By Editor Bob Terry
When one thinks about missions in most Alabama Baptist churches, one thinks about Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU). Historically WMU has been the heart of missions education, missions promotion, missions prayer and, increasingly, missions action in Baptist churches.
Perhaps that is why WMU is the channel used by both the International Mission Board (IMB) and the North American Mission Board (NAMB) to promote their annual missions offerings — the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions.
As one missions executive explained, no other organization in the churches could promote missions as efficiently and as effectively as WMU.
With such a rich and devoted history, it is surprising that during the June annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the Executive Committee attempted to change WMU’s relationship to the SBC. It is especially surprising that the Executive Committee did this over the protest of WMU leadership.
Thankfully messengers to the meeting soundly defeated the Executive Committee’s recommendation that WMU become a convention entity instead of remaining an auxiliary. Observers placed the vote at about 2-to-1 against the recommendation. But the issue should never have surfaced.
Executive Committee Chairman Ron Zinn of California tried to distance the Executive Committee from the recommendation by saying, “All we’re simply trying to do is what the convention is asking us to do.” He added, “This didn’t originate with us.”
The motion may not have originated with the Executive Committee, but the decision to pursue the topic belongs squarely in the committee’s lap. The original motion was offered by a pastor’s wife from Missouri during the 2005 meeting in Nashville and was immediately referred to the Executive Committee for consideration. Interestingly the maker of the motion was unknown to WMU leadership in her home state.
What Zinn did not say is the motion asking WMU to become a convention entity was one of seven motions referred to the Executive Committee for study. Beginning on page 14 of the 2006 SBC Book of Reports is a listing of the Executive Committee’s responses to the seven motions. Five of the seven were not recommended for convention action.
The conclusion is obvious. The Executive Committee wanted the relationship of WMU to the SBC changed. That is why the members voted overwhelmingly to present the motion. Observers reported concerns expressed in subcommittee meetings related to WMU’s continued participation with Baptist World Alliance (BWA), even though the SBC withdrew its membership from the world body in 2004. Some SBC leaders are unhappy that WMU decided that maintaining relationships with Baptist women around the world was important enough to merit BWA support. If WMU became a convention entity, then the SBC could be more “influential” in such decisions than if the women’s organization remained an auxiliary, a status it has enjoyed since its founding in 1888.
This is not the first time WMU’s auxiliary status has riled some SBC leaders. In 1995, the Covenant for a New Century omitted reference to WMU as the denomination reorganized itself to face the 21st century. The report said that because WMU was an auxiliary to the SBC, it could not be included in ministry assignments.
Again messengers would have no part of it. Messengers overwhelmingly adopted an amendment from the floor declaring, “We recognize and affirm the valued historic relationship with Woman’s Missionary Union as an auxiliary to the convention, and welcome the continued voluntary contributions of Woman’s Missionary Union in mobilizing mission prayer support, promoting missions offerings, and stimulating the missionary spirit with the Southern Baptist Convention.”
The action recognized that Southern Baptists have depended on WMU for more than a century and would continue to do so in the future.
There have been other problems in the past decade. The IMB attempted to copyright the name Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions even though WMU originated the offering and promoted it for more than a century before IMB’s attempted action. The result was that WMU now owns the names of both its annual offerings and licenses the use of the names to the respective mission boards. At times, IMB officials also have been frustrated when WMU declined to abandon its patterns of missions study and prayer in order to promote international missions as IMB desired. NAMB officials have not voiced such frustrations related to North American missions.
WMU’s focus has always been missions. Its priority has always been and remains Southern Baptists. SBC messengers recognize this and on two separate occasions, have taken the rare action of overwhelmingly defeating recommendations of their Executive Committee related to WMU.
Surely more than enough time and energy have been spent on internal squabbles and attempts to control the missions passions of this vital organization. For the cause of making Christ known to the nations, it is time for SBC entities and leaders to cooperate and stop efforts to control WMU actions and decisions.
Southern Baptist churches are best served when our mission boards work cooperatively with WMU to efficiently and effectively promote all aspects of missions and when WMU works cooperatively with the mission boards. The cause of Christ is best served when we welcome the contributions of one another and do not squander precious resources in wasteful bickering.
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