The Georgia Baptist Convention, by an overwhelming majority, voted Nov. 15 to sever its 172-year-old relationship with Mercer University.
The vote was based on years of mistrust between the GBC and Mercer and was inflamed by the discovery in October of a student-led gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender organization that had existed since 2002.
The group’s “coming out day” on Oct. 11, sponsored by the Mercer Triangle Symposium, galvanized Georgia Baptists to cast a vote of no confidence in the ongoing relationship.
Just hours prior to the convention’s first session in Columbus, the GBC executive committee went into an executive session and agreed to present a motion to the messengers to sever ties with Mercer.
Mercer, the second-largest Baptist-affiliated educational institution in the world with 7,300 students, traces its roots with Georgia Baptists to its 1833 founding by Jesse Mercer in Penfield, Ga. Mercer relocated to its current Macon campus in 1871.
Fred Evers, pastor of Northside Baptist Church in Tifton, represented the GBC executive committee and brought the motion for the convention to separate from Mercer.
The motion included three actions: 1) that the relationship of the Georgia convention and Mercer be discontinued; 2) that the matter be brought before the GBC for approval at the 2006 meeting; 3) and that the GBC executive director and Mercer’s president confer and take action as necessary to provide for an orderly discontinuance of the relationship.
Evers, speaking to the motion, contended that the Georgia convention is no longer compatible with the university in either theology or purpose. He illustrated his case by referring to Mercer president Kirby Godsey’s 1996 book, “When We Talk About God, Let’s Be Honest.” Evers stated that the book had created a considerable amount of discontent toward Mercer among Georgia Baptists because of its deviation from biblical doctrine and theology.
Evers also cited an identity crisis, stating, “The administration of Mercer often wishes to identify itself with Baptist heritage, but we need our institutions to identify with Georgia Baptists.”
In an effort to appease Georgia Baptists just 72 hours prior to the convention, Godsey released a memorandum in which he stated, “I have been deeply concerned about the problems that have arisen regarding the Mercer Triangle Symposium. In an effort to be sensitive to the concerns of our Baptist constituents, two actions have been taken: (1) The Mercer Triangle Symposium has been disbanded. (2) I have issued a new policy that the President’s Office reserves the right to review and to approve the creation of student organizations.”
Alluding to the Godsey memorandum, Evers commented, “Why change the Mercer Triangle Symposium now? The symposium should have never been allowed on the Mercer campus in the first place. The problem is that Mercer has created an environment where such a thing can begin and flourish.”