KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustees voted unanimously March 10 to remove about $877,000 in funds from the Missouri Baptist Foundation. The funds will be invested through the Baptist Foundation of Oklahoma.
Midwestern’s bylaws state that seminary funds must be invested through a Southern Baptist foundation. No state foundation is directly affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, but trustees determined that foundations affiliated with state conventions in cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention were eligible to receive Midwestern’s funds.
Trustees voted last October to pursue removal of seminary funds from the Missouri Baptist Foundation because it is one of five Missouri Baptist Convention entities where trustees boards have voted to be self-perpetuating. As a result, the MBC is seeking a court declaration that the five trustee boards are in violation of state law.
Trustees left open the possibility of moving seminary funds back to the Missouri Baptist Foundation if it becomes affiliated with the Missouri Baptist Convention again. The seminary will incur an estimated cost of $1,800 to transfer the funds.
In other business: Alabama Baptist James Fisher Jr., pastor of Sage Avenue Baptist Church in Mobile, was re-elected first vice chairman. Trustees also approved a $4.8 million budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year, about $100,000 less than the budget approved at last year’s spring meeting.
Share with others: