The Baptist General Convention of Texas (my state convention of affiliation) has been in turmoil for the last eight years. There seem to be two reasons for this: incompetent leadership and an organization that continued to prop up the incompetent leadership.
The organization that has propped up the incompetent leadership grew out of the onslaught of fundamentalism that began to take over state conventions after they have taken over the national Southern Baptist Convention. However, the problem is that in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. the organization has "become the beast in order to defeat the beast." They stifle dissent, they threaten, promise to destroy and ostracize those that disagree with them. They raise doubts about their motives and finally, when all else has failed, they outmaneuver them while talking about the need to have a free and open discussion which they will not permit.
I am credentialed to counsel in Texas and my group of choice is couples. Many times when couples come to see me, there has been infidelity in the marriage. The unfaithful one always has the same position,"Let's forget about the past and forgive and go on!" The faithful one just looks in bewilderment. And his/her question is valid. "How do I know what I am forgetting and forgiving unless I know what has happened?" I have noted the failure to confess is often the unwillingness to repent.
So here we are in the life of my cherished convention: the powers that be want us to look to the future, forget the past, and forgive whatever was done (always) with the best of intentions.
Some of us cynics want to know what we are being asked to forgive and forget. I am not positive, but it begins with $27,000,000. that is not there anymore.
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3 comments:
Mike,
You have posed a valid good question. I believe your point needs to be addressed. I believe Randel Everett desires to help us move forward, but too be frank he did not create the mess.
I don't know who can adequately answer the question at this point. The obvious answer is the fact we tried to fund the BGCT as usual forgetting the reality that we had lost hundreds of churches and millions of dollars of support. I don't know for sure, but I suspect those in leadership believed better days would come once the house was cleaned up, but the good days did not come. After the churches left many of us were left holding the bag for all the important ministries and institutions we had started together.
The reserve fund bought time we did not have and created the illusion of health that we did not enjoy. In addition the buying power of the giving has dropped considerably due to inflation. Everett is now saddle d with the responsibility of oversee this huge enterprise with somewhere between 60-75% of the buying power we had eight years ago.
The problems facing us are bleak, but not final. I agree we must come to grips with the issues of our past, but we will not solve our current crisis by looking backwards. It is like driving a car the windshield is 10 times larger than the rear view mirror, because you need to see the road ahead of you more than the road behind.
Thanks for your contributions and insights. I hope you will be a key player in the solution.
David Lowrie
In many ways you are right,David. However, I believe that churches will return when they are convinced of two things: first, our leaders in the Building are in fact our leaders; and our leaders lead with transparency. Any hint of covering up the past to protect those who misused their position and any hope of churches returning is gone.
I believe the answers about the past are important because every penny of those dollars(except for interest on reserves and gifts) was given by our churches who believed in the fiscal integrity of the BGCT. Their questions need to be addressed with candor.
David,
I remember an incident that happened while I was still in the Panhandle. A pastor was contacted by an urban church that needed a pastor. He visited with them and things got serious. This urban church has a staff leader who had been having multiple affairs with women who came for counseling. The pastor left, the staff member was fired, and the litigation started. He told me later that he had a forewarning of what he was getting into when the first meeting he had at the church was with a room full of lawyers.
While he did not create the problem, he inherited the mistrust and lost morale of the congregation. It was his job to restore what had been taken from that congregation. While Randel Everett did not create the problems, he inherited the mistrust and consequences of the last administration. I don't think it is a valid excuse to say, "I didn't cause these problems." He knew they were here and his responsibility is to clean up the mess and restore trust and help Texas Baptist get focused on the right things again. I know it is a tough job, but that is what he agreed to do.
Mike
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