A breakaway Baptist convention in Missouri should not be authorized by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) to collect funds from churches for Cooperative Program (CP)-supported SBC missions and ministry entities, Morris H. Chapman, SBC Executive Committee president has informed one of the leaders of the proposed convention.
“I cannot recommend the [SBC] enter into a relationship with your proposed new Baptist state convention in Missouri whereby you would collect [CP] gifts to forward to us,” Chapman wrote in a Jan. 25 letter to Jim Hill, who resigned last October as executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). The full text of Chapman’s letter is posted on the SBC’s Baptist2Baptist Web site, www.baptist2baptist.net. Hill was among the leaders of a recent information and planning meeting about a new convention for Baptists.
“A state convention is to be in ‘friendly cooperation’ with the [SBC],” Chapman wrote. “The MBC remains our [CP] collection agent for … churches in Missouri. It continues to act faithfully in regard to promoting the ministries of the [SBC] among Baptists in Missouri and forward [CP] gifts for national and international causes exclusively to the [SBC].”
The leaders of the proposed “Baptist Convention of Missouri,” however, hold “sentiments I would be hard-pressed to interpret as in ‘friendly cooperation’ with the purposes and work of the [SBC],” Chapman wrote.
The proposed convention, which is slated to hold its inaugural meeting in mid-April, plans to incorporate “practices contrary to the best interests of the [SBC],” Chapman noted, citing plans to “openly welcome relationships with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship.”
Chapman added that the “regular practice of the [SBC] is to be in a relationship with a single Baptist convention for each state or designated geographical region.
Responding to Chapman’s letter, the Baptist Convention of Missouri leadership responded in a letter that read, “It is absurd to imply that they are not in ‘friendly cooperation’ with the purposes and work of the [SBC]. The individuals that are represented in the workgroup leadership for the new convention are members in some of Missouri’s oldest and most historic churches. A number of these churches are and have been among the leaders in [CP] gifts as well as support for the Southern Baptist mission offerings for many years. These churches have been and continue to be loyal Southern Baptists,” the letter stated.
The letter also noted that while Hill was executive director of the current convention Missouri Baptists had four record years in CP giving and expanded their cooperative agreements with several SBC agencies.
“While the SBC leadership has chosen not to acknowledge or cooperate with the Baptist General Convention of Missuori, we will cooperate with the SBC,” the letter read. “It is our hope the decision of the SBC leadership will not discourage Missouri churches from continuing to support Southern Baptist causes. Per Dr. Chapman’s instructions we will ask our member congregations desiring to continue their relationship to the [SBC] to send the SBC portion of their [CP] gifts directly to the Executive Committee of the SBC and assist them in learning to do so. We will continue to cooperate with the work of Southern Baptist ministries as we serve our member churches.”
(Compiled from wire services)
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