Some states distance themselves from SBC, others seek compromise
By Bob Allen

Editor’s Note: Secular and Baptist press unfortunately use the inaccurate terms “conservative” to describe “fundamentalists.” This is misleading, as Texas Baptists have elected conservative officers for years including Dilday, McFarland and Hogan.

(ABP) — With conservatives firmly in control of the 15.6 million-member Southern Baptist Convention, at least two moderate state groups took steps this fall to declare greater independence from national leaders.

Texas Baptists, far and away the largest state group, approved historic changes that open the door for the 2.7 million-member Baptist General Convention of Texas to enter ministries traditionally the scope of national entities.

The long-awaited report of a special Effectiveness/ Efficiency Committee affirms the state convention’s “autonomy” and authorizes it to appoint missionaries, offer new options for theological education, publish its own Sunday school literature and create mission partnerships with SBC and non- SBC groups, including the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.

Conservatives denounced the changes, saying they were hostile to the SBC’s conservative leadership, and renewed threats to break away into a separate state convention. In Virginia, where conservatives have already broken away, the moderate-led Baptist General Association of Virginia approved a “Mission Virginia” plan for state and regional work.

Reggie McDonough, executive director of the BGAV, said the restructuring has less to do with controversy than with a larger trend toward decentralization.

Both the Virginia and Texas plans reflect a move away from “monolithic” cooperation toward “affinity groups,” McDonough said.

A plan in Kentucky to allow moderates to circumvent giving to the SBC without sacrificing representation at the annual convention fell short of a required two-thirds majority.

In other states, meanwhile, moderates and conservatives sought to head off splits like those in Virginia and Texas. For the third straight year, North Carolina, long a moderate stronghold, elected a conservative president who vowed to share leadership with a moderate-led general board.

North Carolina Baptists established a special committee to foster relations between the two factions. Louisiana moderates and conservatives agreed to a consensus presidential candidate, bringing respite to intense partisanship characterizing recent annual meetings.

Missouri Baptists elected a self-described “mediator” as president, following recent criticism from conservative groups targeting the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Missouri Baptist paper, “Word and Way.”

Georgia Baptists also adopted a compromising mood, approving a nine-point plan aimed at healing a rift with Mercer University over a controversial book written by the school’s president. A study committee found the book, “When We Talk About God… Let’s Be Honest,” to contain heresy.

The compromise stops short of calling for President Kirby Godsey’s dismissal. Those meetings contrasted to overt politicking in Tennessee, where a conservative was elected president following a campaign charging that the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship exercises undue control in the state.

Florida Baptists elected an avowed conservative as president, while a candidate with moderate leanings prevailed in Arkansas. States controlled by conservatives include Florida, Indiana, Maryland/Delaware, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia.

Moderates control Kentucky, Missouri, Texas and Virginia. Alabama, Arkansas and Illinois tend toward middle-of-the-road leaders. Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee and North Carolina are divided.

Other smaller state groups, usually in newer-work areas, tend to be conservative in their outlook but are less active in convention politics.

Mention of this summer’s SBC boycott of The Disney Co. was noticeably absent from state-convention resolutions this fall. Some states, in fact, took steps to avoid resolutions, non-binding but often divisive statements that can address almost any topic.

After adopting a slate of 20 conservative resolutions on a variety of social topics, Maryland/Delaware Baptists changed bylaws to ensure consensus reports by future resolutions committees. A reorganization adopted by California Southern Baptists eliminates its resolutions committee altogether. Frequent topics of resolutions included gambling, abortion and religious persecution.

Maryland/Delaware and New Mexico included resolutions dealing with evolution. The Maryland/Delaware statement protested the teaching of evolution while New Mexico Baptists affirmed a recent decision by the state board of education to allow discussion of differing views of human origins in classrooms.

Alabama Baptists, meanwhile, targeted a recent ruling by a federal judge halting certain religious practices in the state’s schools, pledging support to state leaders challenging the injunction.

Also in state convention meetings this fall, California Baptists continued to debate whether to include a church with a woman pastor. The convention refused to seat messengers from 19th Avenue Baptist Church in San Francisco. It was the fifth straight year for messengers from the church to be challenged.

The previous three years the convention had voted to seat messengers over the objections of those who believe the Bible forbids women pastors.

December 1997