Posted: 5/12/06

Elders—common title, different definitions

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

What do some contemporary, Calvinist and cowboy churches have in common? They all have elders.

But while they all agree elders find their basis in the Bible, they differ widely about who these elders are, what they should do and who has authority to make decisions for a congregation.

In contemporary-style mega-churches, congregations often delegate the routine decision-making authority to paid staff, with the pastor in the senior decision-making role.

Daniel Akin, president of Southeast-ern Baptist Theological Seminary, essentially advances that position as one of the contributors to Perspectives on Church Government, a 2004 Broadman & Holman book that examines five views on church polity. Akin defends what he calls “the single elder-led congregational” model.

“There is no biblical defense for a dictatorial, autocratic, CEO model for ministry leadership,” Akin insists. Even so, he calls for strong pastoral leadership and suggests “congregationalism often is best practiced in the form of a representative model” rather than having churches vote on routine matters.

“The church should seek out, call and follow godly leaders,” he writes. “We should willingly and joyfully submit to their direction and leadership. … We should wisely leave the everyday affairs of church life in their hands and banish forever the monthly business meeting … that provides repeated opportunities for persons to exercise their carnality.”

But James Leo Garrett, retired theology professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, writes in the same book a defense of traditional congregational polity.

Akin’s representative model “is not true congregationalism but a new form of the elder system centering in preaching-teaching-administering elders (at least in larger churches), of whom one is senior,” Garrett insists.

“Those who aspire to build mega-churches seem to see congregational polity as an impediment,” Garrett laments. But he insists congregational governance by all believers finds its roots in the New Testament doctrine of the priesthood of all believers, as well as in the principle of fairness.

“Those who through the voluntary stewardship of material gifts, their life of prayer and their deeds of ministering service sustain the work of the congregation should indeed have some role in the decision-making process of the congregation,” he writes. “Not all believers are equally gifted, but each should have a voice or expression of will amid the gathered and covenanted community of faith.”

In contrast, Baptists in the Reformed tradition adopt—to varying degrees—a modified Presbyterian form of church governance. Presbyterians believe in two orders of elders—teaching elders who preach and provide spiritual guidance for congregations and ruling elders who provide administration for a church.

For instance, First Baptist Church in Richland Hills—an independent church that cites the Calvinistic 1689 Second London Baptist Confession of Faith as its doctrinal statement—identifies itself as elder-ruled.

“The elders, being called to oversee and administer the local church … are the chief officers of the church,” the congregation’s website states. “Specifically, the elders are responsible for the instruction and oversight (government and superintendence) of the church. … The members of the church have the duties of submitting to and obeying the instructions and government of the elders.”

In a similar vein, John Piper, pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minnea-polis, Minn., wrote in a widely distributed 1999 paper, Biblical Eldership, “The responsibilities of elders are summed up under two heads: governing and teaching.”

Cowboy churches understand elders differently, said Ron Nolen, western heritage congregational strategist with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

“We believe in the elder role, not in elder rule,” Nolen said. Western heritage churches use multiple elders—typically two or three men who stand alongside the pastor, who functions in the role of senior elder. But rather than acting as a ruling and decision-making body, these elders serve as “a safety-net for decision-making,” he explained.

“We’re big on empowerment and accountability. The elders lead by example. They work to bring the giftedness out of other believers by empowering them for service, and then they are held mutually accountable,” Nolen said. “If a lay pastor or someone on the staff team falters or drops the ball, the elders step in.” Unpaid lay pastors serve as resources to lay-led ministry teams, and programming decisions are made through the teams—with input from the church as a whole, he added. An audit team makes administrative decisions—particularly regarding day-to-day finances.

“When it comes to major decisions like buying land or calling staff, that’s done by the whole church,” Nolen explained. “On a day-in and day-out basis, it’s done by the teams.”

Posted: 5/12/06

Herschel Hobbs on church governance

What would Herschel Hobbs say about elders? Who should have decision-making authority in a church?

Hobbs—the pastor-theologian who chaired the 1963 revision of the Southern Baptist Convention’s statement of faith—wrote 35 years ago in a church training book on the Baptist Faith & Message: “The officers in a local New Testament church are pastors and deacons. … The same office is variously called bishop, elder or pastor. … ‘Elder’ translates the Greek word which connotes age. Among the Jews, it was used of one who because of age possessed dignity and wisdom. But in the Christian sense, it was used of those who presided over assemblies of the church.”

Citing Acts 20:28, Hobbs concluded elder, pastor and bishop are interchangeable terms, saying, “‘Elder’ in the Christian sense always refers to the same office of bishop or pastor.”

On the matter of decision-making authority, Hobbs wrote: “ … (A) New Testament church is a local church acting through democratic processes under the lordship of Jesus Christ. In such a church, each member has equal rights and privileges but also should share equally the responsibilities. The will of the body should be the will of all, a will reached under the authority and guidance of the Spirit of Christ.”

(The Baptist Faith & Message by Herschel H. Hobbs, pp. 80-81)

Posted: 5/12/06

Who has authority to make decisions for a church?

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP)—Sam Shaw, pastor at Germantown Baptist Church near Memphis, Tenn., had a problem on his hands. As in a growing number of Baptist churches, Germantown leaders—including Shaw—wanted to elect elders. And while many church members welcomed the change, a determined majority opposed it as a violation of Baptist traditions and biblical teachings.

In a May 7 church conference, members voted 2,183-1,542 to reject a proposed constitutional change that would have created a governing body of elders.

Baptists across the country viewed the showdown at the 9,000-member church as an example of how the bitter debate over elders can derail a church.

At First Baptist Church in Colleyville, a similar rivalry left a senior-adult Sunday school class locked outside its classroom one February morning after class members voiced opposition to a plan to relocate the church. The relocation was a pet project of the church’s newly elected elder board.

On the other side of the debate, Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., has experienced continued improvement and growth as a congregation, the pastor says, thanks in large part to the strong elder tradition it has developed.

Traditionally, Baptists adhere to strict democratic governance, with every member eligible to vote on important church decisions.

More recently, however, some churches are appointing or electing “a small group of men” to become “the rulers of the church,” explained Robert Wring, an opponent of the trend who has studied its history. “They may allow the congregation to vote on certain important issues, but mainly the church just affirms what these ‘elders’ have already decided for the church to do.”

While scholars agree elders of some sort took part in first-century church leadership, division remains as to what that role was—and how that should translate to present-day churches. No matter which side of the issue those scholars espouse, they agree the issue is here to stay.

Wring, pastor of Mountain Highway Baptist Church in Spanaway, Wash., believes the “board of elders” practice in Baptist churches is a hybrid church-governance structure that combines Presbyterian and Baptist traditions.

“This board of elders is a Presbyterian-style church governance, but only on the local-church level,” he said. “Those favoring ruling elders (in a Baptist church) try to do this along with a congregational church-polity style. At best, it is a hybrid Presby-terian style of church governance.”

Wring wrote his doctoral dissertation at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis on elders in Southern Baptist churches. He feels strongly about the issue, even holding an informational seminar for Germantown Baptist members recently at Mid-America.

Since New Testament times, Wring said, the role of “pastor-elders”—as some call the traditional office of pastor—has proved an asset to the church, along with deacons. But the more recent movement toward laymen as ruling elders creates a “third office” beyond the traditional offices of pastor and deacon, he said.

Wring foresees a lack of accountability developing with the addition of an elder group. Elders often begin acting as a board of directors, he said, unchecked by biblical qualifications or a specific job description.

According to critics, elders are being used in some cases to circumvent the more cumbersome majority-led governance that historically has characterized Baptist churches.

Germantown’s pastor disagrees. Shaw used open letters to the church to assure members that elders would not control everything. Instead, he saw the change as a way for the 170-year-old church to be “better shepherded.”

“Godly laymen will be more intimately involved in discussing and determining the spiritual direction of our church,” Shaw wrote, explaining the benefits of elder leadership. “The senior pastor will have a godly group of church-elected peers (elders) to serve with him and provide leadership in spiritual and administrative matters.”

In his statement, Shaw said congregants still would have nominated and approved changes relating to the pastor and elders, the church budget and church discipline. Members also would have regularly scheduled meetings with the pastor and elders.

Many congregants viewed the proposal with alarm, warning it was ambiguous enough to leave room for complete elder rule. More than 1,200 people met the same week church leaders released the proposal to discuss how to lobby against it—even setting up a website to fight it.

Clark Finch, one of the founders of the website, said the trend toward elder rule still is small within the Southern Baptist Convention. “Out of 42,000 churches in the SBC, there are less than 1 percent that have some form of elder,” Finch said. “All the churches I’ve been able to find that have elders are smaller churches or dying churches. (Germantown) does not fit this description.”

In Germantown’s elder process, church members would have nominated candidates, put them through a screening process by an elder interview team and then approved the interviewers’ decision. Part of that interview team would have consisted of the church’s present deacons and pastors.

Finch and other opponents used their anti-elder website—www.savegbc.org—to rally opposition by enlisting historians, professors, lay people and others. They insisted they wanted to save their church—not from elders, but from their improper use. The proposed elders were not “leading elders” but “ruling elders,” said Finch, something he sees as a dangerous departure from biblical descriptions of elders.

Finch believes elders should be helpers, not rulers. In his opinion, a church should consist of pastors, deacons, committees and the congregation. He has no problem with calling pastoral staffers “elders,” but he categorically opposes elders as a ruling body. A close reading of the bylaws Germantown Baptist Church rejected reveals elders would have controlled everything, Finch said.

“First, let me state that elders are not the issue at GBC,” Finch said. “If we are to believe that pastor, bishop and elder are the same person, then we already have 22 elders. The real issue is lay elders and their function.”

The website says no Baptist associations or conventions support elder rule. If Germantown had joined the trend, it likely would have been the largest Baptist church to do so.

Mike Dever, pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., has done just that. His small but historic 139-year-old church has long had 10 elders who provide the church with “sound guidance from biblically qualified men.”

Capitol Hill emphasizes all the elders are pastors of the congregation along with Dever, who serves as “first among equals.” Most of the elders work in secular jobs, while all meet scriptural qualifications for office as laid out in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, Dever said.

“The elders should be marked by a use of their authority, which shows that they understand that the church belongs not to them but to Christ,” Dever wrote in his book, A Display of God’s Glory, which defends the use of elders. “The elders will give an account to Christ for their stewardship.”

Plus, Dever wrote, the elders are a “gift from God” for the good of the church. He warned Capitol Hill members to avoid “Satan’s lie that authority is never to be trusted because it is always tyrannical and oppressive.”

“As in a home, or in our own relationship with God, a humble recognition of rightful authority brings benefits,” he wrote. “In a church, when authority is used with the consent of the congregation for the good of the congregation, the congregation will benefit as God builds his church. …”

In many cases, the consent comes from Baptist congregations voting on elders. But some churches leave the choice of elders to the senior pastor. For some churches, deacons make decisions in place of elders, although many Baptist churches view deacons primarily as helpers, not rulers.

Bill Leonard, dean and professor of church history at Wake Forest Divinity School in Winstom-Salem, N.C., has studied extensively the place of elders in Baptist history.

Some early Baptists may have used the titles of elder and pastor interchangeably before the 17th century, he said. But confessions of faith written by Baptists of that era point to only two specific church offices—pastor and deacon.

The confusion over the role of elders has surfaced even overseas, Leonard said. “I was recently in Romania and there met some persons who took the title as elder and used it interchangeably with the term deacon, a lay office in the church,” Leonard said. “So you see, there is some variety of usage in Baptist life.”

Leonard, like others, said he thinks the new controversy indicates Baptists are becoming more Presbyterian—or they are at least developing a hybrid model, as Wring detects.

Some scholars complain the trend indicates Baptists are becoming more ecumenical and less distinctly Baptist. Wring blames “younger Baptist leaders who do not know what being a Baptist is truly all about.”

That sentiment—the fear that time-honored Baptist principles are disappearing—fuels the emotional side of the debate. Baptists are notoriously stubborn, said author James White, and each group will determinedly defend the viewpoint they first learned.

Personal emotion plays a large role in most Baptist politics, not just the issue of elders, and emotional ties stem directly from tradition, said White, adjunct professor of theology at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif.

A contributor to the book Perspectives on Church Government: Five Views of Church Polity, White said when Baptists are raised with one viewpoint, it becomes their tradition.

“Baptists tend to think we have no traditions when, of course, we do,” White said. “Since we do not talk a lot about testing our traditions by Scripture, when someone comes along and says, ‘The way we do this does not line up with Scripture,’ we tend to take that personally, and it is truly upsetting.”

No matter on which side of the issue they fall, however, most observers agree the division is not going away, nor will the emotion and even anger it engenders.

“This issue may be with Southern Baptists for a long time,” Wring said. “It very well may be the next issue to be dealt with in SBC life for at least the next 10 to 15 years.”

Posted: 5/12/06

Texas Baptist Forum

Faith & immigration

According to the article about Jesus demanding justice for immigrants (April 17), Albert Reyes says that I am “myopic, self-serving and legalistic.”

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“Dan Brown has given the church a gift. More people in the world will be talking about Jesus on May 19 than ever before.” John Tanner Pastor of Cove United Methodist Church near Huntsville, Ala., commenting on Dan Brown, best-selling author of The Da Vinci Code, which will premiere as a movie May 19. (RNS) “The rain falls on the just and the unjust, and it often seems to fall more on the just because the unjust have stolen the umbrellas!” Jeanie Miley Author and lecturer, writing in the Baptist Standard’s weekly cybercolumn “Without freedom there is no true faith, for faith coerced is no faith at all—only tyranny.” Jon Meacham Managing editor of Newsweek magazine, speaking at the inauguration of John Lilley as president of Baylor University “I’m not going to sit here and listen to a shirt-and-tie preacher. But I might listen to a guy in spandex, because he’s like me.” Timothy “T- Money” Blackmon Founder of Wrestling for Jesus, a wrestling-themed evangelical Christian group based in Beech Island, S.C. (Associated Press/RNS)

I feel our brother makes several mistakes. First, the question is not about immigrants. It is, however, about those who come into our country without permission. They are correctly called illegal immigrants. I have traveled to or lived in 21 foreign countries. Every time I have visited another country, I have entered with the permission of that country.

Yes, Christians should study this issue logically and biblically. For example, Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Egypt as an “international refugee.” However, he does not cite any of the Egyptian immigration laws related to foreign refugees.

We should think about “basic human rights.” We should bring this up with Mexican President Fox, Honduran President Rosales, Nicaraguan President Bolaños and others around the world. The economic and social conditions of their countries cause fathers and mothers to abandon their children, for others to care for, because they cannot make a living wage in their own countries. Those countries should have compassion and eliminate corruption and do what is necessary to foster economic growth and stability.

We should think biblically. Jesus obeyed God’s and man’s laws. He paid the temple tax (Matthew 17:24-27). He even taught that what belongs to Caesar goes to Caesar and what is God’s goes to God (Matthew 22:21). Peter says we are to submit ourselves to human authorities (1 Peter 2:13-14).

Jim West

Richardson

What is morality?

I agree with your editorial premise that Baptists have largely reduced personal righteousness to a morality based on sexual acts that we don’t do (May 1). Yet, if I go to an R-rated movie to see a topless actress or let my eyes stray where they ought not on the computer, then Christ condemns my alleged morality as hypocrisy. If then, by Christ’s absolute standard my morality is bankrupted by lust in my heart, then it should be no surprise that I also fail to use my wealth for deeds of righteousness or mercy to the needy.

When we define morality by outward sexual conduct, we are no different than the Jews defined morality by outward religious ritual. Yet, in Matthew 25, Christ dramatically illustrated that true righteousness is measured by personal relationships with, and ministry to, the less fortunate.

It is easy to blame societal problems on secular values and to seek mandates for prayer or morality through the courts or legislature. But I suspect Christ will hold his people responsible for social ills in ways we prefer not to think about.

God promises to heal the land when his people (not the pagans) turn from their wicked ways. Before I blame my pagan neighbor (for beggars, corporate corruption and unwed mothers), I must first look into the mirror of Christ’s teachings, repent and do my works of righteousness through personal relationships, not in the courts.

Thank you for holding up that mirror in your editorial.

Marcus W. Norris

Amarillo

Native Americans faced illegal immigrants, too

Although I realize the United States has a serious problem of illegal immigration, I can’t help but imagine that American Natives, past and present, are rolling in laughter at the irony involved. The American Natives at one time were also faced with the problems that illegal immigrants brought to their borders.

U.S. citizens may worry the same may happen today especially if “what goes around, comes around” is true. The matter is serious enough that everyone should reflect carefully as to not exacerbate the problem with racial slurs, unjust accusations and judgments. Everyone needs to remember that this nation was started by immigrants who did not go through any legal process of immigration. Unless descendants of the European illegal immigrants are willing to accept that their forefathers were criminals, they should not be so eager today to make criminals of those crossing our borders illegally.

If we are a nation of faith, we need to resolve this dilemma by agreeing that we are God’s children renting on God’s  property before we are citizens of any nation or members of any race.  Or have we decided to break the lease agreement known as the Ten Commandments?

Bob Montañez

Odessa

Obey the laws of the land

I applaud Albert Reyes and his Baptist cohorts, who, in Christian love, wish to make the word “illegal” really mean legal and encourage open borders from the Arctic to the Antarctic (April 17).

Think of the millions we can save by doing away with the border patrol alone. And as one with German and Irish ancestry, I’m certain he wants it freely open to all, from Africa, Iran, Asia, and Europe. No restrictions.

Of course, as they flood our schools not speaking English, we’ll certainly want all studies to be taught in all languages so as to give equal opportunity to all.

There will be gross overcrowding, and less money for reading, math, and science teachers, but with Texas already near the bottom nationwide in public education, we can’t fall far.

The only problem I have—Jesus said something somewhere about obeying the laws of our nation.

And it seems the Good Samaritan not only cleaned up the wounds, but also took the man to town and paid for his room and board and medical care! When my wife and I worked the Rio Grand River Ministry in 1980-93, we were told not to take sick patients in to the hospitals and dump them. Perhaps all these fine Christians would like to start reimbursing the local hospitals and schools from their pockets.

I will continue to pray for our elected leaders to see to know and do God’s will, that we will be a God-fearing national he will bless.

David S. Moore

Olney

Judas selected

Regarding the Gospel of Judas (April 17), I believe the Lord intended that one of the disciples should identify Jesus to the persecutors. He selected Judas, one of the 12 disciples, rather than another individual out of the circle of religious leaders of the day!

I believe the Lord has forgiven Judas when he passed into heaven, because it was the Lord’s decision for the act to occur!

Robert W. Tompkins

Spring

Promote the general welfare

As Christians, we are compelled by the Bible to help those most in need of help. 1 John 3:17 states, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?”

As citizens, we are required by the U.S. Constitution to “promote the general welfare.”

Robert Flynn

A gnawing Catholic influence

In recent issues of the Baptist Standard, I have felt the “pings” of a gnawing Catholic influence. The front page of the April 17 issue is a wake-up call, for here we are face-to-face with the picture of ashes being applied to the forehead of a young woman with the headline: “Give it up for Lent.”

The first paragraph of the article states, “For Ray Vickrey and Mike Clingenpeel, Easter doesn’t mean much without about 40 days of reflection and repentance before it.” This is a wholly fabricated rite by a religious group that was never obedient to the holy Scriptures. For the first 150 years following our Lord’s resurrection, Christians celebrated the 14th day of Nisan (Passover) as the day of the crucifixion. Finally “the church leaders” substituted a planned formula to guarantee a “Resurrection Sunday” following a “Palm Sunday” and a “Good Friday,” all cut from whole cloth with a total disregard for truth.

The last paragraph of the article states, “’Some … churches have avoided it because they don’t want to be linked with something resembling Catholicism, but that doesn’t necessarily concern us,’ Clingenpeel said, ‘we really like being linked with a larger community.’”

Many of us do not want to be linked with Catholicism at any level, nor with any mythological or pagan-based belief system. We still prefer God’s word to man’s inventions!

Paul Sawyer

Kyle

God's design?

John Piper was quoted as saying God not only allows cancer but designs it and as such uses it for a purpose in our lives (April 17): “It will not do to say that God only uses cancer but does not design it. What God permits, he permits for a reason.”

As noted, these words were penned just before he underwent surgery for prostate cancer. I find it difficult to explain that if God designs and gives us cancer for a purpose why would one have surgery to remove what God has designed specifically for you and has given to you for a purpose. Piper continues: “If God foresees molecular developments becoming cancer, he can stop it or not. If he does not, he has a purpose.” I question if the Sovereign God sees cells developing into cancer and he chooses not to stop its progression, who is man to decide to have a surgeon remove that which God knowingly allowed and has designed for a purpose.

Personally, I do not believe God designs cancer for people, but I choose to believe cancer is a result of the fall of man. As such, God can take even the worst of sin’s consequences and use it to strengthen my faith and demonstrate his glory. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Robert Netterville Jr.

Mauriceville

Posted: 5/12/06

On the Move

• Larry Barnett to First Church in Refugio as interim music director.

• Glen Beaty to Mosheim Church in Valley Mills as pastor from Old Time Church in Riesel.

• Carl Bilderback to First Church in Pottsboro as pastor, where he was interim.

• J.R. Crocker to Williams Creek Church in Axtell as pastor.

• Jason Fielder has resigned as pastor of Plainview Church in Krum.

• Jon Floyd to Salt Lake Church in Rockport as youth minister.

• Homer Hanna to First Church in Pettus as interim pastor.

• John Hassert has resigned as pastor of Hyde Park Church in Denison.

• Eddie Hilburn to First Church in Kilgore as pastor from First Church in Frankston.

• Ron Hill to First Church in Eddy as interim pastor.

• Darla Hinchey to First Church in Denton as women’s ministry coordinator.

• Josh Holcombe to First Church in Three Rivers as minister to students from Grace Community Church in Tyler, where he was praise and worship leader and assistant youth minister.

• Ken James has completed an interim pastorate at Mosheim Church in Valley Mills and is available for supply or interims at (254) 867-6257.

• Dylan LaFoy to Ida Church in Sherman as youth minister.

• Allen Lowe to First Church in Van Vleck as pastor.

• Joel McMullen to Grace Temple Church in Denton as youth pastor.

• Craig Odom to Tolar Church in Tolar as youth minister from Mansfield Community Church in Mansfield.

• Danielle Sanders to First Church in Sandia as music director.

• Matthew St. John to Baptist Temple Church in San Benito as pastor from Eisenhauer Road Church in San Antonio, where he was associate pastor of education and youth.

• Gregorio Torres has resigned as pastor of Iglesia Nueva Vida in Pearsall.

• Barry Wilsford has resigned as minister of music/worship at Centerpointe Church for the Communities in Red Oak.

• Randy Wilson has resigned as youth minister at Grace Temple in Denton.

Posted: 5/12/06

Tennessee Baptists reject Belmont's
offer; lawsuit for control looms

By Robert Marus & Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

NASHVILLE (ABP)—Tennessee Baptists voted May 9 to reject a $5 million offer from Belmont University that would have given the school power to elect its own trustees. Instead, the Tennessee Baptist Convention likely will now sue the university to try to retain control of the 4,600-student school.

In a rare special convention May 9—after two hours of polite debate—Tennessee Baptist messengers voted 923-791 to reject the settlement offer from Belmont, which would have ended the dispute triggered by Belmont’s decision last year to amend its charter to allow the election of some non-Baptist trustees.

Instead, messengers voted to vacate Belmont’s board of trustees, which historically have been elected by the convention, and authorized a committee to negotiate with the school or seek other remedies—including possible binding legal arbitration or litigation.

The convention’s attorney said the convention has about a 50-50 chance of winning such a lawsuit, according to the Baptist and Reflector, Tennessee Baptists’ newspaper. A similar lawsuit recently ended with Georgia Baptists retaining control of Shorter College.

Nonetheless, many observers said the impasse means ties between the convention and the 54-year-old university are effectively severed.

“The historic relationship with Belmont University has come to an end,” said Clay Austin, president of the convention’s Executive Board. “The only task remaining before us is to negotiate final issues.”

Belmont’s settlement offer, which was relayed through the Executive Board, would have released both sides from a 1952 agreement that said if Belmont should “for any reason pass from Baptist control, or the control, ownership, supervision or right to elect the trustees … be lost to the Tennessee Baptist Convention, then any and all of said property and funds shall be repaid or restored … to the Executive Board of the convention.”

Convention officials said the document, discovered on the eve of last year’s Tennessee Baptist Convention, gives them the right to recoup the convention’s $50-plus million contributed to the university since 1951, when the convention took over the school.

Belmont officials insist the obscure document is an “historical artifact” superceded by more recent contracts.

But the convention’s attorney insists the agreement is still valid, and he predicted the convention has a 75 percent chance of winning if the courts are asked to rule on the so-called “reverter clause.”

Discovery of the reverter clause derailed plans for messengers to the convention’s Nov. 15-16 annual meeting to ratify a plan for Belmont to elect its own trustees.

The university amended its charter— and declined to accept further financial support from the convention—after the Executive Board rejected Belmont’s request to give up to 40 percent of the seats on its board to non-Baptists.

The majority of the Nashville school’s student body is not Baptist.

Lonnie Wilkey of the Tennessee Baptist and Reflector contributed to this story.

Posted: 5/12/06

Fellow IMB trustee criticizes Burleson

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

ENID, Okla. (ABP)—In what could lead to another attempt to remove trustee Wade Burleson from the International Mission Board, a fellow trustee of the Southern Baptist agency is publicly criticizing Burleson for his views on baptism, alcohol and other subjects.

Fellow Oklahoma pastor Winston Curtis of Highland Park Baptist Church in Duncan has written an open letter to Wade Burleson, asking him to meet with Curtis and trustee leaders to discuss Curtis’ “concerns.”

In January, Burleson’s fellow trustees asked the Southern Baptist Convention to remove him from the board for “broken trust” apparently related to statements on Burleson’s weblog. Trustees rescinded the request March 22, but they created new guidelines prohibiting trustee criticism of the board.

Curtis’ letter and Burleson’s response to it were posted May 4 on Burleson’s Internet blog, www.wadeburleson.com. Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., has been mentioned as a possible candidate for SBC president next month.

Curtis said he has two primary concerns he wants to discuss in a closed session with Burleson, IMB President Jerry Rankin, trustee Chairman Tom Hatley, and the board’s executive committee.

But Curtis’ letter, which specifically states it “is for public consumption,” may be a violation of a new policy forbidding trustees to disagree publicly with board decisions.

“The current direction that the IMB is headed philosophically seems to me to be completely the opposite from the direction that we should be going,” Curtis wrote in his letter.

For his part, Burleson declined to meet with Curtis and said he would not discuss his views further with Curtis in the “public forum” of the Internet.

Trustee chairman Hatley, in a May 8 telephone interview, said Curtis’ criticism and Burleson’s response violate “the spirit of the new guidelines.” He said he contacted both men, requesting them to take their concerns to a private forum, and he said both were “on their way” to compliance with the new guidelines. As of May 8, both Curtis’ letter and Burleson’s response still were posted on Burleson’s site.

Curtis declined to discuss his dispute with Burleson.

In his letter, Curtis said that he continues “to have a conviction and concern” about Burleson’s views on baptism; his tolerance of speaking in tongues; a two-year seminary degree focused on missions; perceived weaknesses at the IMB’s Missionary Learning Center; and Burleson’s views on “the alcoholic beverage industry.”

No one involved would say why Burleson was targeted for those specific issues.

In response to Curtis’ letter, Burleson affirmed Curtis’ friendship and “love for the Lord” but said the letter was “puzzling” to him.

“I question why only I need to meet with you and the executive committee regarding your concerns?” Burleson wrote. “I am only one of 89 trustees. Public, open and transparent debate is better than a few, small strategy sessions when it comes to altering board policy.

Curtis wrote that Burleson “seems to take the doctrinal position on baptism which is different from the Baptist Faith & Message 2000,” referring to the SBC’s most recent revision of its confessional statement. Curtis also cited an increasing world population and the “influx of missionary candidates” as reasons why he is not supportive of recent IMB policy moves toward “greater ecumenicalism,” presumably policy allowing missionaries to work with other denominations.

Burleson wrote in his response, “I can assure you that all my beliefs are based upon Scripture and fall within the (parameters of the) Baptist Faith & Message 2000.” As for the ecumenism issue, Burleson wrote that, like other topics, it was inappropriate for Curtis to criticize IMB policy without doing so in front of the entire trustee board.

“I do wonder if you may be creating controversy by criticizing board-approved policy, which calls for broader cooperation among Great Commission Christians,” he wrote.

Addressing the alcohol issue, Burleson said, “I wholeheartedly support all believers who have an abstinence conviction. However, I believe the authoritative, inspired Word of God forbids drunkenness, not necessarily the drinking of an alcoholic beverage.”

“What seems to concern you is the idea of working with a fellow IMB trustee who believes the Bible, but has a different interpretation on this issue on which the Baptist Faith & Message remains silent.” Ultimately, Burleson said, he doesn’t want to focus on “non-essential issues that have nothing to do with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

He stated he hoped to work with Curtis in the future, saying “I’m hoping you can find it in your heart to work and cooperate with others who don’t see eye-to-eye with you on issues (on) which the Baptist Faith & Message remains silent. I, and others like me, look forward to working with you.”

Posted: 5/12/06

Dobbses say IMB response 'inaccurate'

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

DALLAS (ABP)—Wyman and Michelle Dobbs, the Southern Baptist missionaries recently threatened with termination by the International Mission Board and then reinstated, say the IMB’s description of their reinstatement is “inaccurate and inappropriate.”

The Dobbses, missionaries for eight years to the Fulbe Fouta people in Guinea, West Africa, were cited for dismissal in mid-April because IMB leaders said the couple had failed adequately to follow guidelines for planting churches with non-Southern Baptist missionaries.

“If you read the IMB response to our reinstatement, you are led to believe that (we) were out of alignment but now agree to do better,” the Dobbses wrote in a letter posted May 6 on www.friesville.blogspot.com, the weblog of seminary student Micah Fries.

“This is inaccurate and inappropriate and does not address the real problem of not holding leaders and trustees accountable for misrepresenting policy,” they wrote.

An IMB news release May 2 said: “West Africa mission leadership came to an impasse with the Dobbses in determining their commitment to the appropriate level of partnership and a clear commitment to planting indigenous Baptist churches. They recommended the couple resign or be terminated after the Dobbses refused to follow the guidelines.”

The release said Gordon Fort, the IMB vice president for overseas operations, agreed to reinstate the Dobbses after meeting with the couple April 29. The news release added: “The Dobbses told Fort they are committed to partnering appropriately within IMB guidelines for levels of mission partnership. In addition, they agreed to plant indigenous Baptist churches and said they would work under the authority of IMB leadership in West Africa and in harmony with leaders’ policy decisions.”

But the Dobbses, in their May 6 letter, said they believe their termination was rescinded not because they recanted their beliefs but because it was determined that they had followed IMB policy all along.

“What was not reported is that we have always been committed to following policy,” the letter said. “Returning to Guinea means we would work with the same (non-Southern Baptist missionaries) and continue what we were doing before all this occurred.”

Jason Helmbacher, the couple’s stateside pastor in Oklahoma, said the meeting with Fort ended in an agreement for a “win-win” situation in which each party could save face by sharing the blame for a misunderstanding and then leaving the issue alone. But the IMB news release published by Baptist Press, Helmbacher said, made it sound like the Dobbses had violated policy by planting a church that was not Baptist enough and had needed to repent in order to save their jobs.

“That’s not it at all,” he said. “They’re not going to go back and change anything.”

For their part, IMB officials stuck by their initial release. Wendy Norvelle, an IMB spokesperson, said she could speak only to the fact that at the April 29 meeting, the Dobbses “did agree” with IMB leaders about the resolution of their conflict.

“Our understanding from our conversation with the Dobbses is that they understood the terms,” Norvelle said. “We came to an agreement.”

Posted: 5/12/06

CYBER COLUMN:
Stuck

By Berry Simpson

OK, so I had another one of those city-dweller experiences for the first time: I got stuck in an elevator. It was in the Western National Bank Building, and I was headed toward my office on the 12th floor. I was riding with Marshal, a banker, who was hoping to get off on the 11th floor.

The elevator stopped like it was supposed to at the 11th floor, but the doors refused to open. We pressed the buttons again and again, but to no effect. Marshal phoned his office to send help, while I picked up the elevator emergency phone.

It was kind of exciting, actually. During all my years of riding elevators, I’ve looked at those emergency phones and wondered if they really worked. This one clicked for a few seconds before a friendly female voice came on. She asked which building I was in, in such a way that made me think she was not in Midland, but at least she seemed to be in the United States and not Calcutta. She promised help was on the way.

She asked, “Can I have the names of everyone on the elevator with you?”

“Is that so you can notify our next-of-kin?”

“No, ha ha ha, it is simply for our records.”

She kept talking. It apparently was her assignment to talk us through the panic until we were rescued, but I didn’t want to be talked to that much. I guess she heard the reluctance in my voice and asked if I wanted to keep talking or would I rather hang up. I hung up.

Marshal and I studied the elevator ceiling, wondering if we could hoist ourselves up through the panels like they do in really cool movies, but all we saw were fluorescent light bulbs and a ventilation fan.

We could hear bank employees outside the door, mostly doing what guys do, which is laugh at anyone who’s in trouble. We forced the doors apart about one-half inch, but that was all. “Well,” I said, “We won’t starve to death. They can slip tortillas through.”

It wasn’t all that bad being trapped. I had my fully charged cell phone with games, so I could play FreeCell for hours before getting too bored. And since I was trapped with a friendly guy who wasn’t an office rival or corporate enemy, we were just fine with each other. Also, in our world, we didn’t have to worry about any residual sexual harassment lawsuits. And since there were only two of us on the elevator, we had plenty of room to stretch out and take naps if it came to that. And, luckily, we were trapped on the way to work instead of on the way to lunch.

Later, I remembered reading a story about a restaurant deliveryman who was trapped in an elevator in the Bronx for three days. He was a 35-year-old Chinese immigrant who had gone to deliver dinners to a 38-story apartment building. When he failed to reappear after delivering the food, a massive search was launched, since delivery people are often the target of crimes. Meanwhile, the apartment elevators were notoriously troublesome, so no one thought twice about them being out of order for a few days. The poor man spoke virtually no English, so he didn’t understand how to work the elevator alarm or emergency phone. Three days later, after someone finally heard his pleas for help, he emerged thirsty but otherwise all right.

Marshal and I were trapped for only 20 minutes.

But there are other ways to be trapped. Comedian Steven Wright tells a story of two babies born on the same day, in the same hospital, that ended up lying next to each other in the nursery. The next day, they were each taken home by their parents and didn’t see each other again until, by some amazing coincidence, they were both 90 years old and lying next to each other in beds at the same old-age home—when one of them looked over at the other and asked, “So, how did it go for you?”

Imagine: All the events, moods and details of an entire lifetime casually distilled to a single conversation. What a small place to live.

Sometimes, life feels like being stuck in an elevator. And the only view of something better is through a tiny half-inch slit. Even worse, sometimes, we choose to stay trapped in the elevator even after rescue arrives because living in a small box is easier and safer than stepping out into freedom.

But God calls us into his bigger world of adventure and love and ministry and mission. He wants us to be free.

Berry Simpson, a Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church in Midland, is a petroleum engineer, writer, runner and member of the city council in Midland. You can contact him through e-mail at berry@stonefoot.org.

Posted: 5/12/06

Critics note Floyd's stingy CP giving,
controversial ministry innovations

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (ABP)—News of the nomination of Arkansas megachurch pastor Ronnie Floyd to be the next Southern Baptist Convention president has brought new attention to his church’s high-tech evangelism methods and lackluster financial support of the denomination he wants to lead.

Floyd, pastor of First Baptist Church of Springdale, Ark., is the choice of the convention’s fundamentalist leaders, who have controlled the presidency for almost three decades, usually without opposition. The presidency has been the key to gaining and retaining control of the 16 million-member denomination and its agencies.

But Floyd’s nomination, announced May 7, brought a lukewarm reception from many conservative Southern Baptists anxious to see a more open election process and more exemplary support of the Cooperative Program, the SBC’s central ministry budget.

A blue-ribbon SBC panel recently urged the election of officers who come from churches that contribute at least 10 percent of their undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program—a standard few recent presidents have met.

“First Baptist Springdale had nearly $12 million in undesignated receipts in 2005 and yet gave only $32,000—a mere 0.27 percent—through the Cooperative Program,” Florida pastor Michael Petty wrote May 11 in a guest editorial in the Florida Baptist Witness. “I do not see that as faithfulness and cooperation.”

The Springdale church and its satellite congregation, the Church at Pinnacle Hills, contributed a total of $32,000 to the CP last year, according to the SBC and the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. That’s about one-fourth of 1 percent of its undesignated receipts of $11,952,137—or one-40th of the goal set by the SBC’s leaders.

Another $189,000 was designated for Southern Baptist causes through the SBC allocation budget, said Springdale administrative assistant Sharon Damron. But that bypassed the Cooperative Program budgets at the state and national levels.

The church reports total missions expenditures of $1,637,503, Damron said, which includes $63,777 for the SBC’s special mission offerings. That total also includes funding for the church’s extensive television ministry, she said.

Floyd has served as president of the SBC Pastors’ Conference, chairman of the SBC Executive Committee and a member of the special committee that restructured the denominational agencies supported by the Cooperative Program.

“… I do not believe we need to go to Greensboro and elect a president who does not demonstrate faithfulness to the convention he is being nominated to lead,” wrote Petty, pastor of First Baptist Church of Marianna.

Petty predicted a better nominee will emerge before the June 13-14 SBC meeting in Greensboro, N.C.

“That’s the point; there will be another candidate,” added Benjamin Cole, a Texas pastor and leader of a loose network of young conservatives who recently issued a declaration of repentance calling for more openness from the SBC’s leaders.

“There is an unbelievable unrest about Ronnie Floyd’s nomination,” Cole said.

Cole and others said many conservatives are also upset about Springdale’s evangelism techniques, such as the fire-truck baptistry that is part of its children’s ministry.

The unique baptistry, created by Disney designer Bruce Barry, is part of a $270,000 high-tech project for the church’s children’s worship area that includes video games, a light show, music videos and a bubble machine, according to Christianity Today. When a child is baptized in the fire-truck-shaped baptistry, sirens blare and confetti is fired out of cannons.

“Putting a talking head in front of kids for an hour doesn’t work,” the children’s minister told the magazine. “This is a visual generation. We need to use technology to the max.”

“This is blasphemous!” said SBC conservative leader Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, when told of the practice.

In a May 9 interview with the Arkansas Baptist News, Floyd defended creative evangelism and urged Southern Baptists to become innovative in their strategies.

“Our great gospel needs to be packaged in ways the culture can understand and receive,” he said, noting that baptisms in Southern Baptist churches continue to decline—down 4 percent in 2005.

“Relevance is more important than institutional loyalty,” he said, because taking the gospel to the whole world is more important than anything else Baptists do. He noted the denomination exists to serve the churches, not the other way around, and Southern Baptists must remain local-church centered.

Floyd told the newspaper that, as president, he would emphasize spiritual renewal, which he identified as the SBC’s greatest need.

“If elected president, I desperately want to lead us to spiritual renewal—personally, one-on-one with Jesus and corporately within churches,” he said. “We’ve got to come back to a mighty, fresh touch of God. Pastors need to proclaim it as never before. If we don’t see it happen, we will find ourselves in a desperate situation. We must love God first and take the Good News around the world.”

In addition to spiritual renewal, Floyd said the other objectives he would bring to the office would be reinforcing the centrality of the local church within the SBC and reorienting the denomination toward the future.

In explaining the vision he said persuaded him to be nominated, Floyd said, “I believe at this time I have no choice but to do this.” He said God put some things on his heart “to expand the life that I have left to advance the gospel across the world.”

“We need to clarify the mission—taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to ends of the earth,” he said. “Everything else is secondary to that. … Missions is the only thing that can keep us together.”

Charlie Warren of the Arkansas Baptist News contributed to this article.

Posted: 5/12/06

Pat Robertson labels
Americans United 'communist'

By Robert Marus

ABP Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (ABP)—Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson is once again making waves with comments on his 700 Club television broadcast—this time criticizing a church-state watchdog group he frequently battles.

Robertson, who has made worldwide headlines several times in recent months for other controversial comments he’s made on the show, attacked Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its chief executive during the show’s May 11 broadcast.

According to a transcript of the show, Robertson accused the organization of being taken over by the American Civil Liberties Union and under communist influence.

He also repeated an accusation he has made before: That Barry Lynn, the group’s executive director, opposes providing even the most basic municipal services to religious groups.

“Barry Lynn is so extreme, he has said that if a church is burning down, the city shouldn’t bring the fire department and trucks to spray water on the church because that violates separation of church and state,” Robertson said.

Robertson said the ACLU “pulled a secret takeover” of Americans United, which he claimed was originally founded by Baptists and intended as a Protestant religious-liberty organization.

“The goal of the ACLU is to strip all religion from the public square. Why? Because the goal of the Communist Party was to weaken America, and they thought that they could weaken America if they took faith out of our public life,” Robertson said, according to the transcript. “That’s where it all came from, ladies and gentlemen.”

A spokesman for Americans United said May 11 that Robertson’s accusations were factually incorrect in several ways.

Jeremy Leaming said Lynn has never called providing basic city services to churches a violation of the First Amendment’s religion clauses.

“That’s just ridiculous to suggest that government can’t provide that kind of protection without violating the establishment clause. We’ve never said anything like that; Barry’s never said anything like that,” he said.

In fact, Leaming added, Robertson has made the same accusation against Lynn in the past, and the group has asked him to stop doing so.

“We sent a letter to Robertson a long, long time ago saying, ‘Quit saying that, because that’s not true.’ We wish he would quit doing that,” he said.

And while Baptists were involved in Americans United from its beginning, it was never a Baptist group, per se, Leaming added.

“We had several different denominations involved in the founding of Americans United,” he said. “He’s getting his facts wrong. It proves he either doesn’t care about the truth, or he just doesn’t know his facts.”

The group was founded in 1947 as Protestants and Other Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Its founders included Louie Newton, who was president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the time, and Bromley Oxnam, a Methodist bishop.

In 1972, it shortened its name to its current form to reflect the fact that its supporters also included Catholics, Jews and those of other faith groups or no faith.

CBN’s media-relations office did not immediately return a phone message requesting comment for this story.

Robertson’s comments followed a CBN news segment about Americans United and its involvement in an Iowa lawsuit aimed at preventing government funding for a Christian prison ministry that focuses on proselytizing and converting inmates.

The incident is the latest in a series of dust-ups over statements Robertson has made on the show, which airs daily.

In August, Robertson caused something of an international diplomatic crisis by calling for the assassination of Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chavez. He later apologized for the remark after coming under heavy fire from the Venezuelan government, the Bush administration, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention and others.

Robertson has also suggested a debilitating stroke suffered by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was divine retribution for Sharon’s concessions to Palestinians.

Robertson also said disaster could befall Dover, Pa., because its citizens had “voted God out of their city” by unseating a group of school-board members who had pushed for the teaching of “intelligent design” in high-school science classes.

In March, Robertson lost his bid for re-election to a seat he had held for 30 years on the board of directors of the National Religious Broadcasters. Many observers said at the time the CBN founder’s repeated controversies were causing the NRB and its evangelical supporters to back away from him.

Posted: 5/12/06

Right or Wrong?
Insisting on retirement package

Our church has hired a staff person who is slightly less than 30 years old. We typically have not provided retirement assistance for staff members, but this one has insisted on it. Don’t you think the person is being a bit overbearing?

Several issues at play in this situation are important for churches and ministers to consider when looking for a “fit” between church and staff.

First, there can be a considerable generational difference in expectations related to work and compensation. Of course, it is always dangerous to generalize, but members of this younger generation tend to be more skeptical and less optimistic when compared to members of other generations, leading to an increased pragmatism toward planning for the future. In addition to these characteristics, increasing encouragement by financial planners to find means other than Social Security for retirement income has led members of the younger generations to begin planning for retirement at an early age. Growing concerns about the ability for Social Security to provide retirement income are compounded as Americans are living longer than ever before. Longer life spans contribute to a need for increased income during retirement years, particularly when considering health care costs. A recent study by the National Institute on Aging determined that current retirees spend about 20 percent of their income on health care alone.

Churches that have not considered retirement-fund assistance for their ministers may see this question arise more frequently in coming years from staff members of all ages.

The second issue to be considered is negotiating work and compensation before extending a call to a new church staff member. A church needs to consider carefully what they can offer in terms of salary and benefits before hiring a new staff member. One would hope that no staff member or personnel committee would want to overextend the resources of a church or minister (and one would hope that even if a person asks for retirement-fund assistance that they would not be “overbearing” or obstinate in handling this delicate subject). That being said, these issues need to be resolved before final staff decisions are determined.

All of these very practical matters aside, what is a church’s responsibility in providing for ministerial staff?

Although the Apostle Paul chose to make his own living as a tentmaker, he did address the issue of the church supporting those who serve them. In 1 Corinthians 9, he wrote, “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?” Paul did not want to take advantage of the church or of his role as an apostle, but he did anticipate that the church would need to provide for those who served in their midst.

Churches should take seriously their responsibility to provide for their staff members. This responsibility is complemented by church staff members who care for and protect the churches they serve, even in financial matters.

By sharing this mutual responsibility for protecting one another and closely examining issues like retirement assistance before staff decisions are made, both churches and staff members can avoid the uncomfortable feelings raised in this particular situation.

Emily Row, Team Leader/Coordinator Leader

Communications/Spiritual Formation Specialist

Baptist General Convention of Texas, Dallas

Right or Wrong? is sponsored by the T.B. Maston Chair of Christian Ethics at Hardin-Simmons University’s Logsdon School of Theology. Send your questions about how to apply your faith to btillman@hsutx.edu.