February 10, 2003

Missouri convention reduces staff,
evicts newspaper from office space
___JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP)--At least 22 Missouri Baptist Convention employees have lost their jobs as a result of the convention's current economic woes.
___Meanwhile, Word & Way, the Baptist newspaper involved in a legal battle with the Missouri Baptist Convention, has been told to vacate the convention-owned space it occupies by March 1.
___In a letter to pastors and other leaders, David Clippard, convention executive director, said a budget shortfall in 2002 forced the convention to reduce its workforce by "just over" 20 percent in mid-January.
___The Missouri convention has been in turmoil for more than a year, in part because of differences between moderates and conservatives. As a fundamentalist majority gained power in the convention, the former executive director, Jim Hill, resigned and five convention agencies decided to elect their own boards, which historically had been appointed by the convention.
___The state convention finished 2002 almost 16 percent below its original $19.2 million budget for the year. The convention's executive board in December authorized new executive Clippard "to do whatever is necessary to adjust staff to bring the convention into financial stability." At the same meeting, however, the board added two associate executive director positions.
___In his letter to leaders, Clippard said a lack of reserve funds compounded the convention's economic condition. Those reserves were spent over the past five years, he wrote.
___Clippard has declined to confirm the number or names of employees terminated.
___Word & Way was given 30 days to vacate its office space in the Baptist Building. In addition, materials belonging to the news journal and stored in another area of the convention headquarters in Jefferson City have been locked away from the paper's staff.
___Word & Way is among five Missouri Baptist Convention agencies that have changed their charters to elect their own trustees rather than continuing to allow the convention to elect trustees. The charter changes were fueled, at least in part, by a desire to avoid takeover by the fundamentalist leadership of the state convention.
___Despite the board action, Word & Way has continued to cover the Missouri Baptist Convention, claiming its content has not changed.
___The Missouri Baptist Convention, meanwhile, has started its own newspaper, the Pathway, also housed in the Baptist Building.
___In a letter to Word & Way Editor Bill Webb, David Clippard, convention executive director, called the newspaper's ouster from the space "appropriate" since "Word & Way no longer considers itself a division of or an agency of the Missouri Baptist Convention or the executive board."
___Webb disagreed with that assessment.
___"I and the Word & Way trustees do consider Word & Way as still an agency of the Missouri Baptist Convention," he said. "The action to elect our board was made. However, our trustees said they were committed and that Word & Way is committed to continuing the ministry they were engaged in. That purpose has not changed."

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