New Orleans trustees reject request to name SBC ‘sole member’ of corporation_102003

Posted: 10/20/03

New Orleans trustees reject request
to name SBC 'sole member' of corporation

NEW ORLEANS–Trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary unanimously rejected a request by the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee to name the SBC the "sole member" of the seminary's corporation.

All other SBC entities have acceded to the request, which was intended to prevent the possibility of a seminary or mission board ever declaring its independence from the national convention.

New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley voiced strong opposition to the request on grounds of Baptist polity, suggesting such a change would result in a form of Baptist "connectionalism" rather than traditional Baptist autonomy.

He and trustees also objected to the change because of some peculiarities of Louisiana law, which is based on the Napoleonic Code rather than the British Common Law upon which the other 49 states based their law.

Despite rejecting the Executive Committee's request, New Orleans did approve a motion expressing their "deep and abiding commitment to the Southern Baptist Convention."

In a chapel address given to open the current academic year, Kelley told students, faculty and staff he supports the SBC and the changes in leadership that have occurred within the convention over the past 25 years. However, the trust held between the seminary and the SBC should be sufficient to maintain the relationship without opening the door to what he called the dangers of connectionalism.

Executive Committee President Morris Chapman expressed disappointment in the trustees' position.

"I deeply regret the New Orleans Seminary board of trustees has chosen to pass on this opportunity to secure that institution for SBC posterity," he said. "Had the board adopted the Southern Baptist Convention as sole member, it would have legally clarified the seminary's relationship to the convention, the seminary's parent corporation and benefactor. More importantly, as sole member, the Southern Baptist Convention could have more easily protected the Cooperative Program, the financial lifeline for all our entities, from the avarice of today's new breed of aggressive litigators."