Letter from Jerry Rankin to missionaries - (late July 2002)

Dear Colleagues:

I am writing to express appreciation for your understanding and overwhelming response to my request to affirm the current Baptist Faith and Message. Last month the Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis was a positive experience with a strong missions emphasis. James Merritt reflected on his travel to all fifteen regions. Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer gave powerful testimonies as a part of the Executive Committee report, and many felt the IMB presentation was the high point of the convention. Thanks to our initiative related to the Baptist Faith and Message and your response, there was strong affirmation of the IMB and our sense of accountability to those who support and pray for us.

Now that most of our personnel have affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message, want to address several questions that have been raised regarding the process. I hope this will help your understanding of the issues and enable you to view my request from a larger global perspective and its implications on our long-range future.

Someone recently wrote an editorial about the public response if our government had discovered plans for the terrorist attacks last September 11 and done what was necessary to deter that tragedy. The airlines and general public would have been outraged at the delays and inconvenience of heightened security measures. The civil liberties advocates would have probably called for impeachment of President Bush for profiling and detaining people of Middle Eastern descent, and other similar reactions.

That may be an extreme analogy, but because of our willingness to affirm doctrinal accountability to the Southern Baptist Convention, the consequences that could have been disastrous for the credibility and support of the IMB have been diverted. Taking appropriate steps to assure confidence and support on behalf of the SBC has not been without offense and misunderstanding, but this is a responsibility of leadership that I take very seriously. Rather than the issue being forced into an embarrassing and divisive showdown, or our board of trustees having to reverse their earlier position and impose a policy requirement, I chose to take the initiative administratively and request your collective response. This did not reflect any lack of confidence or mistrust of you on the part of our board or me; to the contrary, I would not have taken such action without the confidence that our personnel serving with the IMB represent doctrinal integrity and denominational loyalty.

Many have expressed hurt that there would be anyone, especially a widespread segment of our constituency, that would be suspicious and precipitate the necessity of my request. I can identify with that because I, too, was deeply hurt and offended, that anyone would even raise such questions, but more than that, that my word was not considered reliable in giving assurance all of our personnel were aligned with what Southern Baptists believe. Many of you were offended that I had communicated a year earlier that current personnel already under appointment would not have to endorse the revised Baptist Faith and Message, and then apparently reversed that decision, which some assumed to be succumbing to political pressure. In 2001 I had communicated the policy officially adopted by our board. When questions and suspicions began to escalate, the board felt some action needed to be taken, but they did not want to reverse their earlier decision and signal any mistrust in our overseas personnel. I, and our board of trustees, personally feel responsible for the reputation of the IMB and guarding your support. To deal with the crisis, I offered to secure the needed assurance with a personal request. I was confident it would be respected and assumed you would readily reaffirm doctrinal accountability similar to the process when you were appointed. Aware that some might not fully understand or agree with some of the updated revisions, some allowance has been made for disagreement and expression of alternate interpretations while affirming to our sending and supporting churches that we would work in accord with and not contrary to the confession of faith of our denomination.

Why did such suspicion and mistrust emerge anyway? The Southern Baptist bylaws have required those supported by SBC entities to affirm basic agreement with the BF&M since 1965, and we have done that in the appointment process. When we became the only entity not to require staff, faculty, or missionaries to affirm the current BF&M, questions began to arise regarding our accountability and whether we were “protecting” those not aligned with the BF&M. When one regional leader refused to sign an affirmation of the BF&M, it increased the speculation that there must be many others as well. Perhaps most damaging has been irresponsible or insensitive comments by a few missionaries on the field to volunteer groups, in letters to home churches, and even to the media expressing disagreement with the BF&M and criticism of SBC leadership.

Most of you welcomed the opportunity to say once again that your personal doctrinal convictions are consistent with the BF&M and, along with other Southern Baptists say, “This is what I believe.” I recognize, however, that some have struggled with the response and been offended as if they, personally, were being questioned. Others have not had a doctrinal problem with the content of the BF&M, though possibly interpreting scriptural positions a little differently, but have felt the request itself made our confession of faith a creed, especially since the preamble of the new version states that it is “an instrument of doctrinal accountability.” Clearly, we are a confessional people who believe there is no creed but the Bible. For four hundred years Baptists have drafted confessions as a testimony to their distinctive beliefs and stand on contemporary social issues to say, “This is what we believe the Bible teaches.” The BF&M is not a creed, as it is not imposed on any church to be a member of the SBC. No individual has to endorse the BF&M in order to be a Southern Baptist. And you, as missionaries sent and supported by the denomination are asked only to affirm that your personal convictions are consistent with what the convention has adopted.

Although this is stated for the first time in the 2000 revision, it has always been an instrument of doctrinal accountability. E. Y. Mullins, as chairman of the original BF&M committee in 1925 explained, as a confessional people, “Baptists have always insisted upon their own right to declare their beliefs and to protect themselves by refusing to support men in important places as teachers and preachers who do not agree with them.” The statement of beliefs you wrote as candidates in the appointment process has always been measured by the BF&M as the criteria.

We were not surprised to discover in this process that we do not have a doctrinal problem among our personnel and, of course, already have policies in place to deal with that. However, it has grieved me that several have been unwilling to acknowledge appropriate accountability to their sending agency and the churches that support them. Rather than responding in the spirit of Matthew 18, some have chosen to criticize leadership of the IMB and SBC and publish disparaging remarks in newsletters and the media. This serves only to undercut the credibility of the IMB and the support on which all of us are dependent as we seek to be obedient to our calling and to fulfill the Great Commission.

A few have resigned and others have expressed their intention to do so rather than affirm the BF&M and their willingness to work in accord with it. We will continue to confer with any of you who have not complied with this request.

I appreciate the responsive way our regional leaders have worked with you and the encouragement and support we have sensed by your overwhelming positive response. Thank you for the many personal notes of affirmation. This has been one of those more difficult responsibilities of my leadership role, but it was done for the benefit of your ministry and our Kingdom task. This will enable us to get on with our mission of reaching a lost world with the solid support of Southern Baptists. I am grateful for your passion and devotion to lift up our Lord Jesus around the world. It is a joy to support and serve you in the task.

Sincerely yours,
Jerry Rankin

September 2002