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DALLAS (BP)–A pastor’s motion to have the Baptist General Convention of Texas turn over an internal investigate report about the misuse of funds in the Rio Grande Valley to government authorities was ruled out of order by BGCT President Michael Bell at the convention’s annual meeting Nov. 14.
David Montoya, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells, made the motion on the previous day, asking the convention messengers to supersede the authority of the BGCT executive board and move toward handing over the report about missing funds to the FBI. The FBI had conducted a preliminary investigation in 2000 but did not proceed further because the BGCT leadership did not wish to press the issue.
Montoya has publicly questioned the relationship between Otto Arango, one of three Rio Grande pastors who allegedly embezzled $1.3 million, and Charles Wade, the convention’s executive director. Speaking in favor of his motion, Montoya said that Wade had allowed his personal friends to conduct the BGCT’s internal investigation, which he regarded as “a highly questionable action that created even more distrust.”
He also said that Wade is “a personal friend of the main player in this scandal, Otto Arango.” At that point, Bell interrupted Montoya and refused to allow the pastor to proceed.
“We are Christians here, as well as you are, and we do not engage in personal attacks,” Bell said. “Thank you so much for sharing your heart, but please in the spirit of Christian love, do not do that. That’s what is going on. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”
Bell then read a prepared statement that said only the executive board is vested with authority, according to the BGCT constitution, to handle convention matters in periods between annual meetings. He said the Rio Grande Valley investigation did not arise out of any action of the 2005 BGCT annual meeting and, therefore, could not be handled by the convention.
“The executive board is the sole entity that will act in this matter,” Bell said, adding that the action of the executive board in a closed-door session prior to the convention “preempted action by the convention.” In that meeting, the executive board adopted five motions which tightened control of the church-starting process in the convention and also empowered the executive director and the executive board, in consultation with legal representation, to decide whether the misuse of funds should be reported to the appropriate government agency for criminal investigation.
The decision of the BGCT president to rule the motion out of order was the second defeat of the day for Montoya, who also proposed a motion that the BGCT constitution be changed to allow the messengers to override or alter the decisions of the executive board with regard to personnel matters, such as compensation, evaluations and assessments.
That motion drew more significant debate, with Montoya saying that “executive board is intended to be a tool that exists for the body, but through this scandal we now see, it seems as if the body exists for the will of the tool.”
Montoya also charged that parliamentarians had allegedly admitted that they met prior to the annual meeting to discuss how “to use their skills of interpretation in a legal, professional and ethical manner to dissuade and rule out of order any motion that would infringe on the executive board’s exclusive domain over the executive director,” in this case Wade.
That motion drew mostly negative responses from messengers. Paul Kenley, pastor of Grace Fellowship Church in Lampasas, said the motion “would bring about a fundamental shift” in the governance of the convention. He said it was unreasonable to think that the messengers of the convention could monitor the BGCT’s day-to-day activities. He said Montoya’s motion to amend the convention’s constitution was “born out of distrust, and that is never a good environment to amend the constitution.”
John Petty, pastor of Trinity Baptist Church in Kerrville, said he opposed the amendment as well, warning that if the messengers approved the amendment they would “throw gas on the fire and allow another great convention to burn.” Petty said messengers need to stand with their elected officers to “see this thing through.”
Messenger Ginger Blomstrom of Williams Trace Baptist Church in Sugarland said she opposed the amendment solely because Montoya was presenting “secondary” information, presumably gossip, to the messengers of the convention.
But Jack Hulsey, who also said he opposed the amendment, said there still had not been a full accounting of the improprieties in the Rio Grande Valley.
Acknowledging that Wade and others had admitted to poor management and oversight, Hulsey said, “These are good men, but they made a bad situation by their own choice.”
Speaking to Wade, Hulsey said, “You asked for forgiveness, and you were forgiven the moment you asked. But I do not see Mr. Arango here.” Arango founded the Piper Institute of Church Planting, an organization which claims to be planting churches on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. That organization’s board is meeting within the next month to discuss the allegations against Arango, and whether the Piper name will remain associated with it.
Hulsey said the BGCT leadership should not leave the pastors and churches in doubt about efforts to recover the stolen $1.3 million. He said the convention should seek a criminal probe “because the world is watching.”
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