Motions: GCR endorsed; Driscoll criticized

sbcannualmeeting.com

William Blosch, associational missionary for Thomas Association, was seen via online feed making a point of order regarding a motion he made at the 2008 SBC meeting in Indianapolis. Blosch’s motion last year asked for a photo of candidates for SBC office be shown to messengers and was referred to the Committee on Order of Business.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP) — Messengers offered 31 motions but approved only one during the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting June 23-24 at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville.

On a show of ballots, messengers overwhelmingly approved a motion by R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary, to authorize SBC President Johnny Hunt to appoint a Great Commission Task Force.

The Committee on Order of Business, which scheduled Mohler’s motion for a vote Tuesday evening, declined the other proposals for a variety of reasons, referring several to one or more SBC entities for a report to the 2010 annual meeting in Orlando. Five motions directly or indirectly related to Mark Driscoll, senior pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wash., and founder of the Acts 29 church planting network.

Two motions were referred to all SBC entities:

· that “all SBC entities should monitor” funds spent in “activities related to or cooperative efforts with Mark Driscoll and/or the Acts 29 organization” and entity heads should submit a report of expenditures to appear in the 2010 Book of Reports, submitted by Kent Cochran, a messenger from Calvary Baptist Church in Republic, Mo.

· that SBC entities avoid “inviting event speakers” who “are known for publicly exhibiting unregenerate behavior ... such as cursing and sexual vulgarity, immorality, or who publicly state their support for the consumption or production of alcohol,” submitted by Ida South, a messenger from First Baptist Church in Mathiston, Miss.

Motions referred to the SBC Executive Committee included:

· that the EC form a study group and report back to the convention in Orlando about “how ethnic churches and ethnic church leaders can be more actively involved in serving the needs of the SBC through cooperative partnership on the national level,” submitted by Paul Kim, senior pastor, Berkland Baptist Church, Cambridge/Watertown, Mass.

· that the SBC Organizational Manual be amended to require entities to submit for approval by each year’s convention messengers any entity actions “to interpret the Baptist Faith and Message,” submitted by Andrew Higginbotham, a messenger from South Kansas City Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo.

· that “the present state of Cooperative Program giving” be examined and a report made to the SBC on the “possibility of allowing portions of CP dollars from each church to be designated to particular Convention causes,” submitted by Dennis Conner, lead pastor of Crosspointe, The Church at Tartesso, in Buckeye, Ariz.

· that SBC Bylaw Article VI be amended to change requirements and term limits for trustees of boards, institutions and commissions, submitted by Barrett Lampp, associate

pastor of pastoral care and assimilation, Thomasville Road Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Fla.

· that the formula for distribution of Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund offerings be changed to give 66.67 percent to the International Mission Board and 33.33 percent to the North American Mission Board submitted by Steven S. Nelson, pastor of Trinity Baptist in Hendersonville, Tenn.

Nelson noted that the current division funds – 80 percent for IMB and 20 percent for NAMB – was set in 1981 before a 1997 reorganization assigned NAMB with missions responsibility for Canada and U.S. territories.

Three motions were referred to ERLC:

· that Southern Baptists call “on the Pepsi-Cola Company to remain neutral in the cultural war by refraining from promoting the gay/lesbian lifestyle and agenda” through its advertising and that a boycott be undertaken if the company fails to “halt its current direction,” submitted by Joe P. Samples, pastor, Salem Church, Sneads Ferry, N.C.

Gerald Harris/Index

Members of First Baptist Church in Jackson, left to right, Nicole Bufford, Daniel Peavy, Megan Peavy, Tom O’Dell, Faye O’Dell, and Pastor Joe Bufford, Nicole’s husband, stand near the Executive Committee display. Daniel Peavy serves the church as youth and recreation pastor.

· that the SBC designate a “Sanctity of Life” year in the near future,” submitted by Joseph N. Giles Jr., a messenger from James Square Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, Va.

· that the SBC start a petition to “end abortion in America and the funding of Planned Parenthood along with all other abortion-providing” entities, submitted by Gerald Stutzman, a messenger from Fellowship Baptist in Hardinsburg, Ind.

Three motions were referred to LifeWay Christian Resources:

· that LifeWay Christian Resources “research the various and more affordable educational alternatives to traditional Christian schools ... in order to assist SBC churches ... in the expansion of K-12 Christian education,” submitted by Roger Moran, a messenger from First Baptist Church, Troy, Mo.

· that LifeWay develop and use “American-made” resources in Vacation Bible School materials each year, submitted by Patrick Fuller, senior pastor of Southside Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C.

· that the SBC president “appoint or work through the appropriate entity” to highlight the 400th anniversary in 2011 of the King James Version of the Bible, submitted by Rick Reeder, a messenger from Southside Baptist Church in Princeton, Ky.

On the recommendation of the Committee on Order of Business, Hunt ruled several motions “not in order.”

The committee’s chairman, Render, said three resolutions were not in order because of reflecting harshly on particular individuals.

· that the Holman Christian Standard Bible “and any translation that questions the validity of any Scripture” be banned from convention literature and from the annual SBC meeting, submitted by Eric K. Williams, pastor, Long Prairie Missionary Baptist Church, Belle Rive, Ill.

· that author Mark Driscoll’s books be removed from LifeWay Christian Bookstores because of his “reputation for abusive and ungodly language and ... promotions of sex toys on his church web site,” submitted by Jim Wilson, pastor, First Baptist Church in Seneca, Mo.

· that a “special committee be formed” to address claims by “some Bible teachers that the world will come to an end on May 21, 2011,” submitted by Ben Brazal, pastor, King of Kings Christian Fellowship in Middletown, N.Y.

Keith Hinson is a state missionary and an associate in communications services for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.