Trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board (IMB), meeting in executive session Nov. 6, voted to censure trustee Wade Burleson of Oklahoma and suspend him from their next four meetings for multiple violations of the trustees’ code of conduct.
The censure motion stated that Burleson had “repeatedly failed” to abide by provisions in the code of conduct adopted in March 2006 governing trustee service, including requirements that trustees “refrain from public criticism of [board] approved actions” and “scrupulously avoid either the fact or the appearance” of having disclosed information or private conversations from trustee meetings.
Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Enid, Okla., first became the focus of controversy in 2005 when he used his blog, Grace and Truth to You (kerussocharis.blogspot.com), to publicly disagree with actions taken by the board.
Burleson has blogged repeatedly in criticism of two board policies — adopted in 2005 — that tighten the doctrinal parameters for who may be appointed an IMB missionary. The policies limit the proper mode of baptism and prohibit the practice of “private prayer language.”
In early 2006, a majority of IMB trustees voted to ask messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention to eject Burleson from the trustee board but later rescinded the action.
In two meetings Nov. 5 with the trustee executive committee and senior board staff, Burleson was asked to apologize for his violations. He reportedly offered to apologize for making disparaging remarks, which he said were unintentional. He refused, however, to apologize for publicly criticizing board actions. Burleson noted that he had voted against the standards of conduct when they were adopted in 2006.
“Efforts have been made by individual trustees, myself and the trustee executive committee to get him to apologize for his violations of our standards of conduct and to agree to refrain from further violations,” said IMB trustee chairman John Floyd. “It is my great sorrow to report that those efforts have not met with success.”
Bill Hickman, an IMB trustee from Alabama, said the executive committee felt as though the censure was the only alternative left.
“I had prayed for a resolution that would be agreeable for both parties and was very saddened that it came to that,” said Hickman, a member of First Baptist Church, Ashford, in Columbia Baptist Association. “[Burleson] made some mistakes — there were some things that were blogged prematurely or that shouldn’t have been blogged at all. But he’s a fine, godly person.”
Letter preceded action
The action to censure Burleson was taken shortly after Jerry Corbaley, one of Burleson’s most outspoken critics on the board, sent fellow trustees a 153-page letter accusing him of “gross and habitual sin.” The letter also called Burleson “an unrepentant slanderer and an unrepentant gossip.”
The censure was reported during the trustees’ Nov. 7 plenary session in Springfield, Ill. It provides for a review of his status after the four meetings from which he is suspended, with a decision to be made at that time about lifting the suspension.
The suspension can be reconsidered before the four-meeting time period expires if he apologizes for the violations and promises to work within the board’s structure and policies.
Burleson said he attempted to make a statement to the trustees after the board’s action was announced Nov. 7 but Floyd refused to recognize him to speak. After the meeting adjourned, Burleson released a handwritten statement that read:
“I shall faithfully fulfill the four-year appointment I have received to serve as a trustee of the International Mission Board. Rachelle [Burleson’s wife] and I will gladly pay our own way to attend the IMB trustee meetings, including overseas meetings with missionaries, and we are thrilled that the money saved can be used to support the IMB’s overseas missions work.
“I respect my fellow trustees and humbly accept the censure and pray they understand I cannot violate my Baptist distinctives, particularly the freedom to dissent. I am an IMB trustee but for a season. I am a Southern Baptist for a lifetime. I am a follower of Jesus Christ for eternity.” (Compiled from wire services)
Share with others: