Posted: 10/27/06
Valley probe forthcoming
The Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board will hold a special called meeting Oct. 31 to hear the findings of an investigation regarding alleged misappropriation of church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley.
Officers of the BGCT and its Executive Board had enlisted Brownsville attorney Diane Dillard to conduct an independent investigation of alleged mishandling of church-starting funds in the Valley.
The board endorsed the probe at its May meeting, approved $50,000 from contingency funds for the investigation and granted the board’s chair and the BGCT executive director the ability to authorize another $50,000 if needed. Last month, the board authorized up to an additional $50,000 for the investigation.
The probe centered on suspicions regarding the large number of cell-group missions reported as church starts in the lower Rio Grande Valley from 1996 to 2000. Critics alleged some church starts that received financial help from the BGCT never existed except on paper, and some individuals may have profited by claiming to start multiple, nonexistent “mystery missions.”
An initial bulletin about the investigation’s finding will be posted online Tuesday evening, Oct. 31. Check back periodically for additional updates.
Extended coverage of the board meeting and the findings of the investigation will be reported in the Nov. 6 print edition of the Baptist Standard.
We seek to connect God’s story and God’s people around the world. To learn more about God’s story, click here.
Send comments and feedback to Eric Black, our editor. For comments to be published, please specify “letter to the editor.” Maximum length for publication is 300 words.