June 17, 2002
A dozen motions made at SBC, but none debated
___ST. LOUIS--A dozen motions, including two related to mission boards requiring missionaries to affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, were offered by messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 11-12. None of the motions were debated by messengers, however.
___The convention's committee on order of business referred 10 motions to agencies for review. The other two motions were ruled out of order.
___Motions that are referred to agencies carry no weight of messenger endorsement, although the agencies are required to report back next year whether they considered the suggestion and what their decision was.
___Two referred motions would have rescinded the requirement of SBC missionaries to sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Both motions focused on missionaries who were appointed under the 1925 or 1963 versions of the Baptist Faith & Message.
___Both motions were referred to the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board for consideration, meaning they were not debated by convention messengers.
___"We trust the trustees to study this and make the decision," said Ron Rogers, chairman of the committee on order of business.
___But Robert Casey of Parkview Baptist Church in Gainesville, Fla., and Bruce Prescott of First Baptist Church of Norman, Okla.--the two originators of the motions--appealed the decision of the committee to refer.
___"I hope we will honor the service of our missionaries in the past," Casey said. "They have served God, the convention and the people they were appointed to serve in a faithful and honorable way. We should not force them to sign the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. ... This does not apply to any candidates appointed after the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message."
___Prescott noted the numerous references about accountability that come with discussions of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. "If trustees can hold missionaries accountable, who holds the trustees accountable?" he asked. "I believe it is the messengers who meet here this week. We will thwart the constitution if we do not allow them speak on this issue and vote."
___A voice vote to schedule debate on one of the referred motions failed.
___Also referred to NAMB was a motion calling for NAMB to withdraw chaplaincy endorsement from any ordained female. NAMB trustees recently voted not to issue future endorsement to female chaplains who are ordained, even though ordination is a requirement for chaplaincy work in many places, including segments of the U.S. military.
___The motion was made by William Blosch of First Baptist Church of Dunedin, Fla. In addition to rescinding endorsement of any female chaplain who is ordained, the motion would have removed endorsement from any female chaplain "unscripturally serving as the pastor of a chapel congregation."
___During the NAMB presentation June 11, NAMB President Bob Reccord explained that ordained female chaplains already serving with NAMB were "grandfathered in" under the new policy, which does not allow ordained female chaplains to be endorsed.
___Regarding the possibility of female chaplains gaining ordination after their endorsement with NAMB, Reccord said: "That is a hypothetical situation and does not exist. We will have to deal with it at the time. But we don't expect it to happen."
___Chaplaincy endorsements are not lifetime endorsements, but must be renewed on a periodic basis. Many ordained females currently endorsed by NAMB have begun seeking alternate endorsement, often from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship or the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___Another motion referred to the SBC Executive Committee originated with Bob Stephenson of First Baptist Church of Norman, Okla. His motion would have instructed the Executive Committee to recognize and accept gifts from only one convention in each state.
___His concern, he said in a later interview, is that the SBC treats dual-convention states differently. In Texas and Virginia, conservatives have formed new conventions, and the SBC recognizes both the historic convention and the new convention. But in Missouri, the SBC has refused to recognize a new state convention formed by opponents of fundamentalism who still want to support SBC missions causes.
___Stephenson said the SBC should be consistent in the way it relates to states with dual conventions.
___Two motions were ruled out of order.
___The first of those was made by Bill Tweeddale of Harbor City Baptist Church of Melbourne, Fla. He suggested that "every college receiving endorsement from any entity of the convention have a statement of inerrancy that will be signed by staff and trustees of that institution."
___Historically, the SBC has not operated colleges, only seminaries. A large number of Baptist colleges and universities are operated by state Baptist conventions, which in Baptist polity are not directly governed by the national convention. In recent years, however, some of the SBC seminaries have launched college-degree programs in addition to their graduate programs.
___The other motion ruled out of order was made by Dennis Wynn of First Baptist Church of Moberly, Mo. He wanted all people nominated for SBC offices to provide information about Cooperative Program giving as a percentage of their church's budget.
___Other motions referred to agencies by the committee on order of business were:
___That changes be made in wording in the "Eternal Life" witnessing tract produced by NAMB. The motion by Fred Winters of First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill., was referred to NAMB.
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___Written by Managing Editor Mark Wingfield based on reporting by Jennifer Davis Rash of the Alabama Baptist and Editor Marv Knox
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