Baptist Briefs: Virginia Baptists approve governance change

A far-reaching shift in governance of the 191-year-old Baptist General Association of Virginia went into effect Nov. 12 when messengers at the group’s annual meeting adopted a set of constitutional and bylaw changes implementing a proposal adopted last year. That action was followed by election of a new Executive Board and Missions Council—key components in the governing plan that came out of a two-year study. The 21-member Executive Board replaces the former 97-member Virginia Baptist Mission Board as the policy-making authority, although most actions still will require approval by the BGAV in annual meetings. The Executive Board also will oversee a staff of 54 full-time and 23 part-time employees. In other action, the BGAV adopted an $11.5 million 2015 budget, about $700,000 less than the 2014 budget. Virginia Baptists elected as president Ann Brown, a member of First Baptist Church in Gretna, Va., who had been the BGAV’s first vice president. Also elected were Nancy Stanton McDaniel, pastor of Rhoadesville (Va.) Baptist Church, as first vice president; Bill Neiporte, pastor of Patterson Avenue Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., as second vice president; and Fred Anderson, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Historical Society, as clerk.

Alabama Baptist convention opposes Common Core education standards. The Alabama Baptist State Convention at its annual meeting passed a resolution urging the repeal of Common Core standards promoted by the U.S. Department of Education. The resolution titled “On Parental Authority through Local and State Control of Education” urged the governor, state board of education and/or the Alabama legislature to replace Common Core learning standards for K-12 students in English and math “with sound, proven practices of educating and testing through local and state control of what is taught and how it is taught for the betterment of all children in the great state of Alabama.” The Alabama Baptist resolution affirmed, “The God-ordained family is the rightful place for inculcating values and determining career choices.” It labeled Common Core an “unproven methodology” with “little or no evidence that the level of student achievement would be raised by the Common Core Initiative.” The resolution expressed confidence that “sound methods being applied in Alabama classrooms can be utilized without subservience to a federal mandate” and stood for “proven, superior education curriculum and practice chosen by state officials who will respect parental authority and respond to citizen input.”

North Carolina convention reduces budget. The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina voted to trim its annual budget by $1 million, citing a decline in giving of about 7 percent. A 2015 budget of $29 million reduces funding for North Carolina causes including Baptist Children’s Homes of North Carolina, the Biblical Recorder newspaper and student scholarships. It increases the allocation going to the Southern Baptist Convention by half a percent to 37 percent. As recently as 2006, the North Carolina Baptist annual budget stood at $36.4 million. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of North Carolina, an organization that offers alternative missions and ministry programs to moderate churches and individuals dissatisfied by the direction of the state convention, took in more than $4 million in total receipts in 2013-2014.

WMU sponsors regional leadership summit. National and state Woman’s Missionary Union leaders will sponsor the Western Regional Leadership Summit at Del Norte Baptist Church in Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 19–21, 2015. This conference is for anyone interested in learning more about leading a church in missions education and involvement. Registration cost is $49 through Jan. 15. After that, the price increases to $59. It includes conference materials and lunch. Visit wmu.com/events for more information, a complete schedule and to register.

Georgia Baptists join “personhood” campaign. The Georgia Baptist Convention passed a resolution at its annual meeting supporting an amendment to the state’s constitution to specify that protections guaranteed by the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution apply to “preborn” children. Last year, Georgia lawmakers proposed a constitutional amendment recognizing “the paramount right to life of all human beings as persons at any stage of development.” The bill didn’t make it onto the 2014 ballot, however, because it never exited the committee. Similar laws have cropped up in five states since 2008. While all have failed, a newly formed group called the Personhood Alliance described defending human rights from the earliest biological beginning through natural death “nothing less than the prolife battleground of the 21st century.” The Georgia Baptist Convention resolution on “personhood and the sanctity of human life” cites the convention’s “long biblical tradition of strong support for traditional family values including the right to life for all persons in Georgia from fertilization to natural death.” Copies of the resolution will be forwarded to Georgia’s governor, lieutenant governor and members of both houses of the state legislature.