Baptist Briefs

Posted: 9/29/06

Baptist Briefs

Arkansas paper could lose independence. Arkansas Baptist leaders will try to turn control of the Arkansas Baptist News over to the state convention staff, replacing the independent board that currently governs the newspaper. A task force, appointed last year by the president of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, will make recommendations to the annual convention meeting—including one asking the president of the Arkansas Executive Board and the president of the newspaper board to appoint a committee to discuss the possibility of merging the paper with another publication under the jurisdiction of the state convention’s Executive Board. The constitution and bylaws of the Arkansas convention require the Arkansas Baptist News be governed by a 15-member board of directors. Any recommendation to merge the newspaper into the Executive Board would necessitate a constitutional amendment, which would require approval by a two-thirds majority of messengers at two consecutive state convention meetings. That likely would take until November 2008 to accomplish.

Missouri Baptist executive director survives ouster effort. David Clippard remains executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, despite an apparent effort to oust him Sept. 22. Following a marathon, closed-door meeting at the convention building in Jefferson City, Executive Board members attempted to quell infighting between the convention’s factions by affirming Clippard and his apparent protagonist, fundamentalist leader Roger Moran. In a press release issued three days after the meeting, Executive Board members confirmed they investigated concerns that had been brought to the board and affirmed Clippard, Moran, the work of the nominating committee Moran chairs, and the convention’s other committees.

President urges SBC to be relevant, seek revival. Southern Baptist Convention President Frank Page warned the SBC Executive Committee their denomination must retain its relevancy in a rapidly changing world. “In the eyes of many … we have become an archaic, burdensome bureaucracy that has no relevancy for today or the days to come,” he said. Page called for “a Holy Ghost revival” in the denomination. One obstacle to such revival, he said, is the divisions that exist in the SBC.

Ten percent of Southern Baptist pastors thoroughly Calvinist. One Southern Baptist pastor in 10 considers himself a five-point Calvinist, a survey by LifeWay Research revealed. LifeWay surveyed 413 pastors and discovered 10 percent identify themselves as subscribing to total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace and perseverance of the saints, while 85 percent said they do not consider themselves five-point Calvinists, 4 percent don’t know and 1 percent refused to answer. The research revealed no significant statistical difference in the responses of pastors who are over age 40 and those who are under 40.

Trustee wants tongues addressed in BF&M. A seminary trustee, whose recent chapel sermon was barred from the school’s website because of his comments about speaking in tongues, has asked that the Southern Baptist Convention address the issue in its official confession of faith. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington and a trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, sent a letter to SBC President Frank Page and members of the SBC Executive Committee asking them to “initiate a process of addressing and formally adopting a position sanctioned by the SBC in 2007 or 2008 annual meeting, to be included in the Baptist Faith & Message, regarding our position(s) on spiritual gifts, private prayer language and speaking in tongues.”

CBF receives missional church grant. The Waco-based Christ Is Our Salvation foundation has given the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship a $1.5 million grant to transform CBF churches into missional congregations—churches where missions permeates every aspect of congregational life. The grant will be spent over the next three years. Half of the funds will go to congregations who complete the eight-week CBF program “It’s Time: A Journey Toward Missional Faithfulness” and meet other requirements. CBF expects to use the grant money to help churches conduct censuses, which will provide data for identifying and developing specific focus areas in congregations. The grant also will provide for four annual retreats focused on developing congregational ministers among laity. CBF leaders also will work with Baylor University’s Center for Family and Community Ministries to strengthen family life in the church context. The Fellowship also will work with the center to create church-based internships for undergraduate and graduate students.