Excerpts from a Southwestern Seminary Trustee’s Newsletter

Dated, March 27, 1994, Charles Lawson, a trustee at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, sent out a newsletter to people who had written him protesting the firing of Russell Dilday. We have had a copy a long time, but just now really looked at its content.

The content is interesting to say the least. We are printing two excerpts from his letter. As you read them ask yourself the following questions:

“Is this man describing the Russell Dilday you know?”

“Do you want persons like this in charge of BGCT institutions and programs?”

“Can you imagine any possible way to cooperate in the Kingdom’s work with a person with this perspective?”

“Are we handling things correctly in Texas by not letting this mind-set takeover the BGCT, and then still treating persons with this viewpoint fairly in our decisions and plans?”

Quote #1: “The term conservative, as attributed to Southern Baptist, has suffered under the attack from nonconservative editors and state convention leaders. This has been further confused by the liberal/moderates that have encouraged further defining labels, such as ‘moderate-conservative,’ ‘fundamental-conservative,’ and now the demeaning ‘fundamentalists-conservative.’ (This term carries the same weight and intended association as did those slang words that were used to demean blacks! This is still an unresolved problem with many Southern Baptists.) There are fringes, obviously, in any group. But a much better definition of Southern Baptist can be made dividing us into three groups

*Liberals/Moderates (nonbelievers and/or non-practitioners of selected portions of scripture).

*Compromisers (an expanding basically conservative group that’s in between).

*Conservatives (believers and practitioners of all scripture the whole Bible).

This well defined group called Compromisers takes in those calling themselves either conservative or moderate, but whose choice, by any name is COMPROMISE. The Liberals/Moderates/ Compromisers all combined make up a small portion of Southern Baptist. However, this minority remains the vocal group that has captured the state papers and ABP who like to confuse the definition by calling themselves “Conservative.” Russell Dilday says he is a conservative, and many people refer to him as one. But he does not live up to the conservative ideology. He is a classical case of a Compromiser.”

Quote # 2: “Finally, we pleaded with Russell to go gracefully and accept the will of the trustees, and to do what’s best for the school and the people. As you see, gridlock prevailed. I ask you - What would be the situation if Russell Dilday acknowledged that he respected the decision of the trustees, was honest about his health, wanted what was best for the on-going work of the seminary, and accepted early retirement? We were ready for an affirming special recognition resolution, a tremendous reception, maybe even an endowed chair, and we looked forward to his continued support of the seminary. But Russell Dilday was more interested in what happens to himself. He is more interested in what his friends think of him, how he will be perceived, what power he will still have, and what prestige is left, and what influence with his moderate friends he can maintain (i.e., Baylor).”

September 1994