BAPTIST PRINCIPLES AND MISSIONS OFFERINGS:
How one church changed its missions giving
Michael C. Reynolds,
pastor, Freeway Manor, Houston

Baptist principles work. The four Baptist freedoms are indeed fragile. Bible freedom, soul freedom, church freedom and religious freedom only exist when we decide they are valuable. They set boundaries for our behavior and they help guide our actions.

Seeking the comfort of undisturbed waters may yield easier results, but a congregation will suffer if it does not practice Baptist principles.

I saw these principles work at Marlow Baptist Church. The church treasurer informed me that she needed to order a new supply of forms to designate missions money from the Baptist General Convention of Texas. She asked me to tell her exactly where the church should direct our gifts.

I explained that I could not tell her how to direct the money, because that is a church decision.

She told me that previous pastors always decided, and that the issue would divide the church if brought up for discussion.

I explained that disagreement is always a possibility for Baptists. Disagreement is part of your freedom as Baptists. However, when churches remember their core values, disagreement can help churches refocus on their vision. I asked for her support in holding an open forum on missions giving. Reluctantly, she agreed to participate.

Bill Treadwell, professor at George W. Truett Theological Seminary, gives good advice for churches facing difficult decisions. First, give congregations as much information as possible. Trust the Lord and tell the people. Second, delay voting on difficult decisions until a true consensus has been reached.

At our next business meeting, the church treasurer explained that the church needed to decide how to designate our missions offerings. We distributed a photocopied form from the BGCT explaining various options.

I explained the wisdom of waiting to vote until the church had time to decide prayerfully. After answering a few questions, we tabled the discussion until the following month.

During the next couple of weeks I was bombarded with questions. Why do we have so many giving options? What is the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship? If we choose to change the way we give our money, will we still be supporting Baptist missionaries?

At the next business meeting we opened the dialogue for discussion once again. One member asked what I thought about the different giving options.

I explained that as a Baptist church we own the right to distribute our offerings to those who share our visions and values. I asked the congregation to consider prayerfully which groups with whom we should form partnerships. After further discussion, we tabled the discussion for a second time.

By the time the third business meeting arrived, the congregation displayed a renewed excitement about missions. The church was clearly ready for a vote. They held some discussion and they gave opinions.

“I think that we should support the WMU.”

“Let’s give to the CBF.”

“Don’t forget our Texas schools. They need our money, too.”

“Let’s continue to support the BGCT.”

They put these four suggestions into a motion, and found unanimous agreement from the congregation.

Although it took over three months to make our decision, the church still feels benefits from the process. The church renewed its commitment to missions. They organized a Woman’s Missionary Union, and local missions efforts began gaining strength.

When a church seeks comfort the congregation can grow complacent about missions.

A healthy congregation knows it can discuss difficult issues and through faith move beyond division. At Marlow we learned what it means to be Baptist—using God-given freedom to spread the message.

July 1999