New Orleans trustees deny ‘sole membership’

NEW ORLEANS — Trustees of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary voted unanimously Oct. 7–8 not to change its articles of incorporation to name the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) as its “sole member,” making the seminary the lone SBC entity not to do so. The board, however, approved a motion reaffirming its “deep and abiding commitment to the Southern Baptist Convention.”

Since the mid-1990s, the entities have been amending their respective articles of incorporation in order to make the SBC what is called in legal terms their “sole member.” In recent months New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley has repeatedly voiced his support for the SBC and the conservative resurgence it has undergone theologically, but he has asserted that sole membership goes against what he says is traditional Baptist polity. He has published his position in a 15-page paper posted on a seminary Web site.