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.

Posted: 5/12/06

IMB reinstates missionary couple

By Hannah Elliott

Associated Baptist Press

RICHMOND, Va. (ABP)—Under a new agreement, officials at the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board have reinstated a missionary couple they threatened to fire for establishing a church in the West African nation of Guinea that did not meet the board’s criteria for being a Baptist church.

Wyman and Michelle Dobbs, who have worked for eight years among the Fulbe Fouta people in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation, have agreed to adhere more precisely to the IMB’s guidelines for cooperation with missionaries of other denominations, according to a news release from the IMB.

Dobbs said in an interview that he and his wife were “very excited” IMB officials had allowed them—under the guideline policy—to work with non-SBC churches “in fulfilling the Great Commission.”

“We recognize many opinions and concerns are out there as to why this happened,” Dobbs said, adding he didn’t have answers for those asking that question. “We’re just thankful the situation has been resolved.”

Dobbs also said the prayers and support expressed by church members, missionaries and friends encouraged his family as they worked within the bounds of IMB regulations to resolve the problem.

Those regulations spell out five levels of ministry cooperation between IMB missionaries and other Christian missionaries. Each level has parameters for cooperation that are increasingly strict, depending on what kind of work the collaboration will support.

Forming new churches comes in at the next-to-highest level, and the guideline there requires the cooperating missionaries to agree to the doctrinal standards expressed in the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message, the SBC’s confessional statement. IMB missionaries already must affirm agreement with the statement.

According to the IMB release, a document the Dobbses signed in 2003 when starting the church—called the Tinka Agreement—did not “adequately communicate” the parameters of partnership in church-planting to the other missionaries.

The Tinka Agreement included signatures from missionaries affiliated with the Assemblies of God, the Christian Reformed Church, the Christian and Missionary Alliance, Youth With a Mission and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance Mission. IMB leaders apparently object to some doctrines espoused by the Christian and Missionary Alliance.

IMB regional leaders in West Africa said they could not determine the couples’ “commitment to the appropriate level of partnership and a clear commitment to planting indigenous Baptist churches.”

After an April 29 appeal to Gordon Fort, the IMB vice president for overseas operations, the Dobbses told Fort they would agree to plant Baptist churches under the authority of IMB guidelines. However, the guidelines do allow “local churches overseas” to express Baptist beliefs and practices in “different ways according to the needs of their cultural settings.”

Posted: 5/12/06

School allows Christians equal access

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

PLANO—A middle school Christian student group settled a lawsuit against the Plano Independent School District, granting the group the same privileges as other groups.

The school district paid $100 to 13-year-old Michael Shell, founder of Students Witnessing Absolute Truth, and agreed to pay attorney fees associated with the case. The district admitted no wrongdoing.

The group, which meets before classes start at Haggard Middle School, was listed on the school’s website, but the principal removed it. It later was reposted, but without a listed sponsor, although it had one.

Shell also testified the group was not allowed to have a financial account with the school as all other student clubs are.

School trustees changed district policies to allow SWAT the same privileges as those granted to nonreligious groups. SWAT now has equal access to fundraising activities, student activity accounts, bulletin boards and school webpages as other student-run clubs.

Suzii Paynter, interim director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, said the policy change gives the group what the Equal Access Act guarantees—equal access for all student groups, religious or nonreligious. That access is determined on a local level.

“You have to give religious groups the same rights as other groups,” she said.

It is beneficial for school districts to have clearly defined policies regarding student groups, Paynter noted. Groups like the Texas Association of School Boards provide guidelines schools are encouraged to use. Moving too far from those suggestions can lead a school district into court.

“These are fair principles, and they work,” she said. “They keep you out of court.”

Posted: 5/12/06

NAMB trustees regroup, move on
after Reccord’s resignation

By Greg Warner

Associated Baptist Press

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (ABP)—North American Mission Board trustees took the first steps down the road to the missions agency’s recovery May 1-2, two weeks after their embattled president resigned under pressure.

“We walked away with a great deal of unity and a much better spirit,” outgoing trustee Chairman Barry Holcomb of Alabama said. “We are ready to walk forward.”

The trustees met for the first time since Bob Reccord resigned April 17. A report of a trustee investigation, released March 23, faulted the missions leader for poor management, autocratic decision-making, extravagant spending on failed ministry projects, apparent conflicts of interest in no-bid contracts for a friend, and creating a “culture of fear” that prevented staffers from questioning the abuses.

The trustees also said Reccord spent time and money on events and projects on the periphery of NAMB’s mission and was absent so much he couldn’t provide consistent, day-to-day oversight “to properly manage the agency,” which directs and coordinates Southern Baptist mission work in the United States and Canada.

Some trustees said before the May 1-2 meeting that Reccord could face a vote of dismissal if he did not resign ahead of time.

Reccord was on hand May 1 for a closed-door session during which he addressed the trustees. Holcomb said the meeting was “just sort of between us” and a way for Reccord and the trustees to close the books on his nine-year tenure at the agency.

Trustees elected new officers at the meeting. They did not name an interim president but agreed to study the need for one. “We are not moving at any breakneck pace,” Holcomb said. “The time has come for the board to take a few slower steps.”

Prior to the meeting, Holcomb appointed two committees—one to seek a permanent president and another to draft policies designed to govern future presidents’ actions and prevent further abuses.

No details were released about the severance package for Reccord. Sources indicated Reccord received two years’ salary plus other benefits, but Holcomb and other trustee leaders declined to discuss the specifics.

He also declined to say who is responsible for approving a severance agreement, referring those questions to NAMB’s human-resources office. A representative was not available.

Bill Curtis, elected trustee chairman in a rare contested vote, declined to discuss the specifics of Reccord’s severance in an interview before the meeting.

However, when asked about the report of two-years’ salary, he said “there is precedent at other SBC agencies” for such a settlement.

Curtis, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Florence, S.C., and author of the investigative report critical of Reccord, was elected chairman by a 3-to-1 margin over Florida pastor Ted Tray-lor in a vote that reflects the board’s division over Reccord.

As outgoing first vice chairman, Curtis might have expected to be elevated to chairman without opposition.

Traylor was one of 41 SBC pastors and leaders who issued a statement April 21 defending Reccord and affirming his integrity, character and accomplishments at NAMB.

The trustees themselves adopted a similar statement May 2 that also affirmed Reccord’s integrity, character and accomplishments.

Also elected officers were First Vice Chairman Tim Patterson, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., and Second Vice Chairman Dennis Culbreth, pastor of River Oak Church in Chesapeake, Va.

There is no uniform practice for awarding severance to SBC agency executives who leave under pressure, and most settlements are not reported in detail.

• In 2003, Ken Hemphill took early retirement from Southwestern Baptist Theologi-cal Seminary, reportedly under pressure from some trustees and SBC leaders. At 54, he was given a one-year paid leave, which allowed him to qualify for full retirement be-nefits, including health insurance for life. He later took another job with the SBC.

• In 1999, Mark Coppenger was fired as president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in a dispute with trustees over his behavior and performance. He received a $40,000 severance package.

• In 1994, Russell Dilday was fired by trustees of Southwestern Seminary in a dispute over leadership and the school’s direction. Dilday, 63 at the time, received his full salary for 18 months, after which he qualified for full retirement, plus health insurance and additional benefits.

• In 1991, Lloyd Elder took early retirement from the Sunday School Board as trustees declared an impasse over his “management style, philosophy and performance.” He was given full salary for an undisclosed period of time, then approximately half of his annual pay in retirement, in addition to health insurance and other benefits.

Hannah Elliott and Lindsay Bergstrom contributed to this story.

Posted: 5/12/06

Memphis Declaration voices dissatisfaction

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (ABP)—About 30 Southern Baptist conservatives from diverse backgrounds announced they repent of the “triumphalism,” arrogance and isolationism they believe threatens the integrity of the 16-million-member denomination.

Saying they represent “disparate constituencies” in the Southern Baptist Convention, the participants met behind closed doors in Memphis, Tenn., early this month and later issued a “Memphis Declaration,” expressing concern and dissatisfaction over the current direction of the SBC.

But the group stopped short of proposing a candidate for SBC office or actions to be taken at the SBC convention next month—to the surprise of some participants.

Couched in terms of repentance, the statement says in part: “We publicly repent of triumphalism about Southern Baptist causes and narcissism about Southern Baptist ministries which have corrupted our integrity. … We publicly repent of an arrogant spirit that has infected our partnership with fellow Christians … .”

The closed-door Memphis meeting was organized by a group of mostly young pastors who have called for more openness in SBC life, particularly among agency trustees.

Benjamin Cole, pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Arlington, acknowledged he and a few others called the invitation-only meeting. Only one media representative, Don Hinkle, editor of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s conservative Pathway newspaper, was invited.

The meeting included participants in the SBC’s loose-knit young leaders network, “emerging church” pastors, Baptist bloggers, leaders of Calvinist groups in the SBC, and others on the outside of convention leadership.

Some in the Memphis group are urging dissident International Mission Board trustee Wade Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., to be nominated for SBC president during the Greensboro, N.C., convention as an alternative to the established leadership. So far, he has declined interest publicly. But in a recent blog, he seemed more open to the possibility.

The “Memphis Declaration” is posted at www.twelvewitnesses.blogspot.com.