February 24, 2003
SBC shifts some funding from
BWA to create new international network
___By Philip Poole & Greg Warner
___Associated Baptist Press
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)--The Southern Baptist Convention plans to cut its contribution to the Baptist World Alliance by 30 percent next year to begin its own international network of "like-
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| SOUTHERN Baptist Convention President Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, addresses the SBC Executive Committee during its winter meeting in Nashville, Tenn. (BP Photo) |
minded Christians."
___Although the SBC plans to remain a member of the Baptist World Alliance for now, it will begin developing a "new concept" for worldwide relationships under a plan approved by the SBC Executive Committee Feb. 17-18.
___The move stems from SBC leaders' dissatisfaction that BWA is poised to grant membership to the rival Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.
___The SBC Executive Committee asked a task force to explore a new program, tentatively called "Kingdom Relationships," to "look toward strengthening relationships with other like-minded Christian bodies" worldwide. The program will become part of Empowering Kingdom Growth, an evangelism initiative launched at the 2002 SBC annual meeting in St. Louis.
___The recommendation was made by a nine-member study committee reactivated in September 2002 to consider the SBC's membership in BWA. The recommendation was approved Feb. 17 with no dissenting votes and with virtually no discussion. The 88-member Executive Committee conducts SBC business between annual meetings.
___One day later, the Executive Committee approved a $182 million SBC budget for 2003-04 th
| Although the SBC plans to remain a member of the Baptist World Alliance for now, it will begin developing a "new concept" for worldwide relationships. |
at reduces its current $425,000 annual funding for the BWA by $125,000 and redirects those funds to the new initiative.
___The SBC is the largest contributor to BWA and traditionally accounts for the majority of the organization's budget. Founded in 1905, BWA is an umbrella organization of 200 Ba
ptist unions and conventions worldwide, representing 45 million baptized believers in 193,000 churches.
___The background report provided to Executive Committee members said the study committee is not recommending withdrawal from BWA "at the present time" despite growing concerns that the BWA will approve a membership request from the CBF. The CBF is a breakaway group of moderate Southern Baptists that employs its own missionaries and has its own funding plans.
___The written report and comments by Executive Committee President Morris Chapman focused on the CBF membership application. The report said the SBC study committee was "offering no statement on the issue of the (CBF's) membership in the BWA" but noted that the SBC has "much more than a passing interest" in the decision.
___Denton Lotz, general secretary of the Virginia-based BWA, was not immediately available for comment.
___The CBF declined to comment on the SBC action. "We are in due diligence in our application process with the BWA," said CBF spokesperson Ben McDade. "When we hear from that body, we will have a response."
___Chapman acknowledged it is "not the place" of the SBC to tell the BWA how to act on the membership question. However, he added, Southern Baptists are "grappling with the question of whether the Baptist World Alliance or the Southern Baptist Convention is the best representative of Southern Baptists around the world."
___Chapman later told reporters that he was "deeply disappointed" in the procedure used by the BWA membership committee in considering the CBF request. In July 2002, the membership committee reported to the BWA executive committee that it was considering approval of the request if the CBF would distinguish itself as "separate" from the SBC, which the CBF did last September.
___Chapman said the usual procedure for membership was not followed during the July discussion. The membership committee "seemed determined to report their recommendation before they made a formal recommendation," he charged. That action made the "300-member body a membership committee of the whole" and seemed to turn the process "on its head."
___The issue is not so much that there was a "glitch" in the process but in the procedure, Chapman said. "It caused us to stop and rethink that maybe we'd been spinning our wheels rather than making progress" in relationships with BWA.
___He also expressed concern about who would monitor whether or not the conditions are being followed. "If (CBF) separates from the SBC, does that mean that from now on they will build churches from the historical perspective of starting new churches rather than soliciting funds from existing Southern Baptist churches?" Chapman asked.
___The new SBC-led worldwide emphasis "won't be a duplication of the BWA," Chapman said. Initiatives might include Bible conferences and church-growth conferences that would involve "primarily Southern Baptist entities" around the world. He emphasized that Empowering Kingdom Growth is "not a formal organization with formal membership" and the focus would be "on relationships, not organization."
___It will take 18 to 24 months to "determine how that will evolve," he added.
___Members of the SBC task force that made the recommendation are Chapman, chairman; Jimmy Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources; Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board; Paige Patterson, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Tom Elliff, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, Okla., and a former SBC president; Gary Smith, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee and pastor of Fielder Road Baptist Church in Arlington; retired Texas appellate Judge Paul Pressler of Houston; Houston attorney Joe Reynolds; and R.L. "Bob" Sorrell, a staff member of Bellevue Baptist Church in suburban Memphis, Tenn.
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