Posted: 6/25/05

SBC secures its legal ties to New Orleans seminary

By Marv Knox

Editor

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Southern Baptist Convention has secured its ties to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, concluding years of wrangling over the convention’s legal relationship with the school.

Messengers to the SBC annual meeting in Nashville approved a charter change for the seminary, making the convention the sole member of the seminary’s corporation.

They ratified the measure by a vote of 5,627 to 1,528 after allowing seminary President Chuck Kelley to explain the school’s reservations for holding out on the convention most of a decade.

The process began in 1997, when the SBC Executive Committee asked the convention’s 12 agencies and institutions to make the SBC the sole member—or single controlling entity—of their corporations. By 2000, New Orleans Seminary was the lone holdout, with the exception of the Executive Committee, which pledged to submit its sole-membership amendments once the New Orleans dispute was resolved.

“The issue is one of ownership,” Morris Chapman, president of Executive Committee, stressed as he introduced the matter in Nashville June 21. “Do you or do you not believe the SBC should own the entities that receive Cooperative Program (unified budget) funds?”

If the answer is yes, then approving the seminary’s charter change and making the convention the seminary’s sole member is the right step, Chapman said.

The convention gave Kelley six minutes to explain the seminary’s reservations with sole membership and to plead for the messengers to reject the charter change. He repeated concerns he and other seminary leaders have cited publicly for the past couple of years.

But to begin, Kelley noted both the seminary and the Executive Committee are “grateful for and supportive of the conservative resurgence,” which turned the SBC sharply to the right during the past 26 years and put like-minded trustees and administrators firmly in control of the convention’s organizations.

Also, “both the Executive Committee and the seminary agree the seminary is and always will be an entity of the SBC,” he added.

That said, Kelley turned his attention to the seminary’s reservations with sole membership.

New Orleans Seminary needs to be exempted from the sole membership requirement because “Louisiana law differs significantly from (laws in) other states,” he insisted, noting the state’s legal code does not define sole membership the same way as the nine states where 10 other SBC organizations are located.

The full implications of sole membership have not been developed in Louisiana. If the SBC is the sole member of the seminary corporation, that liability to could extend to the convention, he warned. For example, he theorized, if a fire broke out in the seminary’s chapel, someone who sued the seminary for damages could sue the SBC as well.

“Since the law is unclear, a judge would decide,” he said. “How much are you willing to risk?”

Legal precedents that might be set by sole membership could be “irreversible,” even if the convention later changed its documents, Kelley predicted, noting: “Any future change to another charter would just be (seen by the courts) as an attempt to disguise the true nature of the relationship” between the seminary and the convention.

The change to sole membership not only could be damaging, but it also is unnecessary, Kelley charged.

“Many think Louisiana law would protect the seminary without sole membership,” he said, citing a “leading attorney,” who advised that minor changes in seminary documents could protect the convention against liability without resorting to sole membership.

The seminary’s other problem with the changes is the “step toward centralization of control and authority” exerted by the Executive Committee over all elements of the convention, Kelley said. “Southern Baptists always have resisted centralization. … Baptist polity emphasizes influence through trustees” rather than the strong power of the Executive Committee, he said.

Convention leaders have argued for sole membership for two particular reasons, and SBC attorney Jim Guenther reiterated those arguments for the messengers’ benefit. First, the measure prevents the organizations from breaking away from the convention without consent of SBC messengers.

Guenther described sole membership as “a lock with two different keys.” Any future charter change or alteration in relationship between the seminary and the convention would require affirmative votes by both seminary trustees and convention messengers, he explained. So the interests of neither entity could be harmed without the consent of that body.

A sole-member organization couldn’t leave the convention without ratification by the messengers. But likewise, the convention couldn’t impose its will on the seminary without its trustees concurring.

The possibility of institutional withdrawal loomed as a latent fear in the late 1980s and early ’90s, when fundamentalists were gaining control over SBC organizations. In fact, one seminary reportedly sought legal counsel regarding the possibility of leaving the convention, but it never took action to do so.

Now, all the SBC trustee boards have been elected since the convention came under fundamentalist influence. They are populated by members who have demonstrated their loyalty to the convention and its theological-political course.

But although none of the SBC organizations has attempted to withdraw from the convention, withdrawal has occurred in state conventions, at least to some degree.

For example, five agencies of the Missouri Baptist Convention declared their boards to be self-perpetuating after fundamentalists gained control of that state convention. Their actions are being challenged in court. In Texas, both Baylor and Houston Baptist universities changed their charters so that their boards, and not the Baptist General Convention of Texas, elect a majority of their trustees.

Second, SBC leaders have claimed sole membership actually protects the convention from legal liability if an affiliated organization, such as the seminary, is sued.

Since the sole membership model recognizes each organization’s trustees are responsible for its management and operation, the SBC is exempted from litigation by a legal firewall, they have said.

“The (sole) member is not responsible for the corporation’s liabilities,” Guenther told the messengers. He cited corporate law for four states in which SBC organizations are chartered. “If the convention is a member of the corporation in any of these states, including Louisiana, the member is immune to liability,” he reported.

The issue is not whether Louisiana law is different than other states’ corporate statues, “but whether the difference is of any consequence,” he said, asserting, “Louisiana law is no impediment to sole membership.”

Guenther also disputed Kelley’s claims that the seminary had sought to provide a viable alternative to sole membership and that the change in institutional governance is a power grab by the Executive Committee.

“This charter has nothing to do with centralized control. … It simply is not true. It is a myth,” he said. “The SBC, not the Executive Committee will be the (sole) member.”

After Kelley and Guenther spoke, six messengers debated the proposal from the convention floor. Two of them were from Missouri, where the five institutions distanced themselves from the Missouri Baptist Convention. They both favored stronger controls to keep SBC institutions from leaving. Three of them were from Louisiana, and they all sided with the seminary, mostly pointing to its loyalty to the SBC.

When debate ended, SBC President Bobby Welch asked messengers to vote by raising their ballots. But then he called for a tabulated vote.

The 5,627 ballots cast in favor of the charter change to sole membership comprised 78.6 percent of the total. The 1,528 votes against represented 21.4 percent.

A few hours later, SBC messengers approved a motion to make the convention sole member of the Executive Committee’s corporation—without debate or dissenting votes.

Here’s a timeline of New Orleans Seminary’s recent sole-membership actions:

— Fall 2003. Seminary trustees declined to adopt the sole membership model. However, they declared their loyalty to the SBC.

— February 2004. Executive Committee leaders met with seminary trustees, who still declined to take action at that time. Later that month, the full Executive Committee voted to ask the seminary to adopt the sole membership model.

— April 2004. Seminary trustees countered. They voted to bring two options to the 2005 SBC meeting in Nashville—sole membership and an alternative governance plan.

— June 2004. The Executive Committee asked messengers attending the SBC annual meeting to request the seminary adopt sole membership. Messengers agreed by a 2-1 margin.

— October 2004. New Orleans Seminary trustees approved the change. They also voted to ask President Chuck Kelley to express their concerns about the legal arrangement to messengers at the 2005 annual meeting.

— June 2005. Messengers affirm the seminary’s and the Executive Committee’s charter changes, bringing all the SBC’s affiliated organizations into compliance with sole membership.

Posted: 6/24/05

SBC evangelism lags due
to lack of effort, Welch insists

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)–Southern Baptists aren't lagging behind in evangelism due to all the attention they give to issues of public morality, Bobby Welch told reporters after his re-election as Southern Baptist Convention president. Instead, a lack of effort and “unity of purpose” keeps Southern Baptists from realizing their evangelistic potential.

Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Fla., spent his first year as president urging Southern Baptists to confront flagging evangelism, pointing to a drop in total baptisms during four of the last five years. During a press conference after his June 21 election, he discussed how Sou-thern Baptists balance activism on social issues, which have kept Southern Baptists in the news in recent years, with evangelism, which he and others say has been the SBC's historic hallmark.

During the convention, messengers adopted resolutions about public-school morality, stem-cell research, judicial activism and other hot topics.

Asked if such social issues are distracting Southern Baptists from witnessing, Welch told reporters, “I don't think so. In fact, I almost wish it were true, because I would know how to come at it. They just don't do it anymore.”

“Lack of effort” is the reason baptisms have dropped off in SBC churches, and the slump can be overcome by working harder, he said. “A lot of pastors are looking for a drive-thru window” where they can order a simple solution to the evangelism challenge, Welch said. “It's hard work.”

In fact, he said, evangelism and political action complement each other. “If you get involved in people's lives personally, you'll be concerned” with their public lives. He pointed out the 10,000 volunteers who worked in the preconvention Crossover witnessing effort in Nashville went door-to-door “looking for ministry needs,” not merely for lost souls.

Of those Southern Baptists involved in political action, Welch said, “I'm not calling them to give it up.” But he added, “Political leaders are not going to do our work for us.” Changing laws won't produce more Christians, he suggested. “We're here to change society by changing people.”

While political action is not a distraction for Southern Baptists, Welch said, “that political stuff is a lot easier than the spiritual stuff.” Doing the hard work of evangelism and getting involved in people's lives attracts a lot of criticism, he suggested. “You can catch nothing but trouble doing what we're doing.”

Although evangelism is a bottom-line commitment of Southern Baptists–“you can hardly find a lower common denominator”–the convention nonetheless lacks “that unity of purpose” that will maximize its evangelistic potential. “We are stifling and slouching along … because we are not creating spiritual synergy,” he said. “We need something to force us to come together on a quest.”

Southern Baptists elected another pastor and an evangelist to their other top offices. Jerry Sutton, pastor of Two Rivers Baptist Church in the host city of Nashville, was elected first vice president with 72 percent of the vote in a runoff with Dan Spencer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Thomasville, Ga.

Roy Fish, professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth for more than 40 years, was elected second vice president with 80 percent of the vote.

In electing Fish, messengers turned back the nomination of Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., who has become well known to messengers as a frequent maker of motions and resolutions during the annual convention.

Two other officers were re-elected–James Wells, a director of missions from Nixa, Mo., as registration secretary, and John Yeats of Oklahoma City, Okla., editor of the Oklahoma Baptist, as recording secretary.

Posted: 6/24/05

Pastors' conference explores
what makes a 'man of God'

NASHVILLLE, Tenn.– Vision, valor, vigilance, vitality and victory are the five components of a man of God's ministry, Adrian Rogers told those attending the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors' Conference.

“We have so many preachers today who are living lives of quiet desperation, drawing their breath, drawing their salary and waiting for retirement,” said Rogers, pastor emeritus of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn. “They need to get a fresh vision of Almighty God. Never has there been a day, an age or an opportunity to preach the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ like there is today.”

Rogers headlined the two-day Pastors' Conference in Nashville, wrapping up the conference after 10 other speakers. Steve Gaines, pastor of Gardendale's First Baptist Church in Gardendale, Ala., and president of the Pastors' Conference, led a time of prayer for Rogers, who is fighting cancer.

Roy Fish, professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, exhorted pastors to “preach Christ.”

Southern Baptists “seem to be losing a sizable portion of our evangelistic passion,” Fish said, noting pastors also can get caught up in defending the gospel rather than preaching it.

Speaking from Ephesians 3:8, he urged pastors to preach about Christ, the cross and the Resurrection, “and not merely on Easter morning.”

As Fish concluded his sermon, he was honored with a video and ovation for his 40 years as evangelism professor at Southwestern. Fish was presented a check for $31,000, collected from former students and others in honor of him.

Jerry Falwell, in his first outside engagement since being hospitalized in May, focused on preachers having a message, a mission and a vision.

Falwell, pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., said the message for Baptists included several fundamental beliefs such as the inspiration and infallibility of Scripture, the deity of Christ and the substitutionary atonement of Christ for all men.

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore spoke on the importance of acknowledging God, even in adverse situations.

Moore was ousted as Alabama's highest judge in 2004 after refusing to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments he had erected in Alabama's state judicial building in Montgomery. The famed memorial was on display in Nashville in the exhibit hall during the Pastors' Conference and SBC annual meeting.

Moore said his decision to defy court orders was “about the acknowledgement of God.”

He urged pastors and churches to take a stand for God. “God is sending a spiritual awakening across our land. … It is a great time to be alive and face freedom to acknowledge God.”

Other speakers included Pastor Mac Brunson of First Baptist Church in Dallas; Pastor Johnny Hunt of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga.; Ergun Caner, dean of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.; evangelist Voddie Baucham of Spring; prayer conference leader Don Miller of Fort Worth; former SBC president Jerry Vines of Jacksonville, Fla.; Alabama evangelist Junior Hill; and Jerry Tidwell, pastor of Ellendale Baptist Church in Bartlett, Tenn.

Officers elected to serve for the 2006 Pastors' Conference were: President Bryant Wright, pastor of Johnson's Ferry Baptist Church, Atlanta; Vice President Doug Munton, pastor of First Baptist Churchin O'Fallon, Ill.; and Secretary Gary Urich, pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Bolivar, Mo.

Compiled from reports by Stella Prather, Jennifer Rash, Grace Thornton, Lisa Watson and Erin Webster

Posted: 6/24/05

God wants 'deep-water disciples,'
Welch tells convention

By David Winfrey

Kentucky Western Recorder

NASHVILLE, Tenn.–Southern Baptists can win and baptize 1 million people if they will be “deep-water disciples,” leaving the safety of the shore to take risks and share Jesus with others, SBC President Bobby Welch told messengers at the convention's annual meeting.

During a presidential address that featured dead frogs and history lessons, Welch spoke from Luke 5, in which Jesus asks his soon-to-be disciples to cast out into the deep water to catch fish.

God “expresses an urgent call to go out into deep water and do great things,” said Welch, pastor of First Baptist Church of Daytona, Fla.

Welch, who has challenged Southern Baptists to baptize 1 million people in the next year, said too many Christians are choosing the safety of the shore over the willingness to follow God out into the deep.

“In fact, this shore fishing we've caught into is what is going to kill evangelism in this convention, in this nation.”

Too many Christians employ a “facility-based” evangelism strategy, he said, that encourages Christians to stay warm and comfortable in the church and requires non-Christians to visit a church before they hear about Jesus.

“That's not New Testament evangelism, and that's not what you see in the model of Jesus,” he said. “That's too close to the shore. You're not out in the deep.”

Welch said the text in Luke outlines “Jesus' personalized simplified systematic theology for soul winning.” The Father must catch the followers; the followers have to catch the faith; and the faithful catch the fish, he said.

Recalling LifeWay President Jimmy Draper's analogy last year to the convention becoming a “frog in the kettle,” slowly dying and not realizing it, Welch produced one of the more memorable sermon props in recent history when he displayed a dead frog from the pulpit.

“You know how that flat dead frog got this way? A concrete truck ran over it, just down from my house,” he said.

“This frog's cause of death was not that concrete truck. This frog's cause of death was confusion. This frog belonged in the deep, but he hopped in the street. And that's' where his end came,” he said. “You see, if you're destined for deep water, you better go that way. The consequences can be dangerous.”

He then produced several more smaller dead, flat frogs. “You know where I found all these little dead frogs? Following this big dead frog. … Just because that frog's a big croaker and a high hopper doesn't mean he's going in the right direction.”

Welch said he regularly sees dead flat frogs when he leaves his home. “And you know what? Just about every day I go around and in the countryside I see a flat dead church and a flat dead bunch of Christians because they got confused and they left the deep.”

Welch urged Southern Baptists to realize they come from a rich spiritual heritage filled with people willing to follow God's call.

“They had enough spiritual guts to get out of the bank and go out into the deep,” he said. “That's how you got the International Mission Board. Some people said, 'We've got to go deeper. … We've got to go everywhere.' And they did.”

Welch recalled the “Million More in '54” campaign when Southern Baptists sought to reach a million people. “We are bigger and better by the power of God, Southern Baptists, than we are remembering and acting like it.”

“We're deep-water doers. We're disciples of deep-water doers. We've got that kind of blood running in our bodies,” he said, raising his voice. “Bless God, why would a crowd like this want to lie down and roll over? When the world's in the shape it's in and we've got the best deal ever, looks to me like all of you'd be up and ready to attack hell with a squirt gun and go to the deep.”

Posted: 6/25/05

WMU focuses attention
on passion for God's mission

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Passion for God’s mission filled 1,400 Baptist women gathered at First Baptist Church of Nashville, Tenn., for the annual meeting of Woman’s Missionary Union, June 19-20.

With a theme of “Pass on the Passion,” WMU members heard testimonies and challenges from missionaries, agency heads and WMU leaders during the two-day meeting.

Arkansas missionary Diana Lewis shared her passion for those who live in poverty and for matching people in the pews with mission opportunities in their own back yards.

“God has given us in Arkansas a passion for those in our state who are lost without a Savior,” Lewis said. “God’s desire is for all of them to know Him.”

Lewis told of a volunteer who reached an 89-year-old man through the Mississippi River Ministry. If she and 350 other volunteers had not gone that day, Lewis said, “that 89-year-old man and 21 other people would not be joining us in heaven.”

Rebekah Naylor, a missionary surgeon to India for more than 30 years, described the satisfaction she has ministering to people through Bangalore Baptist Hospital and in church planting.

With almost 1.1 billion people, predominantly Hindu and Muslim, India is the world’s second largest nation and its largest democracy, Naylor said.

“God planted in my heart a passion for the people of India,” Naylor said. God answered prayer in marvelous ways, ultimately giving Naylor management responsibility for the hospital. In that role she fostered an environment where doctors and staff prayed regularly and shared their faith freely.

“What is passion?” she asked. “That for which you are willing to sacrifice anything, even your life. … Perhaps my greatest joy comes from being a partner in church planting.”

West Virginia missionary Debbie Cannada explained how she and her husband, Norman, reach out to non-Christians, welcoming sinners as they are. “We’re fishers of men,” she said. “You catch ’em. He’ll clean ’em!”

Southern Baptist worker Carrie McDonnall, whose husband, David, was killed in a terrorist attack in Iraq just over a year ago, spoke of the many opportunities God has given her to glorify him since the attack, which also took the lives of three other Southern Baptist humanitarian workers.

Acknowledging that the past year has been a time of “recovering physically and learning to live with grief,” McDonnall emphasized, “We are all called to glorify our Lord.”

She said she would have been “just fine” remaining one of the many “nameless, faceless” people on the WMU’s prayer list. But God had something else in mind, she said. “God will be exalted … and His glory will fill the whole earth.”

Outgoing WMU President Janet Hoffman of Farmersville, La., challenged participants to have a passion for missions and to pass it on to the next generation. A passion for missions is always only one generation away from being extinguished or from explosive growth, she added.

Hoffman urged the women to fan the spark in their hearts for God’s mission. “Stir it up daily in your intimate time with Christ, and pass it on.”

In a session emphasizing inner-city ministry, leaders of First Baptist Church of Nashville explained that they purposefully decided to stay in the inner city and aggressively minister to inner city needs.

Church members Linda Leathers and Becky Sumrall spoke of their work through the church’s Downtown Ministry Center. Leathers described their ministry to women released from prison, helping them avoid returning to the dysfunctional relationships and environments they knew before.

“Life can be different for them through Christ’s love and grace,” Leathers said “They are not bad women. They are women who made bad choices.”

Leathers and other volunteers also help the women through Christian Women’s Job Corp, individual and group counseling, GED programs and job placement.

More than 400 women have completed the jobs corps program, including homeless women and women from the exotic dancing industry, according to Sumrall, who serves as the church’s coordinator.

One woman helped through the ministry shared how the program enabled her to overcome an eating disorder and other lifestyle issues.

“I called out to God for courage and strength,” she told the crowd. “I’m a whole person now, and that’s a beautiful thing.”

First Baptist Pastor Frank Lewis praised “100 wild praying women” who met regularly to pray for the inner city. From that sprung the Downtown Ministry Center for women in crisis.

“It would be so much easier to put a for sale sign on Seventh and Broadway and move out,” Lewis said. “But you know what? God called us to be here. … We are committed to be here.”

Kaye Miller of Immanuel Baptist Church of Little Rock, Ark., was elected president of Woman’s Missionary Union during the meeting. Miller, president of the Arkansas WMU since 2002, is the daughter of Harland and Jo Willis, who were medical missionaries to Thailand.

Receiving the gavel from Hoffman, Miller said. “My missions heritage has prepared me for this day.”

Miller’s father closed the session by praying in the Thai language, which Kay Miller described as her family’s “heart language.”

In WMU’s structure, presidents of the state organizations serve as vice-presidents on the national level. Kathy Hillman of Waco was re-elected as recording secretary.

During her report to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting June 21 in Nashville, Lee announced that the WMU Executive Board set the 2006 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal at $150 million and the 2007 Annie Armstrong Easter Offering goal at $57 million. Lee also recognized Hoffman for her five years of service as president and announced Miller’s election.

In other action at the WMU annual meeting:

— Nancy Fountain Carroll, a missions leader from Bethlehem Baptist Church of East Dublin, Ga., was named the 2006 recipient of the Martha Myers GA Alumnae of Distinction Award. The award recognizes a leader whose life was transformed through WMU children's and youth missions programs and who now models a missions lifestyle. The award was named in honor of Martha Myers, a missionary physician who invested more than two decades of her life at Jibla Hospital in Yemen before she was killed by a terrorist in December 2002.

— Linda Leathers of First Baptist Church in Nashville received the Dellanna West O'Brien Leadership Award for her work with First Baptist's Downtown Ministry Center, which offers a program of transitional living, mentoring, life skills and job skills for women recently released from prison. The award was named in honor of the retired longtime WMU executive director to recognize women who demonstrate an ability to foster leadership in others and who display potential to become leaders in their community and the world.

— WMU celebrated the 10th anniversary of the WMU Foundation by presenting a plaque of appreciation to foundation president David George.

— Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell welcomed WMU members to the city. He paid homage to WMU’s heritage of mission support and education. Purcell concluded by thanking WMU, on behalf of his mother, for the organization’s continued support of the Women’s Department of the Baptist World Alliance. The Southern Baptist Convention voted in 2004 to withdraw from participation with BWA but WMU, despite its auxiliary relationship to the SBC, voted to maintain ties with the worldwide Baptist organization.

— Attendees heard words of challenge and encouragement from James Porch, executive director-treasurer of the Tennessee Baptist Convention; Jerry Rankin, president of the International Mission Board; and Robert E. “Bob” Reccord, president of the North American Mission Board. Rankin thanked the national missions organization for its “faithful support and passion for missions” that has enabled Southern Baptists “to reach a lost world together in partnership.” He reported that the past year’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions had remained strong, falling slightly short of its record the previous year but almost reaching the $134 million mark.

— During Wanda Lee’s report to the SBC annual meeting, a messenger from Texas asked why WMU makes it difficult for all state conventions to be able to participate in mission offerings. Specifically, he said, the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas was not sent promotional materials for the offerings. Lee responded that WMU works with all state conventions, state WMU organizations and SBC churches. She said materials were shipped to the Southern Baptist Convention of Texas.

Compiled from reports by Tony Cartledge, John Loudat, William Perkins, Charlie Warren and Bill Webb.

Posted: 6/24/05

SBC urges investigation of
schools, drops Disney boycott

By Trennis Henderson

Kentucky Western Recorder

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (ABP)–Southern Baptist Convention messengers voted “to hold accountable schools, institutions and industries for their moral influence on our children.”

The resolution also urges parents and churches “to investigate diligently the curricula, textbooks and programs in our community schools and to demand discontinuation of offensive material and programs.”

The action came one year after SBC messengers rejected a proposal urging Southern Baptists to remove their children from “godless” and “anti-Christian” public schools.

Houston attorney Bruce Shortt was the co-author of proposed resolutions both last year and this year urging parents to withdraw their children from public schools.

This year's proposal, co-written by Voddie Baucham, called for removing children from schools that seek to influence students to accept homosexuality as a legitimate lifestyle.

While the measure presented by the SBC Resolutions Committee cited concerns about homosexuality, it stopped short of urging parents to withdraw their children from public schools.

Shortt said later he and Baucham support the committee's resolution as “an important first step in protecting our children.” He urged Southern Baptists to “investigate diligently … to determine if your school district is betraying your trust by teaching that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle.”

Jim Goforth of Missouri, who spoke against the anti-public school proposal last year, offered an amendment this year commending teachers and students “who feel a call from God to take a stand in secular schools as a light shining in the darkness.”

Committee members accepted the proposal as a friendly amendment, and it was approved prior to adopting the revised resolution.

Messengers also approved resolutions to end an eight-year boycott of Disney and to express appreciation for American troops and President Bush.

The Disney resolution declares the SBC's boycott “has communicated effectively our displeasure concerning products and policies that violate moral righteousness and traditional family values.”

Urging Disney to provide “only those products that affirm traditional family values,” the resolution pledges “to continue to monitor the products and policies of the Disney Co.”

Wiley Drake, a California pastor and outspoken Disney opponent, affirmed the proposal to end the boycott but proposed an amendment calling for the SBC “to reinstitute another boycott if necessary.” Messengers rejected the proposed amendment.

Messengers overwhelmingly voted to end the boycott, concluding with a call for Southern Baptists “to practice continued discernment regarding all entertainment products from all sources.”

The resolution honoring the military declares that “our troops play a vital role in preserving and protecting freedom in the United States and throughout the world.” It also notes that President Bush “has shown courage and leadership in his valiant opposition to terrorism.”

Without specifically referencing Iraq, Afghanistan or other countries where U.S. troops are stationed, the resolution encourages “all Southern Baptists to pray regularly for our president and to stand with him in opposing global terrorism as he makes decisions that potentially impact the entire earth.”

Connie Saffle, a U.S. Army veteran and pastor's wife from Kansas, offered an amendment encouraging Baptists to pray for and support family members of military personnel. It was approved without debate.

Messengers defeated an amendment that urged “maintaining the maximum individual freedoms of all loyal Americans.” Robert Dreyfus offered the amendment out of concern for “the abridgement of our constitutional rights” through the Patriot Act and other measures.

Messengers also approved six resolutions without discussion:

Stem-cell research. Noting that messengers “wholeheartedly support efforts to find cures and therapies for human maladies that respect the sanctity of all human life,” the measure adds, “We deplore embryo-destructive research, since it kills human beings in their earliest stages of development.”

It expresses “deep disappointment” in a recent U.S. House vote in favor of expanded stem-cell research and urges the U.S. Senate to reject such legislation.

Federal judiciary. The measure calls on “all future presidents to nominate strict constructionist judges who will interpret rather than make law.” It also urges “all members of the body of Christ to provide their United States senators with verbal and written encouragement to stop the obstruction of judicial nominees.”

Religious freedom and freedom of speech. The resolution declares that messengers “will vote only for candidates and policies at all levels of government that will protect our religious freedoms and advocate traditional Judeo-Christian values.”

Reducing teen smoking. Noting that every day 5,000 children under age 18 smoke their first cigarette, messengers pledged to “work to reduce tobacco use, especially among teens.” The resolution also applauds “jurisdictions that have helped reduce teen smoking with substantial tax increases on tobacco products.”

Evangelism. Affirming SBC President Bobby Welch's call for Southern Baptists to “reach, win and baptize 1 million people,” the resolution encourages churches “to make reaching the lost a pre-eminent ministry priority.”

Appreciation. The traditional resolution of appreciation expresses “profound gratitude to the Lord and to all those whom he used to bring about a convention characterized by grace, evangelism, worship, encouragement, unity and purpose in this annual meeting.”

Messengers submitted 23 proposals to the resolutions committee for consideration. Seven of the issues were addressed in three of the committee's nine resolutions. The committee declined to take action on the other 16 topics, including the SBC's “support for the unjust war in Iraq,” encouraging Southern Baptist churches “to make available natural family planning” and rescinding commendation for LifeWay Christian Resources' Holman Christian Standard Bible translation.

Posted: 6/24/05

Church receives special blessing

By George Henson

Staff Writer

DUNCANVILLE–First Baptist Church in Duncanville considers its Special Friends Sunday school class a special blessing, Pastor Keith Brister said.

“They are such a blessing to our church, and we've done nothing to earn that blessing–it's just something God has dropped in our laps,” Brister said.

About 10 special-needs adults from a group home “just showed up one Sunday” about five years ago, the pastor said.

A driver for the group home brought them for awhile but was inconsistent, so now the church sends a van to transport them each Sunday. Errol and Linda Stevenson attend to this ministry each week.

Brister feels blessed by their presence.

“It has been nothing but a blessing to me. They love me as much or more than anyone in the church. They tell me they love me and pray for me,” he said.

“I try to get by their Sunday school room most Sundays for five minutes before they get started, and it's some of the best time I'll spend all week.

“They're just a real affirmation from the Lord. Sometimes you follow up on 100 prospects and none of them ever come, but then God gives you a blessing like this that you did nothing to earn.”

The adults are a blessing to the church as well, Brister said.

“The sweet spirit they have as they greet people in the sanctuary just communicates that everyone is welcome here,” he said.

The church also now has the capacity to minister to other special-needs adults.

“If someone comes with special needs, we have that ministry. I think that just like some parents choose a church for the youth group, there will also be families with special-needs family members who can only go where there is provision for them.

“And that is important. The Bible talks about ministering to 'the least of these,' but there are no “leasters” in the family of God. This is an important ministry.”

The class has two teachers, Mary Jackson and Carole Unseth, who alternate leading the class in two-week stints.

While the group home has 10 residents, high attendance in the class has been nine, with an average of six or seven attending on most Sundays.

Their teachers enjoy their time with students.

“They are just nice, loving special people,” Jackson said. “Any little thing you do, they are just so appreciative. And as much as I love them, they love me right back.”

One of Jackson's favorite times during class is prayer time.

“They love to pray. They are very honest in their prayer requests and don't hold anything back. And everyone wants to pray and does pray. I thinks that's very special,” she said.

The Special Friends Class uses curriculum provided by LifeWay Christian Resources for adults with special learning needs.

“This literature is just right for them,” Jackson said.

And they are just right for First Baptist Church in Duncanville.

Posted: 6/26/05

CBF considers criteria for partner schools

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

Leaders at theological schools that have received financial support from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship generally agree the Fellowship needed to reconsider how it relates to “partner” institutions.

But “the devil is in the details,” one administrator said, particularly for schools that stand to lose money if the CBF approves recommendations in a partnership study committee report.

The committee’s recommendations create a three-tiered approach to partnership for theological schools—identity partners, leadership partners and global partners. Schools in each category would be eligible for scholarships and collaborative initiative funding, as well as “relational resources” such as references and referrals. But only identity partners would be eligible for ongoing institutional funding, and no more than six of the 14 theological education partner schools could be designated as identity partners.

“Criteria for defining of these institutions will include factors such as enrollment, the number of graduates in congregational ministry, level of support for CBF, geographic location, willingness to self-identify as a CBF-affiliated school and historical connection to CBF,” the report states.

The Fellowship’s Coordinating Council will discuss and vote on the committee’s report at its June 29-30 meeting, prior to the annual CBF General Assembly in Grapevine, Texas. If the council approves the report, CBF Moderator Bob Setzer of First Baptist Church in Macon, Ga., plans to ask the General Assembly to affirm the action.

At least one freestanding seminary—Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond—fully anticipates being named as an identity partner based on its historic relationship to CBF and its size.

“I assume (Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond) would be one of the identity partners since we have been one of two institutions funded by CBF from the time of the adoption of their very first budget,” said President Tom Graves.

“We are also one of the largest of the seminary programs, enrolling over 325 students in our courses last academic year. We are proud of our relationship to CBF and are glad to be identified publicly as a CBF-related school.”

Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond receives $241,216 annually from CBF, which amounts to less than 10 percent of the school’s total budget but makes the Fellowship the seminary’s largest denominational source of funding, Graves noted. The seminary also receives $177,424 from the Baptist General Association of Virginia.

Graves voiced strong support for the study committee and its report.

“The financial well-being of CBF is a key to our own well-being,” he said. “We do a disservice to jeopardize the financial stability of the CBF for the benefit of some of its related agencies. It is wise to understand that there must be limits to what the CBF can do for its partners.”

Of the remaining three freestanding seminaries that partner with CBF, Baptist Seminary of Kentucky appears sure to be a leadership partner, since its only funding from CBF is three leadership scholarships totaling $15,000, said President Greg Earwood. International Baptist Theological Seminary almost certainly will be designated as a global partner, possibly along with Baptist University of the Americas. Global partners are schools developing leaders outside the United States or leaders within the United States whose first language is other than English, according to the study committee’s report.

Among freestanding seminaries, that leaves Central Baptist Theological Seminary, which hopes to be identified as an identity partner, according to President Molly Marshall.

“We are focused on the same strategic initiatives as CBF—faith formation, building community, developing leaders and missional outreach,” she said. “We are grateful for the sustaining support CBF has offered to Central in the past and trust that we will continue our strong partnership.”

Central Baptist Theological Seminary is seeking to align theological education with congregational needs, as demonstrated by its teaching church initiative, she added. First Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, Okla., and First Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tenn., are part of the initiative to offer theological education in a local church context.

Marshall affirmed the Fellowship for “grappling honestly” with the matter of partnerships.

“I believe it is good stewardship for CBF to be asking how funding of theological institutions contributes to the goals and objectives of CBF partnerships. Calling partners to accountability is a constructive way to align the whole organization for greater effectiveness,” she said.

Six divinity schools or schools of theology at Baptist universities are CBF theological partners—Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary, Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology, Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, Gardner-Webb University’s White School of Divinity, Campbell University Divinity School and Wake Forest Divinity School.

Leaders at Baylor University’s Truett Theological Seminary “have some reason to believe Truett will get favorable treatment,” said Dean Paul Powell, newly appointed special assistant to the president for denominational relations. “At least I hope so.”

With 391 students enrolled, Truett is the largest theological school in partnership with CBF, Powell noted, adding that the school also has produced the most graduates. Truett has graduated 386 students since its founding, and it graduated 80 students last year.

In 2004-2005, Truett received $167,348 from CBF.

Alan Culpepper, dean of the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, reported holding a preliminary meeting with CBF Coordinator Daniel Vestal and Terry Hamrick, the Fellowship’s coordinator for leadership development.

“But we did not talk about its effect on the allocation to McAfee,” Culpepper said. “We have not yet received a formal invitation to be an identity partner, and I do not know what effect that might have on our budget status. I am sure all of this will be worked out in due time.”

Other observers expressed confidence that McAfee and Truett likely would be named identity partners, probably along with Campbell University Divinity School and White Divinity School at Gardner-Webb, based on the criteria outlined in the study committee report. If so, either Hardin-Simmons’ Logsdon School or Wake Forest Divinity School could fail to be named as an identity partner.

Wake Forest understands that its ecumenical identity—expressed in its mission statement as “Christian by tradition, ecumenical in outlook, and Baptist in heritage”—will make the school a “second-tier” entity in the CBF’s eyes, said Dean Bill Leonard.

Wake Forest Divinity School currently receives $20,000 from CBF, all of which goes to scholarship funds for students preparing for ministry in CBF-related churches, Leonard said. The school’s total annual budget is about $1.5 million, and Leonard has “no idea” whether funding from CBF will increase or decrease, he said.

Since its founding 1999, the divinity school has graduated four classes of students—nearly half of them from CBF-related churches.

“Since 2002, we have given an average of $75,086 per year to students related to CBF,” Leonard said. “The total average scholarship awards to CBF students for a three-year cycle is $225,259. This means that the divinity school is raising its own scholarship funds that go to students connected to the CBF and carrying them financially far beyond the funding provided by CBF nationally. …We will continue to work as best we can to secure scholarship aid for CBF related students who choose to join us.”

Irma Duke, communications and development director for Campbell, affirmed the partner study committee and its work. Duke, who serves on the CBF Coordinating Council, said she believes the committee “tried to provide more flexibility and accountability in the funding levels, and I sense that this is being accomplished.”

Campbell University Divinity School clearly asserts its identity as a CBF-related school, and it promotes CBF missions and training opportunities to students and alumni, she added.

“CBF has been generous to us, and we are appreciative,” she said. “I hope that funding for the school and our students will not be reduced because it has allowed us the opportunity to do some things that we would have, otherwise, not been able to do. As a new school, the operational funding has been particularly helpful.”

Likely losers under the proposed three-tiered approach would be the Baptist studies programs at non-Baptist universities.

Duke Divinity School’s Baptist House of Studies expects to lose $20,000 in institutional funding since “there is little question that the Baptist House at Duke will not be an identity partner,” given its formal relationship to the United Methodist Church, said Director Curtis Freeman.

By that understanding of the committee’s criteria, Baptist studies program at Texas Christian University’s Brite Divinity School and Emory University’s Candler School of Theology also would fail to qualify as identity partners. Brite is affiliated with the Disciples of Christ and Candler with the United Methodist Church.

Duke’s Baptist House already is making contingency plans to cope with the anticipated funding cut, Freeman noted.

“Our board of directors discussed the funding change at our spring meeting. We are in the initial stages of talking with churches and individuals who can make up the difference,” he said. “It may take a little time, but we’re discovering that our students make the best case for why Baptists need to support Duke. We’re hopeful that in the long run they will own the value of theological education for Baptists at Duke.”

Freeman took issue with the approach the partner study committee has taken in its proposals. The committee chose to base partnership on a school’s self-identification with CBF rather than the value a school brings to CBF-related churches, he asserted.

“My suggestion to the CBF leadership from the time I got to Duke was to consider funding partners based on the resources they provide to CBF and like-minded congregations. This seemed to be consistent with their stated aim to move beyond denominationalism,” he said. 

“What I proposed was for CBF to assess the level of their support for our partnership based the value of those leadership resources to CBF and like-minded congregations.  The study committee has chosen a different direction, one that by contrast is most-denominational rather than post-denominational, as partnership will be defined primarily in terms of institutions that identify themselves as CBF entities.”

If CBF eliminates institutional support for Duke Divinity School, “The only relationship between us and CBF besides shared ideas and convictions will be some scholarship support for students—right now at $20,000,” Freeman said.

“This is a good thing, but to put it in perspective, in terms of scholarship support for Duke students, CBF would rank either third or fourth behind several other organizations.  Conversely, there are three or four congregations whose support for Baptist House together will be significantly more than CBF’s support for scholarships.  So all this will give us some pause as we reassess what partnership means for us, and how we understand our partnership with CBF.” 

Posted: 6/26/05

Crossover events provide 'snapshot of heaven'

By Lee Weeks

Baptist Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)—For Tim Hill, the view at the Tennessee State Fairgrounds could be described in one word—heavenly.

“This is kind of a microcosm of what we’ve got” in Tennessee,” said Hill, an ethnic church starting specialist with the Tennessee Baptist Convention. “We’ve got a lot of Africans, Asians, Hispanics, refugees, Egyptians, Middle Easterners—we’ve got it all here. A snapshot of what heaven is going to be like.”

Josh Coy of New Song Christian Fellowship in Franklin, Tenn., uses an EvangeCube to share the Gospel at "The Gathering," an outreach sponsored by approximately 200 FAITH Riders motorcyclists from across the United States in conjunction with the Crossover evangelistic outreach June 18 in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Bob Carey)

An international festival sponsored by the Nashville Baptist Association and Tennessee Baptist Convention was one of about 100 evangelistic events held June 18 as part of Crossover Nashville, the evangelistic thrust preceding each year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Six other Baptist associations along with the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian Resources also were Crossover sponsors.

Within a 40-mile radius of downtown Nashville, Crossover events, including block parties, street evangelism, sports clinics, neighborhood prayerwalking, and door-to-door visitation, were conducted by nearly 10,000 volunteers from hundreds of Southern Baptist churches across the country.

More than 2,500 professions of faith in Christ initially were recorded as a result of the Crossover efforts, according to records submitted by 80 of the 100 venues reporting to the Nashville Baptist Association office along with reports from the door-to-door Crossover thrust initiated by SBC President Bobby Welch.

The international festival, in the fairgrounds’ Vaughan Building, featured cultural exhibits by about a dozen ethnic groups as well as musical and folk dance performances in native regalia and international cuisine. The festival, which attracted more than 3,000 people, also included a free bag of groceries as well as free haircuts and hand massages.

“All of them have worked together in spite of language differences and cultural differences to put this on,” Hill of the volunteers, “and I’m real proud of them.”

More importantly, Hill said, the highlight of the festival was marked by more than 100 professions of faith in Christ recorded during the four-hour event.

In east Nashville, the vision for a new church start was birthed as approximately 80 professions of faith in Christ were recorded during a three-hour block party at Eastland Baptist Church co-hosted by volunteers from Brentwood Baptist Church south of Nashville.

Activities for the 300-plus registered guests included musical concerts, interpretative dance, art displays from South Africa, Brazil and Indonesia, sack races and hula hoop competitions, as well as free food and refreshments.

Tony Higgins, a church planting missionary with the Nashville Baptist Association, said the block party marked the first outreach efforts for the new Eastland Community Church, which plans to launch worship services for its multi-ethnic congregation Sept. 18 on the Eastland Baptist Church campus.

“It was beautiful to see,” Higgins said of local residents, both young and old, from neighboring white, black and Hispanic communities fellowshiping together.

Christie Ridgell of First Baptist Church in Sweetwater, Tenn., was among dozens of volunteers who bagged 50,000 pounds of sweet potatoes for food ministries, among numerous Crossover evangelistic activities preceding this year SBC annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn. (Photo by Bob Carey)

“Eastland community is aching for a church to reach out and that’s what we’re going to do,” Higgins said.

In downtown Nashville, about 150 volunteers from 24 churches in six states helped bag about 45,000 pounds of sweet potatoes in 10-pound bags in First Baptist Church’s parking lot.

Rusty Sumrall, associate director of the Nashville Baptist Association, said the sweet potatoes were secured by the Chicago-based Society of St. Andrews gleaning ministry. Volunteers distributed the sweet potatoes to local feeding ministries as well as block parties throughout Nashville.

Sixteen-year-old Garrett Lilley of First Baptist Church in Scotland Neck, N.C., figured she and her friend Haley Williams, 13, bundled at least 200 bags of potatoes.

But for Lilley, the highlight of her Crossover experience occurred the day before, en route to Nashville. An 18-year-old man approached her at a Waffle House in Asheville, N.C., to comment about the T-shirt she had designed for her youth group during their Crossover trip.

The man confessed he had come under conviction after seeing the yellow T-shirts bearing the words: “Follow The Son. Shine on us with your love, your grace, and your light.”

“He decided that he needed to follow the Son again,” Lilley said. “He said he used to be really involved in church, but in January he just started drinking instead of praying about his problems. He went and called his old youth minister and talked to him and he is going to get back involved in church.”

At another Crossover event, Sherrie Baker of east Nashville was impressed by the ministry of two men from Tullahoma, Tenn., who participated in the Baptist Men On Mission “Pit Stop” co-sponsored by First Baptist Church in Nashville and the North American Mission Board (NAMB).

Bobby Welch (right), president of the Southern Baptist Convention, prays with David Burton of the FAITH Riders motorcycle group, during the Crossover evangelistic outreach across Nashville and surrounding areas June 18. (Photo by Matt Miller)

Alan Sawyer and Barry Halley, members of Grace Baptist Church in Tullahoma, changed the oil in Baker’s truck for free in a parking lot behind First Baptist.

“It’s a blessing. God is just good, that’s all I can say,” Baker said. “God is so good. This is a marvelous gift for them to come out here and share on a Saturday.”

Saturday also marked the end of a weeklong street witnessing outreach by NAMB’s Inner City Evangelism (ICE) teams. About 20 ICE team members from Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, West Virginia and North Carolina walked the streets of Nashville sharing the Gospel June 13-18.

Victor Benavides, coordinator of NAMB’s Inner City Evangelism efforts, said 716 professions of faith were recorded in communities near Shelby Avenue Baptist Church and the Church of the Messiah on LaFayette Street.

“Some people say that Gospel tract distribution doesn’t work anymore, but God showed us it still works,” Benavides said. “Even in times of crises,” he added.

ICE team members distributed about 500 Gospel tracts shortly after a drive-by shooting flushed people out of their homes near LaFayette Street June 15 around 4 p.m. and local law enforcement personnel secured the area.

“When we were walking in the projects we were finding bullet casings,” Benavides said.

Tammy Weeks, a member of Serenity Baptist Church in Clinton, N.C., partnered with her husband, Richard, in leading dozens of people, including entire families, to make professions of faith in Christ as part of the ICE team efforts.

“When the gunshots went off, I knew I was out of my comfort zone,” Weeks said. “God did not leave me out there by myself. He took care of me. I had on the full armor of God.”

For Mary Donegan, Woman’s Missionary Union director at Old New Hope Baptist Church in Fairview, Tenn., Crossover helped mobilize about 20 people, ages 5 to 80, in their small church for ministry.

The group distributed free bottles of water and homemade cookies in a grocery store parking lot and community recreation center west of Nashville.

“We told them we were giving this to show the love of Jesus because He gave His all for us,” Donegan said. “We had a blast. The Spirit was there. It was awesome. There were some seeds planted.”

Posted: 6/25/05

Kenneth Taylor, Living Bible publisher, dies

WHEATON, Ill. (ABP)—Kenneth Taylor, whose Living Bible made Scripture understandable for millions of people, died June 10 at the age of 88 at his home in Wheaton, Ill.

Taylor based his Living Bible paraphrase, first published in 1971, on existing English Bible translations. But by recasting complex verses and terminology in easy English, he made the Bible accessible to a new and larger audience. Over 40 million copies of the Living Bible have since been sold in North America, and it is available in over 100 languages.

Getting a Bible paraphrase published was no easy task. In fact, every publishing company Taylor approached rejected it. So Tyndale House Publishers was founded, eventually becoming the leading publisher of Christian books. The profits made from the publication of the Living Bible were donated to the Tyndale House Foundation trust fund, which supports mission projects.

Taylor, the father of 10, also authored 10 children’s books.

Posted: 6/26/05

Land says ERLC will keep
helping Americans 'vote values'

By Lisa Watson

Arkansas Baptist Newsmagazine

NASHVILLE—Southern Baptists and the Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission are part of a movement for faith-based citizens to vote their values, said commission President Richard Land.

“There is a new force loose in America, and it is people who are going to vote traditional religious values,” Land told Southern Baptist messengers June 21 during his address to the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville.

Last year the commission’s “I Vote Values” campaign—including a website and an 18-wheel tractor-trailer exhibit and information center—helped more than 400,000 people “vote in a more intelligent, more concerned way,” Land insisted.

“We said to Americans of traditional values, you need to be registered to vote, you need to be an informed voter, and when you vote, you need to vote your values, your beliefs and your convictions” he continued.

Land said the commission helped Southern Baptists vote their convictions, be informed about candidates’ positions on issues and encourage others to vote their values.

In last year’s last presidential election, he added, almost 25 percent of voters said moral issues were the most important deciding factor for them.

Land also said two-thirds of Americans do not want same sex marriage. “They are not going to allow a runaway imperial judiciary to impose it upon them against their will,” he continued. “We still have a government of the people, by the people and for the people if we will stand up and demand it.” He mentioned that nineteen states have already passed a marriage amendment.

“We believe there is still an opportunity for America to turn back to God,” said Land. He said the job of Christians is to be salt and light to bring about another great awakening or reformation in America.

Land also presented a video about homosexuality created by an SBC task force, organized in 2001, to develop a redemptive ministry to homosexuals. “Homosexuality is not just something that people do,” said Land, who was appointed to the task force. “Homosexuals are convinced that their homosexuality is part of who they are. We must come to the place where we understand that homosexuality is a symptom of deeper influences.

“We must share with them the truth of God’s love and God’s plan for their lives,” he continued. “And we must provide them with places of safe haven, love, peace, where they can reconnect and let God work his miracle of grace and healing in their lives.”

Land exhorted those in attendance to contact the ERLC staff and trustees. “We want to hear from you. We want to help you … to work with you to change America for God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Posted: 6/26/05

Draper reflects on tenure, says progress
made in input from young pastors

By Brian Blackwell

Louisiana Baptist Message

NASHVILLE—Jimmy Draper admits he’s no action hero. But Draper, who is scheduled to retire in February from his post as president of LifeWay Christian Resources, said the past 14 years has been a great adventure indeed.

“In fact, many times over these years it seems as if I’ve been holding on while God has led us into a great adventure,” Draper said during LifeWay’s report to Southern Baptist Convention messengers in Nasvhille. “I’ve tried to walk by faith, knowing that he’s the one who ultimately writes our scripts.”

His video presentation featured LifeWay highlights during his 14 years as president, including the True Love Waits abstinence program, which has resulted in a reduced rate of AIDS cases in Uganda; the release of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, which has grown in popularity; and his efforts to include younger leaders in denominational life.

During last year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis, Draper noted the lack young ministers’ denominational involvement. Since then, Draper has met with more than 500 younger ministers to seek their input about what he calls a “crisis” in the denomination.

Furthermore, he said, four newly elected members of LifeWay’s board of trustees are under 40-years-old, including an individual who is 27-years-old.

“We’ll continue our dialogue with younger leaders by involving them in well-planned listening sessions that lead to partnership and involvement opportunities,” Draper explained.

“They asked for a seat at the table and LifeWay is pulling up the chairs,” he continued. “And I would (recommend that) every church and entity of the SBC do the same.”

Though Draper will retire Feb. 1, he said he does not intend to “back away from getting in there and mixing it up. We as LifeWay and we as Southern Baptists must pursue the ministry opportunities that God has placed before us.”

Draper closed his report with three prayer requests.

“Pray for LifeWay’s trustees as they seek God’s man to be the next president,” he asked.

“Pray for our denomination that we will humble ourselves before God and focus our energy on fulfilling the Great Commission.

“And pray that there will be a whole bunch of chairs pulled up to the table and all generations of Southern Baptists will join together to aggressively seek to reach the world for Christ.”