"Does that mean everyone has to sign?" one board member asked, citing possible repercussions for women whose children are in ministry or on the mission field.
___"No," Hillman said. "We're Baptists."
___The letter to Rankin cites a statement in his letter to missionaries that those who sign the Baptist Faith & Message affirmation are protected from charges of "heresy" while they are overseas and unable to defend themselves.
___"This is untenable," the Texas WMU board's letter to Rankin states. "Since all missionaries processed since June 2000 have signed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, this is a directive to veteran missionaries who have given their lives in service to God and who have trusted Southern Baptists to support and pray for them, not look upon them with suspicion and distrust."
___The WMU board's letter also disputes Rankin's assertion that the IMB wants nothing to deter the fulfillment of the Great Commission. "By your action, you have created distress and uncertainty among the very persons you are counting on to carry out this task.
___"We who have supported missionaries and missions through prayer, giving and affirming our children in their calls to missions want you to know of our concern for the impact of this decision on missionaries, their families, friends and prayer supporters in the U.S. and mission work around the world.
___"We urge you to reconsider this position as a first step in re-establishing the trust upon which our denomination has been built since 1845."
___The only questions raised by the board regarding the letter concerned how it would impact relationships between national Woman's Missionary Union and the mission boards, or into what position it would place other state WMU groups.
___"We just cannot be silent," said board member Nelda Gerbine of Cleburne.
___The WMU board's letter to Reccord asks that NAMB reconsider its reported policy reversal on the endorsement of ordained female chaplains, noting the new policy "seems to discriminate against women by not endorsing those who are ordained."
___Citing support for the previous NAMB policy of endorsing ordained women as chaplains, the letter asked, "How do you propose that Southern Baptist women serve as chaplains, ministering to females in the Veteran's Administration and the Federal Bureau of Prisons?"
___The letter states: "These women have not been ordained into a pastoral role, but their service to the Lord's work is just as valuable and necessary as that of a pastor. They, too, have been 'set aside' because they have heard and responded to his call to missions."
___In discussion, several board members told of personal acquaintances with chaplains--both male and female--who were deeply offended by the new NAMB policy.
___The WMU board's letter to Chapman notes that through the BGCT Cooperative Program in 2001, Texas Baptist churches gave more than $18.2 million to SBC missions causes, plus $12.9 million to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions and $5.3 million to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions.
___"Because Woman's Missionary Union of Texas seeks to create an environment that enables individuals and churches to fulfill the Great Commission, and because our vision is to see that individuals and churches pursue and embrace prayer, ministry and service that reflect a world vision and passion for declaring God's glory to all people, we stand together to affirm the churches of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in decisions concerning distribution of Cooperative Program funds," the letter states.
___"The churches of BGCT have never faltered in the mandate to further missions around the world, in our nation and in our state. Texas is a mission field, and the Texas WMU board of directors recognizes the responsibility God has given us to reach the millions in Texas who do not know Jesus Christ as Savior.
___"We take this charge seriously and urge the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee to work with the Baptist General Convention of Texas when issues arise, rather than making direct appeals to churches."
___In her executive director's report to the board, Porterfield said the actions by the mission boards and the SBC Executive Committee "impact the cause of Christ around the world."
___The requirement that foreign missionaries sign a confession of faith is a reversal of a pledge made by Rankin and places mission personnel in a difficult position, she noted.
___"Missionaries are now put in awkward situations and asked to make decisions that might impact their ability to stay on the mission field," she said.
___Choked with emotion, Porterfield read e-mail correspondence from foreign missionaries who were unwilling to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Missionaries said they were "shocked" and "disappointed" by the policy reversal, and they expressed fear of reprisal from the IMB for daring to cite differences with the confession of faith.
___Regarding the new NAMB policy on ordained female chaplains, Porterfield said: "The action taken by the NAMB trustees means that ordained Southern Baptist women will no longer be able to serve as military chaplains or chaplains in federal correctional facilities. This is not a matter of pastoral leadership; it is a matter of fulfilling God's call in missions service as a chaplain--not as a pastor."
___The direct appeal by Chapman to BGCT-related churches not only was unprecedented, but also contained inaccuracies, Porterfield said. For example, she noted that the letter said the BGCT Cooperative Program provides no support for Southeastern Seminary, when in fact the seminary received $533,290 from Texas Baptists last year.
___It also "misrepresents" the $1 million that the BGCT will keep in the state, rather than sending those funds to the North American Mission Board and having them return the money to Texas, she said.
___"The work of North American missions is not being hampered by Texas Baptists retaining money that would come back to us anyway, and in a more timely manner than is currently being practiced," she said.
___Rather than remaining silent, a commitment to missions and the call of conscience demanded that Texas WMU speak up on these issues, just as Martin Luther felt compelled to speak out against papal tyranny in 1521, Porterfield said. And just as Luther took his stand at great risk, so also standing in opposition to policies of SBC agencies involves risk.
___"Individuals, churches and state conventions are trying to stand against powerful leaders, and it bears a cost," she said. "Some missionaries will resign and return from their place of service out of conviction about what it means to be Baptist. Churches are making crucial decisions about missions giving and involvement, and it is vastly changing the face of Southern Baptist missions. State conventions are free--or so we thought--to make decisions about missions giving, and it is costing them as well."
___The core values of WMU--Jesus as Lord, the Bible as guide, support for missionaries and their families, and affirming the role of women and girls in God's plan for the nations--demanded a statement from Texas WMU, she said.
___"We feel the need to speak, not to cause division, but rather to allow our voices to be heard and to be true to our conscience."
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