January 27, 2003
More missionaries getting 'the call,'
but this one's from IMB executive
___By Mark Wingfield
___Managing Editor
___RICHMOND, Va.--Some international missionaries supported by gifts from Southern Baptist churches are getting "the call," but this call, they contend, is not from God.
___Instead, the calls are being made by Avery Willis, senior vice president for overseas operations with the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board.
___Those receiving the calls have chosen not to sign an affirmation of the 2000 Baptist
Faith & Message as requested by IMB President Jerry Rankin one year ago.
___According to multiple reports to the Baptist Standard from missionaries or family of missionaries, Willis is telling the missionaries they cannot continue to serve with the IMB if they don't sign an affirmation of the controversial faith statement.
___This does not constitute "termination," however, Willis reportedly has insisted to the affected personnel.
___IMB officials steadfastly have declared that no missionaries have been fired for failure to sign the affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Rankin's request, the administrators have said, is a voluntary one with no predetermined consequences for conscientious objectors.
___Asking missionaries to affirm the revised faith statement, even if their beliefs were examined against the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message upon appointment, is necessary to dispel charges of heretical teaching launched by unnamed accusers, Rankin said last year.
___An IMB spokesman confirmed that Willis has been making phone calls since the first of the year to missionaries who have not signed.
___The Baptist Standard repeatedly requested additional information from the IMB, but despite promises of a statement from Rankin, no additional information was provided by the Standard's press time Jan. 23, three full days after the request was made.
___Steve and Kay Armstrong, who currently are on leave of absence in Dallas, are among the missionaries who recently received a call from Willis.
___In a written summary of that Jan. 15 phone call provided to the Standard by Armstrong, he recounts the events this way: "I asked if signing was still only a request. Avery said, 'Yes.' I asked if missionaries are going to be terminated for non-compliance to this request. He reacted that 'they have not made that decision yet.' But then he went on to explain that they had in fact made a decision that no missionary would be allowed to return to the field from stateside assignment or leave of absence without signing the Baptist Faith & Message statement of accountability."
___When Armstrong referred to this as "termination," he said, Willis replied that the IMB is not using that word.
___Armstrong said he reiterated to Willis that he and his wife could not in good conscience sign the affirmation as required. "I asked him to please finalize the decision (about their future service) as soon as possible. He said, 'You can take that as a final decision.'"
___A similar account is told by Leon and Kathy Johnson, who received a call from Willis Jan. 13. The Johnsons currently are serving in Mozambique and are 20-year veterans of IMB service.
___The Johnsons have refused to sign the affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message because they believe it is being used as a non-Baptist creed. To sign it "would place a man-made document in authority above the Bible and God's self-revelation in Jesus," he explained. "For us to sign would be a sin in our minds. We have sought to explain our reasoning in vain."
___When Willis called the Johnsons, Johnson asked him four questions, he reported:
___ "Has the SBC taken any action to require veteran missionaries to sign the Baptist Faith & Message?" Willis reportedly answered no.
___ "Have the trustees of the IMB taken any action to require us to sign?" Again, Willis answered no, Johnson said.
___ "Is there any policy of the IMB requiring us to sign?" Willis also answered no to this point.
___ "Is this a request?" To this question, Johnson said, Willis answered yes.
___Johnson then suggested that a "request" may either be granted or denied. "Since to grant this request would be a violation of our consciences, Kathy and I deny the request," he told Willis.
___By Johnson's account, Willis then warned him twice that there would be "consequences" for not signing. "Dr. Willis replied that he respected our consciences but we must sign in order to avoid loss of support for the IMB from the SBC."
___The Johnsons and the Armstrongs dispute the IMB's stated position that signing the affirmation is merely a "request" and not a mandate for employment.
___"If this were really only a request and only a statement of faith, no one would be going to these great lengths to pressure and demand compliance to this document, and no one would be judged or terminated for refusing to sign it," Armstrong wrote.
___Among information requested of IMB officials by the Standard was the IMB's definition of "termination." The Standard also sought to discover the number of IMB missionaries still serving who have not signed the affirmation as requested.
___Several dozen missionaries have resigned or taken early retirement within the last year rather than sign the affirmation of the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. Others are believed to have resigned or retired for the same reason but without making that reason explicitly known.
___Rick and Nancy Dill were the first IMB missionaries to receive "the call" from Willis. They were called Oct. 10 in Arkadelphia, Ark., where they are on stateside assignment as missionaries-in-residence at Ouachita Baptist University.
___They believe their call came prematurely due to confusion about when they were scheduled to return to their work in Germany. They were scheduled to stay in Arkansas through May, but IMB records apparently led Willis to believe they were to return in December.
___In that October call, Willis told the Dills they could not return to their work in Germany without signing the affirmation as requested by Rankin. They told him they would not sign.
___In public statements afterward, Willis insisted the Dills were not being terminated.
___"Rick and Nancy Dill have not been terminated," he told the Arkansas Baptist News. "They are fine missionaries, and we would hate to lose them. ... We are hoping they will decide to affirm the Baptist Faith & Message before the time comes for them to be released to return to the field in May."
___Other accounts of missionaries receiving the same type of phone call from Willis have been reported to the Baptist Standard within the last week, but these missionaries have asked for their names not to be made public yet. Some are struggling to determine what they will do; some are asking for a few more months to conclude projects currently under way.
___The stress of the situation is taking a toll on missionary families, however, reported one relative of a missionary couple who refuse to sign.
___The stateside relative told of a missionary child who has developed physical symptoms of anxiety because of the stress the parents are under.
___"I believe this is a time when we need to wrap our arms around these families and help them through a terrible injustice," the relative wrote.
___Editor's note: Nearly 24 hours after the Baptist Standard went to press, a response was received from IMB spokesman Mark Kelly. That response arrived via e-mail at the Baptist Standard at precisely the same time as the Jan. 24 issue of Baptist Press, which carried a story on the phone calls written by Kelly.
___ "Yes, Avery is making phone calls to some missionaries who have not yet affirmed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message," Kelly said in the statement. "He is reiterating what we said back in October that, like new workers, missionaries on stateside assignment will not be returned to overseas service until they decide how they are going to respond to Dr. Rankin's request a year ago to take the initiative and affirm the current Baptist Faith & Message."
___ Willis' phone calls "are not being made to inform people that they are being fired," the statement said. Rather, Kelly quoted Associate Vice President Clyde Meador as saying Willis is "seeking to counsel missionaries and persuade them to make the affirmation."
___ "We want this to be a decision the missionaries make for themselves," Meador added. "We want to give every missionary sufficient time and opportunity to consider their response. If a missionary decides he cannot affirm it and therefore cannot continue serving through the IMB, we regret that but appreciate the integrity of conscience it demonstrates."
___ Kelly said he could not provide exact numbers of missionaries who have not yet affirmed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message. |
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