ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)–Trustees of the North American Mission Board adopted “suggested covenant guidelines” to help ensure new Southern Baptist churches remain Southern Baptist during their May 7 meeting in Alpharetta, Ga.
Trustees also took action on a continuing effort to negotiate a new cooperative agreement with the Baptist General Convention of Texas by appointing a task force to determine the entity’s next step. Cooperative agreements between NAMB and state Baptist conventions detail terms of cooperative missions efforts.
NAMB approved a proposed agreement in February. In March, the BGCT altered what NAMB trustees approved and sent it back to NAMB for approval again. Instead of taking action on the BGCT version, NAMB trustees unanimously passed a motion stating, “Rather than enter into an argument about semantics, we move that the president and chairman of the NAMB Board of Trustees jointly appoint a Response Task Force to review the substantive issues underlying the impasse.”
Both parties’ changes related to clarification of the role in the agreement of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
The impasse illustrates ongoing tension between SBC entities and the moderate Texas convention over a variety of issues. NAMB President Robert E. (Bob) Reccord said earlier that the BGCT changes in the agreement were “regretful and frustrating,” placing “at risk the possibility that we could once again work cooperatively to reach Texas and North America for Christ.” Terry Fox, chairman of NAMB trustees, called it “yet another step away” from the mission partnership of the BGCT and SBC.
Also during the meeting, the board reelected its officers and received reports that 40 new missionaries had been appointed and 45 new Southern Baptist chaplains had been endorsed by the missions organization.
Fox, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan., was re-elected by acclamation, as were Barry Holcomb, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church in Andalusia, Ala., as first vice president and David Crump, pastor of Aspen Park Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Okla., second vice president.
The “Suggested Covenant Guidelines for a Southern Baptist Church Plant,” designed for state conventions working in partnership with NAMB, came as part of recommendations from a special task force created by trustees last year. The panel of trustees, state convention leaders and NAMB staff was asked to find ways of increasing the likelihood that new churches planted with Southern Baptist funds would retain Southern Baptist norms in doctrine, polity and commitment to missions.
“Some of the trustees raised a concern that we were putting a lot of dollars out there, and committed Southern Baptist churches weren’t coming out,” said Richard Harris, chairman of the task force and vice president of church planting for NAMB. “Our task force found out it wasn’t nearly the issue of great concern as some folks thought, but we did identify the need to have some kind of articulated guidelines and a draft of a covenant from which people could work.”
The need for such steps is increasing, he said, as churches’ emphasis on denominational identity declines.
The suggested agreement details expectations of responsibilities and accountability for partners in a church plant, including the congregation itself, the sponsoring church, the association and state convention.
Examples of suggested expectations of churches include stated affiliation with the SBC in a mission congregation’s founding documents, participation in the Cooperative Program, and intentional plans to reproduce annually through new Bible studies, ministries or church plants. Responsibilities of sponsoring churches, meanwhile, include support through prayer, finances, strategic planning, volunteers and doctrinal oversight.
Harris said much of the model agreement is based on documents already used by a number of Southern Baptist state conventions. He stressed that state conventions remain free to use or not use the suggestions as they see fit; implementation is not required for NAMB funding.
“It would be the desire of the task force for state conventions to give prayerful consideration for using as much of the guidelines and covenant as possible,” Harris said.
The board also approved a set of recommendations from the task force directing NAMB staff to encourage seminaries to strengthen efforts to equip students with an understanding of Baptist distinctives; develop a starter kit for church planters with similar information; and suggest “intentional forums” among denominational entities to encourage dialogue with young pastors and church planters.
Also during the meeting, trustees approved an operating agreement with FamilyNet Inc., a NAMB subsidiary that makes the television network more independent of NAMB’s current organizational structure.
Trustees approved the structural change in concept last year, although earlier plans to make the network a for-profit subsidiary were put on hold in February. Under the approved plan, NAMB will continue to fund certain aspects of FamilyNet’s ministry, while also providing an annual operating subsidy and a line of credit totaling $9 million over three years.
In his report to trustees, Reccord detailed a new priority in his own life to mentor young men – and encouraged trustees to do the same. He said a junior high school principal had made the effort to mentor him in leadership at a critical time, and that such investments of time are often the ones that can leave the strongest legacy.
“A mentor or a coach can give these three things: a brain to pick, an ear to listen and a push in the right direction,” he said. Later, he added, “I’m convinced more than ever that more time with fewer people — real, quality investment time – in the long run brings more impact.”
Reccord’s focus on the next generation also included the announcement of Elevate 2004, a pair of NAMB conferences next year to further help young adults during the critical ages of 18-29. National leaders in business, entertainment, government and other spheres of influence will help students work through the time of life when they make major decisions of “who’s going to be your master, who’s going to be your mate, and what’s going to be your ministry,” Reccord said.
The conferences will be held Jan. 22-24 at the Dallas-area Prestonwood Baptist Church and Feb. 19-21 at the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center.
In other business, trustees heard updates about:
— a continuing explosion of volunteerism by Southern Baptists, with 375,000 people taking part in short-term missions trips last year. Trustees also heard a report on The Bridge; an updated Web-based system for matching volunteers with needs of churches and associations. The site is located at thebridge.namb.net, without the customary “www” before the address.
— Strategic Focus Cities efforts to impact major cities with the Gospel, which have resulted in nearly 44,000 professions of faith since the effort began in 2000. A total of 256 new churches have been started and 32,000 volunteers have participated.
— A recent Inner-City Evangelism Conference in Shreveport, La., in which 196 individuals prayed to receive Christ.
NAMB’s next trustee meeting will be Oct. 8.
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