September 9, 2002
Wade urges moving 'beyond this fight'
with giving form changes
___By Marv Knox
___Editor
___Beginning next year, churches affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas will use a new Cooperative Program contribution form designed to help Texas Baptists "move beyond this fight."
___That movement includes removing a controversial cap on funding Southern Baptist Convention seminaries, as well as redirecting funds away from two other SBC agencies. In return for the streamlined process, the form suggests churches provide a greater portion of denominational funds to the state convention.
___The BGCT Administrative Committee unanimously approved the contribution form--on which churches indicate how they wish to allocate their contributions to Baptist causes--Aug. 30.
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___Churches will begin using the form Jan. 1, 2003, if the budget upon which it is predicated is approved by the BGCT Executive Board Sept. 24 and by messengers to the BGCT annual session Nov. 11-12.
___Cooperative Program contributions have comprised a particularly contentious topic since 1994, when the BGCT voted to allow churches to customize their allocations.
___Traditionally, the Cooperative Program divided two ways, with about two-thirds channeled to the state convention and one-third directed to the Southern Baptist Convention.
___Beginning in 1995, BGCT churches could allocate their Cooperative Program gifts to a broader range of organizations, including the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, which split from the SBC in 1991.
___Supporters of the change emphasized the budgeting process honored churches' decisions to fund Baptist endeavors as they desired. Opponents, however, charged the BGCT with "distancing" itself from the SBC.
___The controversy intensified two years ago, when the Administrative Committee approved a completely new "simplified" giving form for 2001. It highlighted the BGCT Adopted Budget, which increased allocations to state convention causes.
___Opponents particularly decried the Adopted Budget for putting a $1 million cap on contributions to SBC seminaries and redirecting funds away from the SBC Executive Committee and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
___However, a second option on the 2001 form allowed churches to check a box that would allocate church contributions so that 67 percent went to the BGCT and 33 percent went to worldwide causes, which could include the SBC, the Fellowship or other ministries. Contributions channeled to the SBC under this option were not subject to the SBC seminaries' $1 million cap, nor were the other denominational entities excluded.
___A third option enabled churches to fill in their own blanks for allocation of state and worldwide contributions. Some churches complied by splitting their gifts 50/50. Some allocated 67 percent to the SBC and 33 percent to the BGCT.
___Controversy intensified last year, when the Administrative Committee approved the 2002 form. It again highlighted the BGCT Adopted Budget, along with its cap on SBC seminary funding and the redirection around the SBC agencies. But it removed the 67/33 option as a simple, single box to check.
___In keeping with longstanding policy, that form--now in use--allows churches to control their gifts by spelling out specific allocations if they choose not to fund the BGCT Adopted Budget.
___In both years, opponents of the form called it a ruse to help the BGCT loosen its connection to the SBC. However, churches have shown a strong inclination to define their own contributions. As of July 31, 30.7 percent of year-to-date Cooperative Program receipts had been channeled through the BGCT Adopted Budget, and 69.3 percent had been allocated through the other church-defined option.
___The 2003 giving form purports to simplify the process--but also removes the controversial elements of the past two forms.
___The first and primary plan is called the BGCT Cooperative Giving Budget. It will allocate 79 percent to BGCT causes and 21 percent to worldwide endeavors. The worldwide portion of the allocation can be channeled to the SBC, the CBF or to BGCT world missions causes, which include the proposed world missions network, a transition fund for international missionaries, Texas Partnerships, Mexico Partnerships and the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention.
___In contrast to the past two years, the primary giving option allows contributions to go to the SBC unrestricted. This option will not put a cap on the SBC seminaries' receipts, nor will it redirect funds away from the SBC Executive Committee and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
___As with previous giving forms, churches also may choose another option, now called the Church Designed Cooperative Giving Plan, which allows participating churches to allocate any percentage to the BGCT and any percentage to worldwide causes--the SBC, CBF and BGCT world missions.
___The newest Cooperative Program giving form is designed to bring peace to the convention, said Charles Wade, the BGCT's executive director.
___Wade told the Administrative Committee he had talked about the new giving form with more than 100 leaders across Texas. The vast majority of those people affirmed the idea of creating a form that can help churches support worthy BGCT causes while at the same time no longer offend strong SBC advocates who do not want to see funds redirected around national causes.
___"Not all churches are going to want to do this," Wade conceded, noting strong partisans on both sides of the denominational aisle may raise some objections.
___"Some CBFers may not like this," he said. The advantage to the CBF is that it gets a space for possible allocation from churches using the primary option plan. The disadvantage is that the budget asks for a greater percentage of contributions to remain with the BGCT.
___That's also the primary disadvantage for the SBC, he added. But the advantage is reduced conflict. "We are engaging in a process that no longer requires us to comment on how you (the SBC) spend your dollars," he explained, noting the SBC portion of contributions will be allocated according to the SBC's approved budget.
___Acknowledging the new contribution form reflects the third change in as many years, Wade predicted the period of churning would end.
___"This allows us to present a plan which, hopefully, we won't have to visit again in the near future," he said. "Of course, churches will do what they want to do. I understand this is risky. But I could not get away from the conviction that we've got to get away from this controversy. ...
___"The thing that makes people's eyes light up is when I say, 'Let's move beyond this fight.' This (new contribution) form gets us down the road."
___Wade predicted some adversaries will criticize the new form, and BGCT President Bob Campbell concurred.
___Campbell, pastor of Westbury Baptist Church in Houston, said he expects some churches to continue to turn away from the BGCT and toward a competing convention in the state. But he drew a positive analogy from similar woes faced by the SBC when churches affiliated with the CBF began pulling away more than a decade ago.
___"The SBC took five years to recover," Campbell recalled. "And we will recover."
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