Sign by May 5 or be fired, Rankin tells missionaries

April 21, 2003

Sign by May 5 or be fired,
Rankin tells missionaries
___RICHMOND, Va.--International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin has given a deadline of May 5 for missionaries who have not affirmed the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message to do so or be terminated.
___This marks the first time IMB officials have used the word "terminate" to describe the consequences of failing to sign the requested affirmation.
___Previously, IMB administrators have insisted missionaries were not being "terminated" for failure to sign the required affirmation. Earlier this year, for example, IMB Vice President Avery Willis called missionaries on stateside assignment to tell them they could not return to their fields of work without signing, but that did not constitution termination, he said.
___Rankin's request, IMB administrators said previously, is a voluntary one with no predetermined consequences for conscientious objectors.
___But in letters sent April 11 to 31 people--18 missionary "units" in IMB terminology--Rankin urged missionaries to affirm the statement or resign rather than be fired.
___Rankin reminded the missionaries that he first requested their affirmation of the revised faith statement more than a year ago. Since then, 98.7 percent of the board's 5,500 overseas workers have affirmed the document, according to IMB spokesman Mark Kelly.
___The letters Rankin wrote to non-signing missionaries apparently differed somewhat in content. An IMB news release quoted from one letter as an example: "I am grateful for your years of service and would be delighted if you should decide to affirm the current Baptist Faith & Message and continue your effective ministry with the IMB. Apart from that, I would like to ask that you consider resigning rather than maintaining a position that would undermine the integrity and credibility of the IMB. If I do not hear from you regarding one of these options by May 5, 2003, I will be recommending that the board take action to terminate your service in their May meeting."
___Six missionaries, however, were not offered the option of affirming the Baptist Faith & Message. These unidentified missionaries were invited to resign or be terminated. Those missionaries "have clearly and publicly stated positions contrary to the Baptist Faith & Message that are beyond acceptable parameters," Rankin said. "They have adamantly refused to be accountable to the IMB and Southern Baptist churches as requested."
___Five missionary couples who qualify are being offered the option of retiring with full benefits, Kelly said, although their identities were not revealed.
___According to IMB reports, 32 missionaries submitted resignations in the past year that cited the Baptist Faith & Message issue as a factor in their decisions. The resignations of another eight people are expected at the trustee meeting in May, Kelly said, and one missionary couple has decided to resign in August, bringing the IMB-reported total of missionaries resigning over the issue to at least 42.
___That total presumably does not include missionaries who resigned quietly without drawing attention to their disagreement with the Baptist Faith & Message or those who took early retirement because of the mandate but without specifically citing the issue in official documents.
___Rankin re-emphasized the directive was given as a matter of demonstrating trust with the convention.
___"We have total confidence in our missionaries, and my initial letter was a collective appeal to assure Southern Baptists of the doctrinal integrity of the missionaries they send and support," he said. "However, the failure of some to affirm their accountability undercuts the credibility and support of all missionaries serving with the IMB in a time of remarkable evangelistic harvest and unprecedented opportunities.
___"We deeply regret losing any missionary, but we are accountable to the churches in this matter," he continued. "If a missionary's disagreements are so great that he or she cannot in good conscience promise to work in harmony with the Baptist Faith & Message, we feel he or she has an obligation to Southern Baptists to tell them so."

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