The South Carolina Baptist Convention is divided over mission and money. It threatens to polarize the denomination in times too serious for disunity.
KirklandThe possibility of a tear in the fabric of the denomination surfaced during discussion, amendment and approval of the 2011 budget. The matter had been simmering long before the annual meeting Nov. 16-17 at the Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia.
A move to amend the budget that would keep the percentage of Cooperative Program funds going to the Southern Baptist Convention at the 2010 level — 40.44 percent, compared to 41 percent in the 2011 budget — failed by 63 votes out of 795 cast.
The change in percentages is minimal. And it is part of an initiative begun before the Great Commission Resurgence to raise the level of giving to the SBC, eventually arriving at a 50-50 division of Cooperative Program funds.
Many messengers saw the increase as part of the GCR strategy, which does call for more money given by state conventions to the SBC.
Outgoing convention president Fred Stone has appointed a 35-member Great Commission Resurgence task force to study and recommend a desired level of South Carolina’s financial involvement in the GCR and what its impact would be on state ministries.
This task force will report to the 2011 annual meeting of the SCBC Nov. 15-16 in Columbia.
At the center of concern over the impact of GCR on state ministries are the institutions: Anderson, Charleston Southern and North Greenville universities; Connie Maxwell Children’s Home, Greenwood; Ministries for the Aging, with facilities in Darlington and Laurens; The Baptist Foundation, Columbia; and The Baptist Courier, Greenville. The Baptist universities, who invest their Cooperative Program allocations in scholarships for students, are especially sensitive to decreases in CP funding. The decreases have been brought on by a faltering economy and have been applied across the board, impacting all SCBC ministries.
The task force, a diverse and well-qualified panel of South Carolina Baptists, includes the presidents of the institutions or their representatives. This was done, not at the wishes of convention leadership behind the motion to set up the task force, but at the will of a majority of messengers at the Columbia meeting.
The decision to give seats on the task force to institutional leaders may have been well-intentioned, but was ill-advised.
It indicates too little trust of, and confidence in, the appointees of the convention president. It will be expected of the task force to consider the needs of the institutions as they relate to the overall mission and ministry of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. The committee, without the institutional representatives, could be trusted to act fairly and prudently in their yearlong work. The presence of institutional representatives will be awkward at best and disruptive of the process at worst.
The appointment of the task force is only the first step in South Carolina’s involvement in the GCR. And, already, lack of trust is a threat.
The convention is on the verge of splitting into two camps — one occupied by those who believe more money should go to the SBC specifically to fund the work of the International Mission Board, and the other by those who are mindful of, and concerned about, the lostness of the world, but who do not want to see state ministry hurt by funding decreases.
We must be careful not to misunderstand each other. If I favor sending more money out of state, especially in support of the IMB, am I necessarily against the institutions and other state ministries? No. If I am wary of sending more money out of state, possibly at the expense of what we’re doing in South Carolina, am I necessarily unconcerned about the lostness so evident in the world? No.
In good times, we could adhere to a “both-and” philosophy rather than an “either-or” approach to mission spending as a convention. But that is not the case. “We are living in serious times,” said Bill Gaines, chairman of the SCBC’s budget, finance and audit committee.
He cannot say, and neither can anyone say at this point, how the Great Commission Resurgence will impact South Carolina. “We don’t know all the answers and may not for several years,” Gaines said.
When times are good, he emphasized, “We come together to expand ministries and grow our institutions.” And when they are bad, the chairman pointed out, “We must come together in an even tighter circle to protect our unity and preserve our future.”
The national economy is slumping, causing a drop in Cooperative Program contributions. It is a time of testing for South Carolina Baptists. At times — and maybe more times than we would desire — what is possible must take precedence over what is preferred.
The new president, Sonny Holmes, will be a voice for reason at all times and a voice for change when it enhances the convention’s work. A self-described “young man in an old body” (he’s 61), he urges South Carolina Baptists: “Don’t be so predictable. I hope that we will be able to look back on 2011 and say, ‘God did a fresh thing this year.’ ”
He, too, recognizes the “serious times,” which are even more reason, he believes, to “get with it” and solve our problems, and then “get on with it” as a denomination pursuing Great Commission goals.
Fred Stone, in his presidential address, challenged South Carolina Baptists to live for the glory of God by being “God-focused, gospel-centered and Great Commission-driven.”
Stone has been a wise and temperate president, intent on, and successful in, shedding light on the path we are taking together as a convention. We can expect Sonny Holmes to offer that same kind of compassionate and reasoned approach to his assignment. Both are seasoned men who have come to prominence at a time in the life of the denomination when such seasoning is required of its leaders.
In our denominational endeavors and in our individual lives, we must not give way to despair in these troublesome times. The new president has declared his conviction that “God will give us all we need to do our work, and we must build up confidence among South Carolina Baptists in what we’re doing.”
We must be aware, too, that the struggle is not ours alone. “He Is Able” was the theme of the 2010 Pastors Conference. In need of spiritual power for the journey ahead, we can pray with Paul, “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think — according to the power that works in you — to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”