conjectural navel gazing; jesus in lint form

polity matters

Missouri Baptists will vote again on local-church loyalty to SBC

By Vicki Brown

So, before you begin this article I have this question for you: Are they still Baptists if they do this?

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (ABP) -- No congregation could be a Missouri Baptist
Convention church without cooperating with the Southern Baptist
Convention, if a constitution amendment is passed next week.

Requiring a church to cooperate with the national convention would be a
departure from Baptist tradition. But the Missouri move -- believed to
be the first of its kind among traditional state conventions -- reflects
the growing power of conservatives in Baptist state conventions.

The issue of "single alignment," which has alternately united and
divided Missouri Baptists almost since they began working together in
1834, will again come to a vote at the Oct. 24-26 annual meeting of the
Missouri Baptist Convention in Springfield. Messengers will consider the
"second reading" of a constitutional amendment that will restrict
membership in the convention to churches that are singly aligned with
the Southern Baptist and Missouri Baptist conventions.

If approved, the change would exclude congregations that support the
alternative state convention established by moderates, the Baptist
General Convention of Missouri. Likewise, congregations that support the
state and national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship would not be allowed
to participate.

Technically, the amendment to the constitution's membership article
would change wording from "any Baptist church" to "any Southern Baptist
church" and would change the words "in sympathy" to "singly aligned"
with the convention.

Another amendment apparently would permit some churches to relate to
other organizations, conventions or associations along racial, ethnic or
cultural lines as long as the relationship is not contrary to the MBC
constitution and does not "violate accepted Southern Baptist faith,
polity and practice."

According to the report presented at the 2004 annual meeting, a church
would have to adopt a doctrinal statement and contribute financially to
the work of both the SBC and Missouri Baptist Convention to be
considered a cooperating church.

Currently, the MBC constitution does not require giving as a condition
for affiliation, although the SBC constitution does.

The congregation also could not send a representative or messenger or
financially support any other state or national convention or an
organization that acts as a convention.

Rules for the convention's credentials committee define a national
convention as "any organization which independently sends and ordains
ministers to the United States military services."

By that definition, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and some state
Baptist conventions, such as the Baptist General Convention of Texas,
would be classified as "denominations." Neither the CBF nor state
conventions consider themselves as denominations.

Rules and procedures would allow the committee to "investigate" the
qualifications of a church and of individual messengers. Under proposed
committee procedures, the convention might claim the right to examine
churches' contributions to determine whether congregations support other
national or state conventions or bodies that act as conventions.

Posted by tripp at October 20, 2005 08:43 PM