McKissic and Southwestern trustees reach peace agreement

Posted: 4/13/07

McKissic and Southwestern
trustees reach peace agreement

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

FORT WORTH (ABP)—Arlington pastor Dwight McKissic and his fellow trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary decided to make peace, despite their previous public disagreements.

In a statement issued several days prior to the seminary trustees’ spring meeting, Chairman Van McClain said board leaders and McKissic had “jointly agreed to put past issues behind us.”

“We look forward to working together for many years to impact SWBTS and the world for Christ,” the brief statement said.

The announcement came two weeks after trustee leaders at the Southern Baptist Convention school and McKissic issued a joint statement saying they had agreed to discuss their differences privately and would decline any further news comment on the subject. They also said a threat of removing McKissic from the board had been taken off the table.

McKissic is pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington and a graduate of the Fort Worth-based school.

He had feuded for months—sometimes quite publicly—with his fellow trustees over board openness and school policies on “private prayer language,” a form of speaking in tongues. The controversy began in August, after McKissic delivered a sermon in Southwestern’s chapel service in which he mentioned his own practice of private prayer language.

In the homily, McKissic also said he disagreed with the SBC International Mission Board’s 2005 decision to exclude missionary candidates who espouse the practice. Two months later, Southwestern trustees said the seminary would not endorse, advertise or commend “the conclusions of the contemporary charismatic movement including ‘private prayer language.’“ McKissic was the lone Southwestern trustee to vote against the measure.

Later, trustee leaders threatened to ask the Southern Baptist Convention to remove McKissic from the board. The entire saga became the focus of attention throughout the Southern Baptist blogosphere, with many younger SBC bloggers criticizing Southwestern trustees and administrators for their treatment of McKissic.

McKissic, who is African-American, at one point compared his treatment to a “lynching.” He later apologized for that rhetorical choice, saying he did not suspect board chairman McClain or his fellow trustees of racism.

McClain accused McKissic of inappropriately using confidential material sent to him in advance of the board’s meeting last October.