A dry, intense heat spiking well over 100 degrees only energized Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) messengers attending the June 17–18 annual meeting in Phoenix.
Many combined vacation getaways to the Grand Canyon, Sonoma and other desert attractions with an opportunity to participate in the SBC annual meeting and related events such as the Pastors Conference, Woman’s Missionary Union annual meeting and Crossover Arizona.
The SBC made national news with the introduction of its new task force on ministry to homosexuals.
“God loves all people, including those trapped in homosexuality, and He is looking for people who will reach them with His saving, healing love through Jesus Christ,” said Jimmy Draper, president of LifeWay Christian Resources.
Southern Baptists also launched their new Kingdom family initiative, which will serve to model a Scripture-based path for the home.
Gary Hollingsworth, pastor of First Baptist Church, Trussville, said, “I’m excited Southern Baptists are … reaffirming the emphasis of family.”
Glenn Graham, pastor of East Memorial Baptist Church in Prattville, said the family emphasis “reinforces what we are … doing (at East Memorial).”
Southern Baptists also elected officers for the upcoming year. Jack Graham, pastor of the Dallas-area Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, was elected without opposition for a second one-year term to the presidency June 17 in Phoenix.
Rob Zinn, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, Calif., was elected first vice president without opposition. William (Bill) L. Wagner, professor of evangelism and missions at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif., and an emeritus missionary with the International Mission Board, was elected without opposition for second vice president.
During his president’s address, Graham urged the SBC to penetrate a decaying culture and illuminate a dark world rather than retreat into a subculture that makes no difference in the world.
Graham asked his audience to make “Kingdom First” a way of life, not just the convention’s theme. “Our priority, our prayer, our purpose, our passion is exalting the King and expanding the Kingdom,” said Graham, who delivered his 40-minute address based on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Southern Baptists must seize an opportunity to demonstrate God’s kingdom, not just define it, he said.
In a press conference following his re-election, Graham addressed the messenger registration of 7,078, which was the lowest attendance in more than 50 years. The 1951 convention in San Francisco was 6,493.
“There is a factor of location to some degree,” Graham said of the low attendance. “This is not the heartland of Southern Baptists, but it is our heart to move … westward.”
“I am not discouraged,” Graham said. “Participation in Southern Baptist life is strong. … We had more families present this year … and younger people,” he said, noting he is glad to see younger faces attending. “I was concerned that our convention was getting older.”
Henry Cox, pastor of First Baptist Church, Bay Minette, was one of 362 Alabama Baptist messengers registered for the meeting. “The numbers are small, but that is understandable [with the location],” he said, noting the small numbers are not all bad. “The fellowship seems to be energized.”
Cox, who serves as first vice president of the Alabama Baptist State Convention, said he was impressed with the consistency of the convention theme.
“I like the way the convention is centered around one theme. From the Pastors Conference all the way through the convention, there was good cohesiveness that will bind us together for Kingdom growth,” he said.
President George W. Bush also shared a message with Southern Baptists by videotape June 17, citing many shared values with the SBC and asking for God’s blessing on the convention.
During the business session a proposal to reduce the SBC’s allocation to the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) by more than 30 percent was approved June 17 with almost no discussion.
The funding cut, included in the SBC’s 2003–2004 operating budget, initially was adopted without discussion or debate. Moments later, after the convention had moved on to other business, messenger Jim Stroud from Tennessee, asked about the possibility of reconsidering and amending the earlier action. When told that would be out of order, Stroud requested “an explanation from the committee as to their reason for decreasing the allocation to the Baptist World Alliance.”
Morris Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee and a BWA vice president, said a study committee recommended decreasing the amount contributed to the BWA because “it appeared Southern Baptists were not being heard adequately” on issues of concern to SBC leaders.
Sherry Reynolds, a messenger from Georgia, asked what the specific issues were that prompted the funding cut.
Concern over process
While press reports focused on SBC’s disdain for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s pending application for BWA membership, Chapman said SBC leaders primarily were concerned about the membership application process.
The BWA membership committee “exceeded their authority by going to the full general council and relating to them the conditions on which the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship would be accepted” as a member later this year, Chapman charged. He said he and other SBC representatives “took strong issue with the process.”
As a result, the SBC’s 2003–2004 operating budget of $7.84 million includes a $300,000 allocation for BWA, a cut of $125,000 from the current $425,000 line item. The remaining $125,000 was earmarked for Kingdom Relationships, a proposal for the SBC to “look toward strengthening relationships with other like-minded Christian bodies” worldwide.
When the proposal initially was approved in February by the SBC Executive Committee, Chapman said the Kingdom Relationships emphasis “won’t be a duplication of the BWA.” He said initiatives might include Bible conferences and church-growth seminars that would involve “primarily Southern Baptist entities” around the world.
BWA General Secretary Denton Lotz said BWA leaders are “very sorry that the SBC has partially defunded the Baptist World Alliance.” He noted that the BWA “has been close to the heart of Southern Baptists in working together with Baptists around the world” since the organization’s founding in 1905.
The SBC is a charter member of BWA, an umbrella organization of 200 Baptist unions and conventions worldwide that represents 43 million baptized believers in 193,000 churches.
In an interview after the June 17 vote, Lotz said, “We shall continue to work and pray for Southern Baptists and to express appreciation for their encouragement and support over the years.”
In other business, Executive Committee proposals adopted by SBC messengers in Phoenix include:
- Approving a 2003–2004 SBC Cooperative Program (CP) allocation budget of $182.3 million. Budget allocations include International Mission Board, 50 percent; North American Mission Board (IMB), 22.79 percent; SBC seminaries and historical library and archives, 21.64 percent; SBC operating budget and Annuity Board, 4.08 percent; and Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, 1.49 percent. The first $250,000 of any budget overage will be allocated “to fund the enhancement of CP education at the six seminaries.”
- Revising the IMB’s ministry statement. IMB President Jerry Rankin described the changes as “a restatement and updated wording that more accurately reflects the focus and work” of the IMB. The revised document focuses on “nurturing church planting movements” as a strategy to make the gospel accessible to all people. It also highlights “sending” rather than “appointing” missionaries, recognizing a growing emphasis on volunteer workers.
- Selecting Steve Gaines, pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church, to preach the 2004 SBC sermon.
- Selecting San Antonio, Texas, as the site for the 2007 SBC annual meeting to be held June 12–13.
(Trennis Henderson and Michael Clingenpeel contributed)
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