August 26, 2002
New cooperative agreement clarifies
BGCT and SBC's joint mission work
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--The Baptist General Convention of Texas State Missions Commission has endorsed a recommended cooperative agreement clarifying working relations between the state convention and the Southern Baptist Convention's North American Mission Board.
___The recommended agreement acknowledges the NAMB requirement that jointly funded missionaries comply with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message--a statement of faith approved by the Southern Baptist Convention but not embraced by the BGCT. The new cooperative agreement would not prohibit the BGCT from finding other avenues of service for prospective missionaries who refuse to comply with the SBC's doctrinal requirement.
___At its Aug. 20 meeting, the 18-member commission approved for Executive Board consideration a seven-page document outlining relationships and responsibilities of the BGCT and NAMB regarding shared mission work in Texas.
___The last cooperative agreement had been negotiated in 1991 between the BGCT and the Southern Baptist Convention's Home Mission Board, which merged with the Brotherhood Commission and the Radio & Television Commission in 1997 to form the North American Mission Board.
"We will not be in the position of saying prospective missionaries cannot affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, nor will we be placed in the position of saying they must do so."
___ E.B. Brooks
___The BGCT Missions-sending Agencies Study Committee--created in response to a motion at the 1999 BGCT annual session--had recommended to the Executive Board last year that the state convention negotiate a new agreement with NAMB. That study committee assigned to its successor, the BGCT Missions Review and Initiatives Committee, the responsibility of monitoring ongoing relationships with NAMB.
___The NAMB subcommittee of the BGCT Missions Review and Initiatives Committee endorsed the recommended cooperative agreement between NAMB and the BGCT. Now, the BGCT Executive Board will vote on the proposed agreement at its Sept. 24 meeting, and NAMB trustees will consider the agreement at their October meeting.
___Jointly supported personnel must conform to "current procedures and requirements of both entities," according to the agreement. In keeping with NAMB policy, that means any new missionaries appointed for service in Texas and receiving NAMB funding "shall comply with the Baptist Faith & Message 2000."
___However, for the first time, the proposed cooperative agreement acknowledges that the BGCT is retaining missions funds that otherwise would have been routed to NAMB and then sent back to Texas.
___E.B. Brooks, coordinator of the BGCT Church Missions and Evangelism Section, worked for the past year in negotiating the recommended agreement. He clarified for commissioners that the BGCT will use funds retained in Texas to provide missions opportunities for those who cannot, in good conscience, affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message.
___"No one will be forced to affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message in order to have a missions position in Texas," Brooks said.
___The recommended cooperative agreement respects the autonomy of both NAMB and the BGCT regarding the required affirmation of the Southern Baptist statement of faith, and it respects the autonomy and conscience of each individual, he noted.
___"The board of trustees at the North American Mission Board requires that every new appointed or approved person comply with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. We will only present for NAMB approval those persons who wish to affirm or comply with the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message," Brooks said. "For those who find reasons not to affirm it, we will find another way for them to serve.
___"We will not be in the position of saying prospective missionaries cannot affirm the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, nor will we be placed in the position of saying they must do so."
___NAMB provides full financial support for fewer than 60 missionaries throughout North America. The vast majority of NAMB-appointed missionaries are funded cooperatively by a local Baptist association, state Baptist convention and possibly by a ministry sponsored by the association or convention. NAMB normally pays for insurance benefits and may provide a small monthly stipend, while the other partners bear the remaining expense.
___In other business, the State Missions Commission:
___ Agreed to recognize only one association as a channel for resources requested by any individual church. The policy primarily impacts churches that are members of both a local geographic association and a non-geographic affinity group association. The approved policy stipulates that a church that positively supports the ministry, mission and budget of the BGCT but believes the association to which it relates is unable to meet its needs is free to apply directly to the State Missions Commission for financial assistance and church services.
___ Voted to provide BGCT funding for Korean work in Texas through individual congregations rather than through the Korean Baptist Fellowship of Texas. The fellowship recently announced it had entered a formal relationship with the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
___ Agreed to merge the offices of Mission Service Corps and Lay Ministry Development. Commissioners approved Lindsay Cofield as director of the new Mission Service Corps Center and Cecil Deadman as associate director of the center. Cofield and Deadman previously had served in the Lay Ministry Development office. The commission also approved a position for an equipping consultant in the new center.
___ Reaffirmed the position of ethnic evangelism consultant in the Center for Strategic Evangelism as a full-time position. Currently, Gus Reyes serves as a part-time consultant in that area. The full-time post will be filled in January 2003.
___
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