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	SBC Meeting Likely to Include Debate over Resolutions, Mission Boards By Robert Marus and Charlie Warren Associated Baptist Press May 31, 2007 http://www.abpnews.com/2269.article San Antonio, Texas — The upcoming Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting may not, like last year's, feature a contested and unpredictable presidential election — but it is likely to air other contentious issues, according to those who track such things. Nonetheless, SBC President Frank Page said prayer for revival and spiritual awakening is the intended emphasis for the June 12-13 SBC annual meeting, scheduled for San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. The theme, "Lord, Send Your Holy Spirit," will frame each of the five plenary sessions. They will include prayer times led by Southern Baptists known for their focus on prayer and will include several minutes for messengers to pray in groups of two or three for revival in the SBC. "The central focus for my presidency and therefore for this meeting is to seek from the Lord spiritual awakening — his Holy Spirit's revival," said Page, pastor of First Baptist Church of Taylors, S.C. "And that is always prefaced by and enabled by and empowered by prayer." Page is expected to stand for re-election to a traditional second one-year term as president. He won as an outsider candidate in a contest last year that featured two other pastors with close ties to the SBC's conservative power structure. Although those candidates led churches larger than Page's and were endorsed by some of the biggest names in the denomination's conservative elite, many reform-minded Southern Baptists criticized them for their churches' tepid support of the Cooperative Program, SBC's unified budget. Many younger Southern Baptist pastors disgruntled with the SBC's ruling party campaigned enthusiastically for Page. They — and other dissatisfied Southern Baptists — used blogs to stir up support for what has become something of a reform movement in the denomination. Advocates of that movement have promised to present several items of business — some of which may prove controversial — for consideration this year. In response to recent exposure the SBC has received concerning clergy sexual abuse, Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson and Texas pastor Benjamin Cole intend to ask the denomination to address the issue. "Southern Baptists must be proactive when it comes to protecting children under our ministerial care. Our convention cannot retreat behind claims of ecclesiastic polity, and we are encouraged by SBC President Frank Page's tough stance on clergy sexual abuse," Cole said. Burleson is pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla. Cole is pastor of Parkview Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. Burleson, a former Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma president and a current trustee of the SBC's International Mission Board, intends to bring a motion calling for the SBC Executive Committee to conduct "a feasibility study concerning the development of a database of Southern Baptist ministers who have been convicted of sexual harassment and abuse," make that database available to all churches, and report its action at the 2008 meeting in Indianapolis. "There is no credible reason why Southern Baptist churches cannot look to our convention headquarters for assistance in scrutinizing candidates for ministry positions," Burleson said. "What was once believed to consist of a few isolated cases has emerged as a more serious threat to our convention's ministries and our churches' health." Cole will introduce the resolution, "On Clergy Sexual Abuse," saying, "Southern Baptists must spare no effort to preserve the integrity of our witness and the security of our children from the tragic consequence of our own potential neglect." Tom Ascol, director of Founders Ministries and a prominent Southern Baptist advocate for Calvinism, will again submit a resolution calling on churches to exercise stricter discipline over their members. The resolution states that "the ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle" and cites statistics showing that barely one-third of the 16 million people the Southern Baptist Convention counts as members attend at least one weekly worship service at their home church. Georgia pastor and blogger Marty Duren said he submitted two proposals to the SBC Resolutions Committee. His first, "concerning pastoral longevity and local-church ministry," calls on Southern Baptists to embrace "a more biblical understanding of shepherd-to-flock commitment" than is often seen in denominational life. Duren's second resolution is on the resolution process itself. It calls on Southern Baptists to, in any annual meeting, refrain from passing a "greater number of resolutions which speak to the sins of society than address the sins and shortcomings in our own midst." Cole also said he had submitted a resolution "on gluttony" that is modeled after — and intended to be an implicit critique of — a resolution messengers passed last year that categorically condemned the sale and use of alcoholic beverages. Two controversial resolutions from a source outside the reform group are likely to stir discussion as well. Voddie Baucham and Bruce Shortt have submitted a proposal urging messengers to give full support to expanding private Christian education within the SBC, according to Christian Newswire. Baucham is an author, Bible teacher, professor and pastor at Grace Family Baptist Church of Spring, Texas. Shortt is a Houston attorney and a board member for a group encouraging Christians to leave public schools. He wrote "The Harsh Truth About Public Schools." If approved, the resolutions would come in the fourth consecutive year of the convention backing private Christian schools and home schooling. However, Shortt and other advocates of removing Christian children from public schools — a strategy called the "Exodus Mandate" — have failed repeatedly to get the SBC to pass a resolution explicitly endorsing their cause. Oklahoma pastor Robin Foster, meanwhile, said on his blog that he has submitted a resolution denouncing the practice of speaking in tongues — even in private — and calling on Southern Baptist agencies not to hire employees who engage in such practices. The issue of SBC missionaries speaking in tongues has been a matter of concern in recent years. There also may be other motions that inspire controversy during miscellaneous business. Cole said some messengers might raise specific questions after the heads of certain convention agencies present their reports. "I've heard of several people who want to ask a number of questions," he said. In addition, Cole said messengers could raise questions about the convention's Cooperative Program budget. He declined to say what specific issues would come up, but said the "time of the adoption of the budget could be a very contentious moment." Cole also said that North Carolina pastor Les Puryear would present a motion requiring all SBC entities "to publish the voting and attendance records of every institutional trustee." Many SBC reformers have complained about the secrecy of SBC trustee boards. Cole said the motion would create something like a "Congressional Record for SBC trustees." For convention officers, a challenge to Page's re-election would be unusual but not unprecedented. However, no other candidates for president had been announced by May 31. There were also no announced candidates for the SBC first vice president office. For second vice president, two nominees had been announced as of press time for this story. They are evangelist Bill Britt of Gallatin, Tenn.; and Eric Redmond, pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Temple Hills, Md. The convention will also feature the unveiling of a 10-year SBC evangelistic strategy. Geoff Hammond, the SBC North American Mission Board's newly elected president, has been part of the planning process, Page said, of a "strategy [that] brings associations, state conventions, NAMB and other entities into a true focus in calling churches not just to win souls but better showing them how." The evangelistic strategy will be "flexible, multifaceted," Page said. It will encompass "the more traditional people within our convention and the more contemporary or non-traditional people, old and young, various styles and philosophies of evangelism and church planting, Calvinists, non-Calvinists, various people groups ethnically and various groups from the geographical areas across our country." The convention will also feature a ceremony recognizing the 300th anniversary of local Baptist associations in the United States. Tom Biles, president of the SBC Associational Directors of Missions and director of missions for the Tampa Bay (Fla.) Baptist Association, will lead the tribute. The Philadelphia Baptist Association, founded in 1707, was the first entity of its kind. Prior to the convention, the denomination will hold its annual local-evangelism blitz. In "Crossover San Antonio," hundreds of Southern Baptists will hit the streets of the metropolitan area June 9 to share the gospel via door-to-door visits, block parties and an international festival featuring dozens of ethnic groups showcasing their cultures, food, dress, music, dance and art.
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