Posted: 6/25/04

New SBC president willing to go
to great lengths to increase baptisms

By Marv Knox

Editor

INDIANAPOLIS–New Southern Baptist Convention President Bobby Welch pledged to go to great lengths–literally–to encourage the SBC to baptize a million people each year.

Late this summer, Welch will embark on a 25-day bus tour to all 50 states, he announced. From the bus, he will urge grassroots Southern Baptists and their leaders to do more to lead people to faith in Jesus Christ and to bring about a transformation in the nation's largest Protestant convention.

The bus-a-thon will be part of a multi-faceted effort to reverse the SBC's decline, he told reporters just a few hours after he was elected convention president.

That reversal is vital for the future of both the convention and the nation, stressed Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla.

“As the Southern Baptist Convention celebrates the 25th anniversary of the conservative resurgence, I believe it has also crossed the threshold toward its next great transition,” he said. “In all likelihood, this coming transition will be at least equal in impact to anything in the last 25 years. It is not at all clear where this new transition will lead and leave us as a convention–better, worse or stagnated.”

“Conservative resurgence” is the SBC fundamentalists' term for their successful effort to gain control of the national convention and turn it sharply to the right. It began in 1979 and reached its peak in the 1990s. Several hundred messengers celebrated the movement's silver anniversary on the eve of the Indianapolis meeting.

But Welch warned the convention has started to go downhill, and he called for the current transitional period in SBC history to become a time of significant transformation.

“In the next six years, we will be on a path that cannot be changed,” he predicted, urging a “transformation” or movement to get back to the basics of evangelism.

“I don't know what the transitional stage will look like,” he conceded, adding, “But I know we can't tolerate the same-old, same-old.”

Asked to clarify why he claimed the convention is declining, Welch explained: “To say we're plateaued is a compliment. I mean, we're declining. … Baptisms have decreased for the fourth year. We can do better than that. We will do better. And the good news is we've got all the makings for it.”

To boost the number of conversions and baptisms, Welch will take his bus trip to all 50 states and Canada in 25 travel days, beginning Aug. 29. On the trip, he will visit churches and communities of all sizes, seeking out ministry and evangelism needs and encouraging Southern Baptists to lead people to faith in Christ.

As he tours the nation, he will invite state convention executives, evangelism and Sunday school leaders, and newspaper editors to travel with him and talk about convention needs and how to achieve evangelistic success.

Welch will speak in conventions, conferences and other meetings throughout the year, “encouraging the unification of the SBC for an evangelism effort.”

And next March and April, he will visit as many Southern Baptist churches as possible within a 100-mile radius of Nashville, Tenn., site of the 2005 SBC annual meeting. At these meetings, he will promote evangelism.

Finally, he will launch a unity and evangelism effort at the 2005 SBC.

In addition to changing Southern Baptists' perspectives about evangelism, the efforts should change others' views of Southern Baptists, Welch noted.

“The world knows what Southern Baptists are against,” and some of those things they're appropriately against, he said. And the world knows Southern Baptists have disagreed among themselves, he added.

“But the world needs to know what we are for–sharing the love of Christ with everybody who does not know him,” he said.

If Welch succeeds in leading the SBC to baptize 1 million people per year, he will more than reverse recent declines, which have caused annual baptisms to dip below 400,000.

Welch called himself a “helper and encourager” and promised to extend his best efforts to see such an evangelistic transformation come about.

“This convention has a God-given purpose,” he added. “We will take the evangelistic challenge of North America right where it needs to be.”

Welch–a decorated Vietnam war veteran–will celebrate his 30th anniversary at the Daytona church later this summer. He has served as president of the Florida Baptist Convention and vice president of the SBC. He also has been a trustee of LifeWay Christian Resources.

Welch is a graduate of Jacksonville State University in Alabama and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

He and his wife, Maudellen, have a son, Matthew, a daughter, Haylee, and four grandchildren.

During his news conference, Welch fielded reporters' questions on a variety of topics, including:

Public schools.

Prior to the annual meeting, a couple of messengers proposed a resolution calling for Southern Baptist parents to remove their children from “godless,” “government” public schools. At the time of Welch's news conference, a recommendation on that proposal had not been released by the SBC Resolutions Committee.

Welch began by offering two caveats. First, “we've got to maintain the right of a parent to exercise their responsibility for raising their own children,” he said. And second, with thousands of public schools across the nation, “there probably are places where parents ought to take their children out” of public schools.

“Here's where I am personally,” he said. “Our whole passion is to share the gospel with people who do not have it. … If the public school system is our best mission field in America, why pull out?”

Federal Marriage Amendment.

He affirmed a proposal to define marriage as the union between one man and one woman, which has been offered to counter so-called “same-sex marriages.”

Such unions are wrong, he insisted, but he called upon Christians to “approach those people with the same love, grace and kindness we approach all people.”

From his experience as a pastor, Welch said, he believes most homosexuals do not seek to flaunt their lifestyle. “The vast majority are looking for peace, love … and kindness, and when they find it in Christ, they don't need to look elsewhere.”

Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

The Fellowship formed in 1991, when so-called moderate Southern Baptists gave up trying to regain control of the SBC and created their own organization, primarily to engage in missions. The animosity between the Fellowship and the SBC has boiled over repeatedly among both groups. A reporter asked how Welch would relate to the Fellowship and work with its members.

“I'm going to say, 'Will you join us at this unity of evangelism?'” Welch said, noting he would work with all who come together to spread the gospel.

“When they come together and want to share that, then God bless them, wherever they go,” he said.

Baptist World Alliance.

Earlier in the day, the SBC voted to withdraw from the Baptist World Alliance, comprised of 210 other Baptist conventions from around the globe. The BWA's decision to accept the Fellowship sparked its schism with the SBC, which was fueled by charges that the BWA has become liberal and “anti-American,” which BWA leaders repeatedly have denied.

The division between the SBC and the BWA “will mark a real step forward for the sake of the gospel,” Welch predicted, refusing to call the separation a “split.”

“I believe we (the SBC) will be connected with more like-minded people,” he said. “I believe it will be a win.”

Concluding his discussion with reporters, Welch returned to where he started: “I'm not getting distracted. The main thing is the main thing. I'm committed to sharing the gospel.”

“The world knows what Southern Baptists are against. … But the world needs to know what we are for–sharing the love of Christ with everybody who does not know him.”

SBC President Bobby Welch

Posted: 6/25/04

Welch wins contested presidential election

By Marv Knox

Editor

INDIANAPOLIS–Bobby Welch, a Florida pastor known for his evangelistic zeal, won the first contested Southern Baptist Convention presidential election in a decade.

He defeated North Carolina pastor Al Jarrell, 3,997 to 1,020, or 79.6 percent to 20.4 percent.

Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla., succeeds Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, who completed his second one-year term at the Indianapolis meeting and was ineligible for re-election.

New SBC President Bobby Welch

Welch, 61, gained SBC fame as a founder of the FAITH program, which incorporates an evangelistic emphasis into Sunday school.

He arrived in Indianapolis as the only announced candidate for the SBC's top position. Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., announced Welch's candidacy prior to the meeting and nominated him.

But in a change from recent precedent, Welch faced a challenger. Jarrell, pastor of Riverside Baptist Church in Merry Hill, N.C., was nominated by Dennis Conner, pastor of Cashie Baptist Church in Windsor, N.C.

“I am under no illusion Rev. Jarrell may be elected,” Conner said of his fellow pastor. But he decided to nominate Jarrell, Conner explained, because during the past nine years, he has become concerned that the SBC's leadership is “growing further and further and further away from the grassroots of this great convention.”

During the 1980s, SBC presidential elections were hotly contested, as fundamentalists repeatedly defeated moderates for the office. They used the president's powers to control the procedure for nominating trustees of convention agencies and institutions. Over the course of a decade of unbroken victories, fundamentalists consolidated their power.

After the vote in 1990–in which fundamentalist Morris Chapman, who went on to become president of the SBC Executive Committee, defeated moderate Daniel Vestal, who went on to become the top administrator for the competing Cooperative Baptist Fellowship–moderates stopped fielding a candidate for the presidency.

In 1992, the next year an incumbent was not eligible for re-election, three conservative candidates vied for the presidency. And two years later, two candidates competed. But since 1994, all elections have been decided with only one candidate.

Messengers elected Gerald Davidson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Arnold, Mo., as first vice president in an uncontested vote. Davidson is a longtime leader in the Missouri Baptist Convention and has served as that state convention's president.

The convention's new second vice president is David Hwan Gill, pastor of Concord Korean Baptist Church in Martinez, Calif. He also is president of the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in North America and first vice president of the California Southern Baptist Convention.

Gill defeated Mark Hearn, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Indianapolis and a former vice president of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, in a runoff. John Hays, pastor of Jersey Baptist Church in the Columbus, Ohio, area and a former president of the State Convention of Baptists in Ohio, was eliminated in the first vote for the office.

Both convention secretaries were re-elected without opposition. John Yeats, editor of the Baptist Messenger, newspaper of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, was elected recording secretary. He is a member of Council Road Baptist Church in Bethany, Okla.

Jim Wells, director of missions for Tri-County Baptist Association in southern Missouri, is registration secretary. He is a member of First Baptist Church in Ozark, Mo.

Ken Whitten, pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., was elected to preach next year's convention sermon, and Terry Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., was chosen as his backup.

Buster Pray, associate pastor of worship ministries at First Baptist Church in Springdale, Ark., was elected music director.

Posted: 6/25/04

Bush assures Southern Baptists he will
defend traditional view of marriage

By Steve DeVane

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

INDIANAPOLIS–President Bush promised messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting he would “defend the sanctity of marriage against activist courts.”

Bush's address via satellite marked the third straight year he has spoken to the meeting. Messengers interrupted his speech more than 15 times with applause, including several standing ovations.

Some of the loudest cheers came when Bush mentioned his defense of marriage.

“The union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith,” he said. “And government, by strengthening and protecting marriage, serves the interests of all.”

Bush got another standing ovation when he referenced his signing a ban on partial-birth abortions.

“I am working to build a culture of life in America,” he said. “Common sense and conscience tell us that when an expectant mother is killed, two lives have ended and criminals should answer for both.”

Bush added his administration will continue its support for crisis pregnancy centers, adoption incentives and parental notification laws, as well as other measures dear to the pro-life movement.

“I propose to double federal funding for abstinence programs in schools and community-based programs,” he said.

“And I will work with Congress to pass a comprehensive and effective ban on human cloning. Life is a creation of God, not a commodity to be exploited by man.”

Bush talked about military victories in Afghanistan and Iraq but said tough challenges lie ahead. “In Afghanistan and Iraq, we will finish the job.”

Bush thanked Southern Baptists for their strong support of the war on terror. He called freedom “God's gift to every man and woman who lives in this world.”

Bush cited his economic accomplishments and attempts to release federal funding to faith-based groups. He called on lawmakers to stop holding up his judicial appointments.

“It is time for those senators to stop playing politics with American justice,” he said.

Before Bush spoke, SBC President Jack Graham praised Bush's strength and resolve, saying the president and Southern Baptists have “strong, shared values.”

Tim Goeglein, a special assistant who deals with evangelicals for Bush, talked to messengers a short while before Bush. Goeglein thanked Southern Baptists for praying for “the Bush- Cheney administration.”

Bush's address to the SBC this year comes in the middle of his re-election bid. The November election pits Bush against Democrat Sen. John Kerry, with many polls showing the race as a dead heat.

Recently, the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission launched a website, www.iVoteValues.com, to “promote awareness of the immediate and long-term importance of value-based voting.”

At a meeting in Raleigh, N.C., about a month before that election, ERLC President Richard Land told a group God is not a Republican or a Democrat, but God is pro-life, pro-family and not pro-homosexual.

The ERLC website lists issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage on which Bush and many Southern Baptists would likely agree.

An announcement in the SBC Bulletin, distributed daily at the annual meeting, included a statement: “Pastors, you would be amazed at how much freedom you and your church have to legally be involved in the election process–without endangering your non-profit status.”

As part of the iVoteValues.com effort, ERLC officials unveiled a trailer designed to help people register to vote and research campaign issues.

The trailer will be hauled across the country between now and the November election.

With additional reporting by Erin Curry of Baptist Press.

Posted: 6/25/04

Patterson's charges 'outrageous,'
American Baptist leaders maintain

By Trennis Henderson

(Kentucky) Western Recorder

INDIANAPOLIS (ABP)–Paige Patterson's assessment of the American Baptist Churches USA's stand on homosexuality is “completely outrageous,” declared ABC General Secretary Roy Medley.

Patterson, a member of the Southern Baptist Convention's Baptist World Alliance study committee, cited BWA's affiliation with American Baptists as an example of the alliance's “continual leftward drift.”

Patterson pointed in particular to Evergreen Baptist Association, an ABC regional group established last year in the Pacific Northwest that includes some churches that accept homosexuals as members.

The SBC “can no longer afford to be aligned in any way” with groups that are considered gay-friendly, insisted Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“Nowhere in any of the conversations with the BWA has such an excuse ever been given,” Medley responded.

The SBC's decision to pull out of BWA “was clearly and solely a response to the BWA's vote to welcome the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship into the Baptist World Alliance,” he said.

“That is when the issue arose and is the substance of their action, though they have consistently sought to cover it with patently untrue excuses, such as that the BWA is anti-American.

“To characterize American Baptist Churches USA as being in favor of gay marriage goes beyond the pale. Our policy statement on family life, adopted in 1984, maintains, 'We affirm that God intends marriage to be a monogamous, life-long, one-flesh union of a woman and a man.'”

Richard Schramm, ABC deputy general secretary for communication, said American Baptist leaders “regret that our Southern Baptist brothers and sisters have been given a misleading picture–one that distorts the very traditional Christian understanding of marriage and sexual expression held by the great majority of American Baptists.”

He said ABC's statement on marriage “maintains 'that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.'”

In addition to voting to withdraw from BWA, SBC messengers gave initial approval to SBC bylaw revisions that reflect the change. BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz noted, however, that the SBC's action “seemed very inconsistent” at that point.

While Patterson cited affiliation with American Baptists as a reason to withdraw from BWA, revised SBC bylaw 17 leaves intact a provision for the SBC to “send a fraternal messenger to the annual sessions of the American Baptist Churches.”

With SBC leaders insisting “they do not want to be tainted by anyone they're aligned with,” Lotz said, “we find it strange not to belong to BWA because the American Baptists are there, and then on the other hand to send a representative to the American Baptist Churches.”

Posted: 6/25/04

Paul Pressler and Paige Patterson were among those who reminisced during a "conservative resurgence reunion" the night before the start of the 2004 SBC annual meeting.

'Conservative resurgence' leaders
swap 25 years worth of war stories

By Steve DeVane

North Carolina Biblical Recorder

INDIANAPOLIS (ABP)–An architect of the “conservative resurgence” in the Southern Baptist Convention acknowledged that in the heat of battle during the denominational controversy, he and his colleagues considered a proposal to split the six Southern Baptist Convention seminaries with moderates.

Paige Patterson said the suggestion that conservatives and moderates each get control of three seminaries was made because some leaders of the “resurgence” feared conflict was hurting the convention.

The idea was put aside, Patterson said, after a pointed objection from Homer Lindsay Jr., former co-pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla.

Lindsay, who died of cancer in February 2000, stood during a discussion about the plan, announced he was leaving and called others in the room a “bunch of wimps,” Patterson recalled.

“I thought I was with men of God,” Patterson quoted Lindsay as saying.

Patterson told the story during a “conservative resurgence reunion” the night before the start of the 2004 SBC annual meeting, during which participants celebrated the 25th anniversary of their rise to power in the SBC.

Patterson used the story as an example of how God guided the convention's sharp turn to the right.

Supporters of the movement generally refer to it as the “conservative resurgence.” Critics tend to call it the “fundamentalist takeover.”

Religious Right leader Jerry Falwell led the opening prayer for the conservative reunion, which attracted about 600 people to the late-night celebration. Falwell is pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., which was an independent Baptist congregation before affiliating with the SBC in recent years.

“I was not a Southern Baptist when you guys hijacked it, but I joined soon after,” he joked before praying.

Planners said the reunion was intended to remind younger Southern Baptists of the problems that prompted the conservative “take-back” of the SBC.

Richard Land, president of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said the reunion was necessary because great events should be commemorated. But he said there was another reason for the celebration.

“Those who do not know their history and do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,” he said.

Land, who presented a historical review, said he believes God will bless the SBC.

Richard Land

“We believe God has tested us and he has found us faithful,” he told participants.

Speakers at the rally also included Patterson and Paul Pressler. The two are widely credited with beginning the conservative movement after they realized SBC presidents held a great deal of power over the appointment of trustees to SBC seminaries, agencies and institutions.

In the 1970s, Patterson and Pressler preached liberalism was taking hold in the SBC–particularly in the seminaries. They organized people to come to SBC meetings to elect like-minded presidents.

Patterson now is president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, the largest of the six SBC schools. He is a former president of the SBC and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C.

Pressler has served in several key SBC trustee posts.

Reunion participants gave Patterson and Pressler two standing ovations.

Before the meeting, Pressler, a retired judge from Houston, talked with admirers and posed for photographs. He said during the meeting he felt overwhelmed.

Pressler, author of “A Hill on Which to Die,” a memoir of the “resurgence” from his perspective, said Southern Baptists must not rest on their laurels.

“My friends, if we hesitate, we're going to lose it,” he said.

Jim Richards of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention–a group that broke away from the Baptist General Convention of Texas–said the younger generation must know about the movement.

“We must never lose sight of the methodology that was used,” he said. “Although we consider ourselves all conservatives, we must not wink at someone who may be wavering.”

The reunion also included video clips of sermons by W.A. Criswell, late pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, at the 1985 and 1988 SBC meetings.

Jerry Johnson, president of Criswell College in Dallas, said the 1988 sermon was especially important when conservatives won the SBC presidency by a close margin.

“Dr. Criswell, I believe, turned the tide,” Johnson said.

The video clips started with Criswell asking if he could talk about liberals, whom he said were then becoming known as moderates.

“A skunk by any other name still stinks,” he said to cheers from the videotaped audience and the reunion.

But a former SBC agency executive who was asked to provide a reaction said he was “not impressed” by the celebration.

“Almost without exception, the people I have known across the decades in Southern Baptist life have been Bible-believing conservatives,” said Lloyd Elder, president of the denomination's Sunday School Board from 1984 until 1991.

“So, to have this kind of very sad and continuing battle was not necessary and has not done the kind of good that was claimed.”

Elder noted that, early on in the controversy, many of the conservative movement's leaders claimed they were simply looking for “parity” of conservative representation on the boards of Southern Baptist institutions.

“If there had been such a desire for shared leadership on the part of some of the fundamentalists as is claimed, then why is that not what they have done since they have been in power?” he asked.

Elder noted moderate Southern Baptists now are effectively barred from holding elected or appointed office in the denomination.

“The very nature of power in a democratic society … is the responsibility of the majority to protect the rights of the minority.”

Elder said he was impressed with the effectiveness of the conservative movement, though.

“If their goal was to be in control of the SBC, they have just done a remarkable job,” he said.

However, he added, “If their goal had been to involve the largest number of Bible-believing Southern Baptists in the kingdom cause of Christ as possible, they have been woefully negligent.”

With additional reporting by Robert Marus of Associated Baptist Press

Posted: 6/25/04

SBC turns down appeal for full-scale public school exodus

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

INDIANAPOLIS (ABP)–Southern Baptists adopted resolutions lamenting America's “cultural drift … toward secularization” and urging Christians to vote according to “biblical values,” but they stopped short of calling for a full-scale withdrawal from public schools.

The 8,500 messengers attending the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in Indianapolis adopted eight resolutions–most with little debate or opposition.

The statements, often a flashpoint for controversy during annual meetings, were presented to messengers by a 10-member committee.

The committee-recommended resolutions included statements supporting the Federal Marriage Amendment, promoting Christian citizenship, honoring the military, and praising the life and presidency of Ronald Reagan.

But the committee declined to act on a highly publicized resolution proposed by T.C. Pinckney of Virginia and Bruce Shortt of Texas asking Southern Baptists to remove their children from “godless” and “anti-Christian” public schools.

A motion by Pinckney to add the anti-school language to the resolution on secularization failed on a show-of-hands vote.

T.C. Pinckney of Virginia

Pinckney's proposed amendment encouraged all Southern Baptists to provide their children with “a truly Christian education” through Christian schools and home schools and asked churches to “provide counsel and assistance” to help parents do that.

“Government schools are becoming actively anti-Christian,” Pinckney said.

Resolutions Committee chairman Calvin Wittman of Colorado said the SBC did not want to “usurp” the responsibility of parents to decide how to educate their children.

“This is a responsibility that God has given to the parents of the individual child, and we encourage parents to exercise their God-given responsibility,” he told messengers.

Wittman noted the SBC in recent years has spoken “sufficiently” on the issue of schools and Christian education, with 11 previous resolutions lamenting the secularization of public schools and supporting Christian schools, home-schooling and Christians teaching in public schools.

Jim Goforth of Missouri, speaking against Pinckney's amendment, said pulling Christian children out of public schools means “darkness will completely take over the schools.”

He told about his son leading a fellow public-school student to faith in Jesus.

“Teach them the truth. They'll know it when they hear it, and they will reject the falsehood,” Goforth said.

Shortt, who spoke in favor of the amendment, said the belief that children will positively influence schools as “salt and light” is “misapplied theology.”

Childhood is a time of discipleship, he insisted, and placing children in an “anti-Christian” school will corrupt them.

After defeating the Pinckney motion, messengers passed the resolution on secularization unchanged. The statement said “the cultural shift in our nation toward secularism obscures moral absolutes under the guise of tolerance.”

Southern Baptists took blame and repented “for our part in the cultural decline that is taking place on our watch.”

The resolution urged Southern Baptists to “aggressively engage the culture by speaking the truth in love concerning every aspect of life, public and private.”

The statement added: “America's only hope is a spiritual awakening by the power of God through the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

A resolution on Christian citizenship urged “all Christians to vote in accordance with biblical values rather than according to party lines, personalities or candidate rhetoric.”

It called on churches to conduct voter registration and education.

The resolution supporting the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage and “the legal incidents thereof” nationwide, would counter attempts to legalize same-sex marriage, the statement said.

The resolution also said the amendment would counteract recent actions by some elected officials to issue “counterfeit marriage licenses.” It asserted “the institution of marriage is in a state of crisis.”

The resolution commending Reagan called him “a man of prayer and strong faith” who “exemplified the hallmarks of a Christian leader.”

It credited Reagan with respecting the sanctity of life and liberating millions of people from communism.

The resolution on the military called Southern Baptists to pray for soldiers and “to find tangible ways” to support them, but it did not take a specific position on the war in Iraq.

Another resolution expressed appreciation to God and to the “many faithful men and women who made sacrifices to lead the conservative resurgence” that wrested control of the denomination from moderates, beginning 25 years ago.

Other resolutions commended LifeWay Christian Resources–the denomination's publishing arm–for producing the new Holman Christian Standard Bible and thanked the people of Indianapolis and those who organized the annual convention.

Posted: 6/25/04

Battle for the Bible won; time for
SBC to return to normal, Chapman says

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

INDIANAPOLIS–Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention's “conservative resurgence,” Morris Chapman declared, “The crusade phase of the conservative resurgence has passed.”

“The battle has been won,” said Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee and former convention president. “Southern Baptists have experienced God's miracle of returning us to our biblical roots.

“Now there are other tasks at hand,” Chapman told SBC messengers during his Executive Committee report. “We must not linger at the base camp of biblical authority. We are people not only compelled to believe the book; we are compelled to live the book. Surrender, sacrifice, righteousness and holiness must consume our hearts and minds.”

During his report, Chapman warned that convention leaders “must never cease to be vigilant against heresy.”

Cautioning against both liberalism and hyper-independence, Chapman said: “If Southern Baptists steer too sharply to the right, we will end up on the road of separatism and independence. … If there's ever been a time the devil would like to see the SBC crash and burn, it is now.

“We cannot let this convention be driven by politics,” he added. Chapman urged the convention “to return to some sense of normalcy.”

Otherwise, he said, the SBC could “fall into the error of Pharisaism, … lifeless orthodoxy parading as true faith.”

Recalling his pledge as SBC president to “enlarge the tent” of leadership in Southern Baptist life, Chapman said convention leaders “have never executed to the fullest extent that promise to enlarge the tent.”

While those in trustee positions must be inerrantists, endorse the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement and support the Cooperative Program, leadership should be open to those “who listen to God's Spirit, not trustees who are susceptible to politics.”

“Politics does not die easily,” he acknowledged. “The death of politics in a spiritual environment only comes after we die to ourselves.

“We can be both conservative and cooperative,” he insisted. “God is looking for us to change the world and to do it now.”

Among major Executive Committee recommendations, messengers:

— Approved the Annuity Board's name change to GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. The change will require a second vote next year, but the action allows the Annuity Board to use its new name immediately.

— Approved amendments to the Annuity Board's ministry statement that allow it to make retirement and insurance services available to evangelical ministry organizations outside the SBC.

Mitchell Jackson, a messenger from Miner Baptist Church in Sikeston, Mo., expressed concern that the amendments would allow the Annuity Board to serve groups not in sympathy with the SBC. He said some churches affiliated with a breakaway moderate convention in Missouri “literally hate the SBC and want it destroyed but they want the benefit of the Annuity Board.”

Annuity Board President O.S. Hawkins responded, “When the Executive Committee takes issue with certain new state conventions, we don't serve those folks.”

Citing the need to maintain and expand the Annuity Board's asset base, Hawkins said the goal is to “serve the Southern Baptist pastors at the crossroads.”

“We're trying to save an insurance program,” he added, noting that the only way to expand the board's asset base is to expand ministry opportunities.

— Approved a 2004-05 Cooperative Program operating budget of $183.2 million. Major allocations include 50 percent for the SBC International Mission Board, 22.79 percent for the North American Mission Board and 21.64 percent for theological education.

If the budget goal is exceeded, the first $250,000 over budget will be earmarked to fund CP education efforts at the SBC's six seminaries.

Posted: 6/25/04

Southern Baptist Convention rejects name change proposal

By Jennifer Davis Rash

The Alabama Baptist

INDIANAPOLIS–Southern Baptists will remain Southern Baptists.

After a lively debate during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting, messengers voted 1,731 (55.4 percent) to 1,391 (44.6 percent) against forming a study committee to consider changing the convention's name. The motion to create a study committee was the only motion to make it to the floor for debate out of a record 29 motions.

Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said: “Southern Baptists are ambivalent about their name. They love being Southern Baptists and all that it means.”

There is a strong loyalty to the name, even though many know the name is a hindrance in some areas of the country, he explained.

Claude Thomas of First Baptist Church in Euless introduces a motion asking the Southern Baptist Convention to study changing its name. The motion failed.

Claude Thomas, pastor of First Baptist Church of Euless, submitted the motion, saying: “I brought the motion to this body … because we have gone beyond our southern regional characteristics. We are committed to reach people around the world for Jesus Christ. We are committed to evangelism.

“It is wise to appoint a committee to study our present name. Does it communicate who we are and serve us well, or would there be a better alternative?” he asked.

Southern Baptist messengers lined up on both sides of the issue and were still lined up at the convention hall microphones to debate the issue when the time for debate expired.

Messengers opposing forming a study committee questioned the cost, both to study the name change and to implement it.

SBC President Jack Graham said: “We don't know the cost of (the study). It will require an investment to do the right kind of research. It will require a budget.”

Byron Ingles of Georgia said the money would be better spent on seminaries and missionaries.

Dottie Selman of Dayton, Ohio, said: “You've come to us asking for a study committee but have no idea what it will cost. That is not good business.”

Others disagreed, however. The pastor of a New York church plant said, “I would rather spend the money than have a name that … has become an impediment to sharing the gospel.”

Herb Stoneman of Salt Lake City noted the SBC now exists in two nations–Canada and the United States–so it needs a name “that would better reflect who we are.”

Ed Taylor of Virginia said, “It is a waste of time to study because no matter what we change our name to, the media will let the secret out that we really are Southern Baptists.”

Doug Austin of Lynnwood Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Mo., said: “It is who we are, not where we are. We need to be explaining Jesus and his saving grace. We don't need to spend the money.”

George Pettington of Ohio said he spoke against the name change before and would say the same thing again: “There is no need to change the name, so there is no need to study it. It means we are Bible-believing and Bible-teaching churches.”

Glen Peck of St. Louis, Okla., added: “We are proud of our hard-won heritage. We know and project our doctrine by our name.

“We have media, for or against, immediately identifying who we are and what we stand for. There is no good time for a bad idea. This is a bad idea.”

But Lane Yarborough of Michigan said he served on the committee that studied a name change in the 1980s. “This has not been studied in quite some time. If the name is a hindrance, we should consider changing it.”

Rob Zinn of California said: “I am appealing to you to see if God would raise up a better name for all Southern Baptists. … It is just possible there is something better to reach people for Christ. … If we can't find anything better, then we will stay what we are.”

Another motion that garnered debate from the floor dealt with the Executive Committee naming the SBC as its sole member. The motion was referred to the Executive Committee because it has to be the final entity to come under sole membership, said Morris Chapman, president of the Executive Committee. “It is necessary for the Executive Committee to be done last.

“Next June when we meet, assuming New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary complies with your requests, we will be able to bring you the New Orleans charter amendments and the SBC charter amendments,” he said.

“The Executive Committee of the SBC will be delighted to make the Executive Committee a sole member of the SBC. … We would be glad to do it in due haste,” Chapman said. “I have a charter naming the Executive Committee a sole member of the SBC, dated 1997. We've had it in hand in order for us to implement it once all other entities had implemented it.”

Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., appealed to the convention to overrule the chair when two of his motions were ruled out of order.

He asked that newly elected SBC President Bobby Welch write letters of commendation. One would go to Walt Disney Pictures for producing the movie “America's Heart and Soul” and accompanying Bible study material. The second would go to Rick Scarbourgh and Vision America for calling American Christians to prayer and fasting.

Graham said: “A clear distinction is made between a resolution, which is a concern, and a motion, which calls for an action. … We felt your motion fell more in the category of resolutions.”

Drake said: “I want a specific action commending them for what they are doing. If (the committee is) going to rule things out of order because they don't want to do anything, then we are getting back to the way we were years ago when us conservatives were having our mics turned off on us. I will appeal to the body to overrule the chair. Let the messengers vote.”

The messenger voted to support the committee's decision to rule them out of order.

Other submitted motions either were referred to an SBC agency or ruled out of order.

One motion referred to the North American Mission Board asks for a reconsideration of the requirement that Southern Baptist chaplains be ordained by a local church.

A motion to consider a boycott of Carnival Cruise Lines and require the SBC Annuity Board to sell its Carnival stock as soon as possible was referred to the Annuity Board and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.

The Annuity Board had been under fire from some critics in the SBC for holding stock in Carnival because gay groups promote “gay-friendly” cruises on its ships.

Posted: 6/25/04

Convention preacher issues challenge
to rebuild crumbling spiritual walls

By Lonnie Wilkey

Tennessee Baptist & Reflector

INDIANAPOLIS–Alabama pastor Steve Gaines challenged messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention to rebuild spiritual walls that have crumbled in the United States.

America is in a state of crisis, said Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gardendale, Ala., in the annual convention sermon in Indianapolis.

International terrorism and an uncertain economy might be immediate threats, but abortion and homosexuality “will determine the future of America,” he predicted.

“We are at a crossroads. Our spiritual walls have crumbled,” Gaines said.

Gaines cited the Old Testament prophet Nehemiah as an example for Southern Baptists to follow.

Preaching from Nehemiah, Gaines noted that Nehemiah was a wall builder. Though he had tremendous opposition, Nehemiah refused to come off that wall, Gaines said.

“Southern Baptists, we must do the same. Don't come down,” he exhorted messengers.

Gaines, who was elected president of the Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference earlier in the week, said God “is calling us to be spiritual wall builders.”

Gaines said Southern Baptists are called to a great work, they must be committed to that work, and they must complete that work.

“We, as Americans, can't expect God to bless our nation unless we pray and glorify his name and preach his holy word,” Gaines told messengers.

Only prayer and the preaching of God's word can rebuild America's spiritual walls, he said.

“Prayer needs to be the priority of your life and preaching the priority of your ministry.”

The Alabama pastor said Southern Baptists also must provide a prophetic voice in today's world. “We are to be the salt and light.”

But Hollywood sets today's moral standards for many Americans, Gaines said. “God has not called Hollywood to set the moral tone. He has called Christians.”

Southern Baptists must speak out and address the issues of abortion and homosexuality facing America, he stressed.

Stating 42 million babies have been aborted since the Roe vs. Wade decision in 1973, Gaines spoke against federal judges and others who say abortion is a woman's right. “Abortion is murder, it is sin and it is an abomination in the eyes of God,” he said.

Gaines also exhorted Southern Baptists to address the issue of gay marriages and the homosexual agenda. “Wake up,” he told the messengers. “We need to lead the way and help pass the Federal Marriage Amendment Act. We must lead the way to take God's nation back from militant gay activists.”

Gaines challenged Southern Baptists “to speak the truth in love” when dealing with homosexuals. “Homosexuals are not our enemy. The devil is our enemy,” he said.

He called on pastors to preach what the Bible says about homosexuality and to remember homosexuals can “be saved and set free by God.”

Gaines offered three suggestions for stopping the “homosexualization” of the United States:

Educate people on the issues.

Register people to vote. Churches can sponsor voter registration drives without threatening their tax-exempt status, he said.

Encourage people to vote only for candidates with Christian values. Don't tell people who to vote for, don't let Democrats or Republicans tell you how to vote and don't vote with your pocketbooks, he challenged messengers. “Let God tell you how to vote.”

Gaines exhorted messengers to build spiritual walls and not to come down from the wall. “The world needs us, whether they know it or not.”

Steve Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church, Gardendale, Ala., delivers the convention sermon at the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis.

Posted: 6/25/04

Preaching at Pastors' Conference,
Patterson laments lack of baptisms

INDIANAPOLIS–With “Jesus Came Preaching” as their theme, Southern Baptist leaders came preaching during the 2004 Pastors' Conference in Indianapolis.

Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, reminded Southern Baptists that since the “conservative resurgence” began in 1979, the annual baptism numbers have not increased.

“And we have baptized mostly our own, many of them for the second time,” he said. “Many of us are guilty of the infant baptism we used to criticize everyone else for.”

Patterson said the doctrine of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ “is the most hated doctrine in all the world today,” but he challenged Southern Baptists to stick to it. “Let us preach to make men free. God help us if we preach anything else but Jesus and him alone for salvation.”

During officer elections, Steve Gaines, pastor of First Baptist Church of Gardendale, Ala., was elected president of the 2005 Southern Baptist Pastors' Conference. Gaines was elected over Terry Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan.

Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist of Woodstock, Ga., placed Gaines' name in nomination on behalf of former SBC President Adrian Rogers, who is recovering from heart surgery.

Paige Patterson

Scott Wilkens, a church planter from Kentucky, and David Thompson, pastor of Northpointe Community Church in Nashville, Tenn., were elected first vice president and secretary-treasurer respectively.

Evangelist Voddie Baucham of Spring said preaching the gospel in today's culture takes courage because it is not accepted as it once was. “I believe there is coming a time when we will pay a price for preaching the gospel.”

Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., told the conference: “Our job is not to dilute the message, delete the message, dissect the message, doctor the message or dumb down the message. Our job is to deliver and to declare the message of the living God.”

Ted Traylor, president of the 2004 Pastors Conference, found himself preaching during a slot reserved for Adrian Rogers. Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tenn., was not released by his physician to preach following heart bypass surgery March 16.

Traylor shared thoughts about the authority, anointing and announcement of the “peerless preacher.”

“There are some people outside of our normal paths that we must begin to do a better job reaching,” Traylor said, noting three specific groups–various ethnic groups, teenagers and twentysomethings. “Something must change with the way we are pronouncing the gospel, so we can announce to them that Jesus is Lord.”

Ronnie Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church, Springdale, Ark., said teaching, preaching and the practice of a biblical theology of stewardship are missing in most Southern Baptist churches today.

Drawing from the example of David in 1 Chronicles, chapter 29, Floyd encouraged pastors to be courageous spiritual leaders who put biblical theological stewardship into practice. Only then, Floyd said, will God provide “supernatural contagious results.”

Another Arkansas pastor, Bryan Smith of First Baptist Church of Van Buren, said pastors should never forget the primary reason of their call–preach the word of God.

Smith, who was vice president of the 2004 SBC Pastors Conference, said the same persecution under Saul that dispersed the early church is evident today.

He said 250 million believers live in communities under threat of persecution, prison or death. “These are not just heroes or statistics but they are our family. It should be a joy and a blessing to suffer for Jesus Christ.”

Eddie Echarri a former prisoner who now directs community outreach for Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., urged church leaders to reach out to those who need Jesus.

“Broken spirits and broken hearts are showing up at your church,” he said.

Mike Haley, manager of the gender division of the legislative and cultural affairs department of Focus on the Family, Colorado Springs, Colo., was another who told of God's grace in his life. He described his life from being a homosexual and gay activist to leaving that lifestyle and becoming a youth pastor, husband to a woman who had had two abortions and a father of two sons.

“I pray … that you've not heard the story of an ex-gay man or the story of a post-abortive woman but instead the story of a powerful God that will go out of his way to reach one that many believe to be beyond his grasp,” he said.

Paul Negrut, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Oradea, Romania, said service for Jesus involves calling, vision, passion, character and reward.

“We are working for the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the One who is coming soon and coming with a great reward.”

Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., challenged his listeners to be “satisfied to be called a preacher.”

“Brethren, we're not CEOs,” he said. “Who wants to be a chief executive officer reporting to the company when you can be a called-by-God pastor reporting to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?”

Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, challenged Southern Baptists to become kingdom citizens by becoming like Christ. In order to be like Christ, one must love the Scriptures, the Savior and the saints, Luter said. “How can we win the world if we don't love one another?” he asked.

Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C., said today's pastors must repent, overcome issues, overcome prevalent beliefs, decide on action and settle on a focus.

Ergun Caner, a professor at Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va., and the Southern Baptist son of an Islamic leader, said he became a Christian, and several other family members were saved in following years, “all because one stubborn, obnoxious high-school kid took the Great Commission seriously. … Thank God that we are united in missions and evangelism, because I wouldn't be standing here if it were not for your hearts and your work and your programs.”

Ed Hindson, assistant chancellor and dean of the institution of biblical studies at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., told pastors that Jesus ties the Old Testament with the New Testament. “Jesus is the theme of the Bible,” Hindson said. “Preach him and change the world.”

Posted: 6/25/04

Convention asks New Orleans
Seminary to make the SBC its sole member

By Bill Webb

Missouri Word & Way

INDIANAPOLIS–Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting voted by a 2-1 margin to “respectfully request” that trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary amend the school's charter, naming the Southern Baptist Convention as the seminary's “sole member.”

The recommendation was presented by the SBC Executive Committee and debated during the convention's opening session in Indianapolis. When a raised-ballot vote was too close to call, President Jack Graham called for a ballot vote.

Messengers denied pleas by New Orleans President Chuck Kelley and seminary trustees to delay the matter to allow them to bring to the 2005 convention both a sole-member proposal and a yet-to-be-determined alternative. The seminary board believes this would ensure convention ownership of the seminary but take into account the unique nature of Louisiana non-profit law and better protect Baptist polity.

Chuck Kelley

Executive Committee Chairman Gary Smith said the Executive Committee made the sole-member request of New Orleans trustees seven years ago and that the seminary had long been the sole holdout of the 11 SBC institutions.

Executive Committee leaders said the convention action is intended to ensure the right of the convention to continue to elect seminary trustees, to guarantee ownership of the seminary remains with the convention and to protect the Southern Baptist Convention from ascending liability.

Convention attorney James Guenther told messengers the charter change to name the SBC as the sole member of the seminary board ensures both entities will continue to enjoy their historic roles.

“The convention would clearly own the seminary and elect its board of trustees,” he said. “The board would then, as it does now, operate and manage the seminary.

“It's not about changing the historic covenant between the convention and the seminary; it is about sealing that covenant to make sure that a Baylor-like event does not occur in this convention.”

Trustees of Baylor University in Waco voted in 1990 to make the school's governing board self-perpetuating. Previously, the Baptist General Convention of Texas had elected all members of the university's board of trustees. The BGCT and Baylor later reached an agreement in which the convention elects one-fourth of the governing board and the Baylor regents elect the remaining three-fourths.

“This recommendation is not rooted in suspicion,” he said.

“The Executive Committee members do not believe this seminary board would ever flee the convention.

“I personally believe, and the Executive Committee members believe that the present trustees of that seminary are honorable, loyal Southern Baptists. But the time to close the barn door is before there are any horses wanting to get out.”

Kelley pleaded with messengers to defeat the recommendation so seminary trustees could bring their own plan to the 2005 annual meeting in Nashville.

“You have not yet been given all the facts and the other side of the sole-membership story,” he noted.

“The bottom line is that Louisiana law is different than that of other entity states, and that difference makes sole membership more harmful than helpful for the SBC.”

New Orleans was not the only institution yet to make the SBC the sole member of its corporation, Kelley added.

The Executive Committee, which is a Tennessee corporation, has not made the SBC the sole member of its corporation, nor have they announced yet an intention to do so.

Guenther later told messengers the Executive Committee was prepared to submit its own sole-member charter changes when the New Orleans Seminary situation was resolved.

Kelley said some agency heads have said they are having second thoughts and wish they could reconsider their decision.

He had promised seminary trustees would bring both a sole-member proposal and an alternative charter change “consistent with Louisiana law and Baptist polity” to next year's annual meeting.

“Whichever one you choose, we will immediately implement next year,” he pledged.

Kelley previously said seminary trustees would honor a request to make the charter change granting sole membership to the SBC only if the request came as a result of convention action such as that taken in Indianapolis.

The recommendation approved by messengers calls for the seminary board to specify the SBC's right to:

Elect and remove the seminary's trustees.

Approve any amendment of the charter adopted by the board of trustees.

Approve any merger, consolidation, dissolution or other change in the entity's charter.

Approve the sale, lease or other disposition of the corporation's assets.

The convention expects the charter changes to be submitted for consideration by the Executive Committee in its February 2005 meeting, then presented to messengers at next year's annual meeting for approval before it is filed with the Louisiana secretary of state.

In October 2003, seminary trustees voted unanimously not to change the articles of incorporation naming the SBC as its sole member. That prompted the Executive Committee to decline to give the seminary until 2005 to bring its proposal and instead to bring the issue to 2004 messengers.

That decision by the Executive Committee was made the day before the start of the annual meeting with only about a half dozen of Executive Committee members voting against it.

Posted: 6/25/04

Gay activists unfairly lay claim to civil
rights mantle, African-Americans say

By Karen L. Willoughby

Baptist Press

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)–African-American Christians need to stand against same-sex marriage, the president of the National African American Fellowship said.

President Robert Anderson, pastor of Colonial Baptist Church in Randallstown, Md., told the fellowship at its annual meeting in Indianapolis: "It is very important that we as the National African American Fellowship make a statement on same-sex marriage. We've been silent too long."

Jerry Dailey. pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio.

Gay activists have “come into our territory to claim the mantle of civil rights for their cause,” Anderson said.

“We as blacks ought to be able to give voice to God's word. Leviticus 18:22 says homosexuality is an abomination before the Lord.

“Maybe we've been silent because we have them singing in our churches. For them to be thinking homosexuality is OK, we have done them an injustice. Wrong is wrong, and God doesn't cover up sin.”

Pointing to Psalm 11:3– “When the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”–Anderson said: “There are times God says stand, and this is such a time. God is going to fight the battle for you, but you must stand.”

Anderson urged fellowship members to contact their two senators before the Federal Marriage Amendment comes up for a vote in July and voice support for the measure.

“Fight the good fight,” he said. “I want you to know; God is waiting for you to do so.”

Anderson also urged African-American Christians to minister to former inmates who are trying to re-enter society.

Noting a wave of people being released from prison who were incarcerated during the 1970s' and '80s' war on drugs, he said the upswing started last year and will continue for another two or three more years.

“More than 600,000 are being released every year, and 42 percent of them are African-American,” Anderson said. “Please consider economic development in reaching and helping these coming out of jail.

“Yes, there's a risk. If it were easy, everyone would do it. If we're talking about reaching the low, reaching the poor, reaching the needy … let us consider these people and their families.”

Guest speaker Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio, spoke from Isaiah 5:1-6 about the danger of God cutting off those who do not tend to the vineyard with which he entrusts them.

“This is a song of indictment; there's not much celebration in it,” Dailey said. “God wants, God expects your best–especially in light of all he's done for you. He's healed you, protected you, delivered you, provided for you. …”

Officers of the National African American Fellowship through 2005 include Anderson, president; Mark Croston Sr., pastor of East End Baptist Church in Suffolk, Va., vice president; Frankie Harvey, a member of Nacogdoches Bible Fellowship, secretary; and Leon Johnson, pastor at Bread of Life Baptist Church in Chicago, treasurer.

Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church in San Antonio, preaches at the National African American Fellowship meeting in Indianapolis.