NEWS STORY: Texas Baptists Redraw Battle Lines in Southern Baptist Struggle

c. 2000 Religion News Service CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas _ When Texas Baptists passed their controversial budget Monday (Oct. 30), Javier Elizondo did not see it as a sign of heightened conflict between conservatives and moderates in the Southern Baptist Convention. As dean of student services at Hispanic Baptist Theological School, he thought of the tripling […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas _ When Texas Baptists passed their controversial budget Monday (Oct. 30), Javier Elizondo did not see it as a sign of heightened conflict between conservatives and moderates in the Southern Baptist Convention.

As dean of student services at Hispanic Baptist Theological School, he thought of the tripling of library volumes that will help bring accreditation to the 53-year-old school in San Antonio and the scholarships he’ll now be able to offer to struggling students.


“Most of our students work at the mininum-wage level,” he said. “Even this year, we had some students who could not come back because they were not able to save enough to be able to enroll for the next semester.”

Outside Texas, however, officials of Southern Baptist entities considered how they would fill the financial gap left by the decision of the moderate-led Baptist General Convention of Texas to reduce their funding by more than $5 million next year. By a vote of 4,194-1,446, delegates to the annual meeting of the largest state convention of Southern Baptists decreased the funding of all six of the seminaries and some of the other agencies of the conservative-led Southern Baptist Convention.

In the days ahead, some will be savoring and others stinging from the much-anticipated decision.

Leaders of the Baptist General Convention of Texas _ by far the largest Southern Baptist state convention _ placed a $1 million cap on funding of the seminaries, in part because they are displeased that seminary employees are required to sign a new Southern Baptist faith statement they believe is creedal. Southern Baptist leaders deny the statement, the Baptist Faith and Message, is a creed and say they are saddened by the change in a historic funding structure _ including the drop of about $4.3 million for their seminaries.

Al Mohler, president of the Council of Seminary Presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention, said the cuts will affect budgets at least in the short term, but he is confident that in the end “`we’ll come out even stronger.”

He said layoffs could be possible, but, he hopes, not necessary.

“We’re going to lose a million dollars out of our revenue,” he said of his own seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. “We’re going to do our best to avoid laying off personnel, but that always looms as a threat when losing that amount of budgetary support.”

His school has postponed plans for construction of a conference center _ originally scheduled to begin Oct. 1 _ until funding of the operations of the center are assured.


The Southern Baptist Executive Committee will get $10,000 next year from the state convention, a significant drop from the more than $700,000 it expects to receive this year.

In a statement, Executive Committee President Morris Chapman encouraged “Bible-believing Southern Baptists in Texas,” to reject the new Texas plan and give to the denomination through the conservative-led Southern Baptists of Texas Convention _ an alternative group _ or directly to the Executive Committee.

The Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission will receive no monies from Texas Baptists next year, a drop from the more than $350,000 it expects to get this year.

“I don’t think it will have any appreciable effect,” said Richard Land, president of the commission. “Baptist churches in Texas, Baptist churches around the country will make certain that we don’t have a funding shortfall. … I have received scores of e-mails and letters and phone calls from Southern Baptist churches in Texas who said `We believe in what you’re doing.”’

Clyde Glazener, who was re-elected president of the Baptist General Convention of Texas on Monday, said the reduction of funding sent the opposite statement to the Executive Committee and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

“We’re trying to say to them we don’t support what you’re doing,” he said.

Glazener said he doesn’t believe the commission represents religious liberty as defined by many Texas Baptists and has been linked with the religious right.


Land denied his commission is tied to the Republican Party.

“Our allegiance belongs to no party,” he said. “It belongs to no candidate. It belongs to God.”

He agreed the groups have differing definitions of church-state separation. While the Baptist General Convention of Texas has opposed vouchers, Southern Baptists have mixed views on that issue.

The money that remains in Texas instead of going to the SBC entities will help two other theological schools affiliated with the BGCT as well as adoption programs, fledgling Hispanic congregations and evangelistic efforts.

“The needs of Texas are real,” said Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. “Ten million people in this state do not claim to be members of any church. … We’ve got to train ministers and lay leaders to help us start churches and staff church congregations.”

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Beyond the nuts and bolts of “redirecting” the money to Texas causes, Wade and others expect the Texas funding decision will prompt discussions, and perhaps action, by other state conventions.

“If I were a Southern Baptist leader, I’d be concerned not just about Texas Baptists but about Baptists all over the country,” he said. “I know there’s some state conventions that have been very concerned. … Texas Baptists aren’t the only people who are upset.”


Southern Baptist leaders say the action by Texas Baptists is the continuation of plans that could lead to an alternative national denomination.

“We believe the attacks upon the seminaries and the Southern Baptist Convention are unwarranted and misleading and have been promoted by those whose real agenda is to create a theologically moderate denomination,” said Chapman.

Texas Baptists amended their constitution Monday to permit members of churches from outside the state to serve on boards of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, but their leaders denied their intent was to start another denomination.

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