Agreement ends long impasse between NAMB, Texas convention

A yearlong impasse ended between historic Southern Baptist partners in what was described as a “win-win situation” Oct. 8 when the North American Mission Board (NAMB) trustees approved a revised cooperative agreement with the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT).

Trustees also agreed to meet with International Mission Board trustees in a historic joint meeting in suburban Atlanta next spring, adopted a 2004 budget bearing previously announced cutbacks over the 2003 spending plan and adopted a resolution supporting the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment.

The revised cooperative agreement with BGCT, which sets forth parameters for cooperative missions efforts, was approved Sept. 30 by BGCT trustees.

One of the issues was language relating to a NAMB requirement that jointly appointed missionaries comply with the 2000 edition of the SBC’s Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) statement.

Also a concern was a two-year-old policy by the BGCT of withholding Cooperative Program funds that would have come back through NAMB to the BGCT.

NAMB opposed the policy on grounds that it violated historic principles of Cooperative Program funding.

The new agreement addresses the BF&M concerns of both parties with a comprehensive sentence in the body of the document: “When North American Mission Board funds are used, both entities acknowledge that personnel must comply with the North American Mission Board’s requirements concerning the BF&M 2000, though this does not indicate affirmation of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 by the Baptist General Convention of Texas.”

Policy reversal

BGCT leaders, meanwhile, reversed the funds retention policy. Charles Wade, BGCT executive director, said that continuing the funds-retention policy would be “not only an embarrassment; it’s wrong,” according to a report in the Sept. 8 issue of Baptist Standard, the BGCT’s newsjournal.

“This agreement is the best thing for the Kingdom of God,” said NAMB chairman Terry Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan. “It’s an incredible document and a win-win situation.”

Robert E. “Bob” Reccord, NAMB president, said he was pleased the new agreement had resulted after “more than a year of difficult, frank but principled negotiations.”

“There were two cornerstone issues for NAMB: our commitment to the current BF&M for our missions personnel and the BGCT’s retention of more than a million dollars a year in North American missions funds. Both issues are clearly resolved in the new agreement,” he said.

“I appreciate Charles Wade (BGCT executive director) and his leadership who came to support these two issues and opened the way for our continued partnership. I believe this agreement will be a key to reaching Texas and the rest of North America for Christ.”  (BP)