Proposed Texas funding cuts expand to SBC Executive Committee, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission
By Mark Wingfield,
Managing Editor for The Baptist Standard

Article is reprinted with permission from The Baptist Standard

The Baptist General Convention of Texas administrative committee is recommending no money for the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, a moral-concerns agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, and only token funding for the SBC Executive Committee, also in Nashville.

The administrative committee and the convention's executive board gave unanimous approval of proposed budget changes for calendar year 2001. To become effective, the budget proposal must be ratified by the full convention Oct. 30-31.

Tension between the state and national conventions reached a peak this summer, when the SBC revised its doctrinal statement, the "Baptist Faith and Message." Texas Baptist leaders particularly objected to the removal of one reference to Jesus Christ as the standard by which Scripture should be interpreted and the addition of another declaring the document an instrument of doctrinal accountability that denominational employees cannot question.

In response to the growing rift between the two groups, the Texas administrative committee is recommending a radical reallocation of funds that are currently in the "worldwide missions" portion of the state's Cooperative Program unified budget. Those changes include:

Ñ Reducing the amount of funding for the SBC Executive Committee to $10,000 from $706,000. The Executive Committee is the SBC's main administrative office and is responsible for setting policies, distributing Cooperative Program money and running a national news service, Baptist Press.

Ñ Eliminating $345,000 in funding for the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, which is headed by former Texan Richard Land. Many Texas Baptists have criticized the ERLC for its departure from a strict advocacy of church-state separation and a perception that it is partisan.

Texas churches still would be able to designate funds through the BGCT to all SBC causes.

The budget proposal does not alter distributions to the SBC's International Mission Board or North American Mission Board, which stand to continue to receive about $12 million and $5.6 million respectively from the BGCT next year.

The administrative committee proposal calls for dividing the $1.1 million diverted from the SBC Executive Committee and ERLC three ways. Half would strengthen Hispanic ministries and church starting in Texas. A fourth would go toward Texas human-welfare ministries such as adoption and childcare. The final fourth would go to the Texas Christian Life Commission to produce church-resource materials and address ethical issues such as poverty and pornography.

October 2000