July 22, 2002
___ Missouri convention proposes defunding. After voting last year to escrow funds to punish five agencies for moving to self-perpetuating trustee boards, the Missouri Baptist Convention this fall will consider a budget that removes the embattled entities entirely. The Missouri Executive Board voted 30-16 July 9 to amend a draft budget by eliminating funding from both the Cooperative Program unified budget and a supplementary state missions offering for The Baptist Home, Missouri Baptist Foundation, Missouri Baptist College, Windermere conference center and the Word & Way newspaper. By common consent, the board added an asterisk beside the changed line items referring to a notation at the bottom: "until such time as they return to us."
___ Crisis communications conference offered. Al Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, will be among keynote speakers at a Crisis Communication for Ministers conference planned for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Sept. 20-21. "Crisis in ministry is like the Second Coming," Meredith said. "When it happens, you'd better be ready, because you won't have time to get ready." Other speakers will include Larry Ross of Larry Ross and Associates; Rick Ericson of the Lemaster Group; Gary Ledbetter of Southern Baptists of Texas Convention; Becky Bridges of the Baptist General Convention of Texas; and Carolyn Stevens of the United Methodist Church. For registration information, call (877) 474-4769.
___ Word & Way rebuffed. Despite opposition from leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Missouri Baptist newspaper Word & Way distributed 3,500 copies of a special June edition to messengers attending the SBC annual meeting in St. Louis. The SBC Executive Committee denied the newspaper's request to allow distribution of the state Baptist newspaper inside the meeting hall, citing a governance dispute between the Missouri Baptist Convention and the historic newspaper as a reason. According to a report in Word & Way's June 20 issue, a staff member of the SBC Executive Committee confiscated personal copies of the Word & Way given to Registration Secretary Lee Porter and later threatened to call police on a volunteer distributing the newspapers across the street from the convention center.
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