October 30, 2002
SPRINGFIELD — Harmony, peace, unity, or a taste of Heaven?
Select the description above that would best describe the atmosphere of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) 2002 annual meeting at Springfield and you would be correct.
MBC President Bob Curtis probably summed it up best for most of the 2,010 registered messengers when he likened the meeting to "a taste of Heaven."
Beset by inner turmoil and legal proceedings the past year, convention proceedings opened Oct. 28 with a stirring day of preaching by in-state and out-of-state speakers at the annual Pastor’s Conference. It concluded at noon Oct. 30 with another challenging message by Jack Graham, president of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and pastor of the 20,000-member Prestonwood Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.
Graham urged messengers to keep their focus and faith on Jesus Christ.
"You need to believe and trust in the God who can do anything but fail," he said. "I want my life and the life of Southern Baptist churches to be marked by miracles of changed lives."
Tom Eliff, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church, Del City, Okla., spoke twice at the convention. In his second address, Elliff delivered an evangelistic message from Romans 8, challenging messengers to be sure of their salvation. Several hands were raised during a time of invitation.
Tony Preston, professor of pastoral leadership at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Kansas City, provided the Scripture theme interpretations throughout the convention.
Kenny Qualls, pastor of Springhill Baptist Church, Springfield, was elected without opposition as president of the MBC for 2003. Monte Shinkle, pastor of Concord Baptist Church, Jefferson City, likewise was elected without opposition as first vice-president for next year.
Throughout the meeting, a healing seemed to be occurring among Missouri Baptists.
"Thank you Missouri Baptist Convention for a Christ-like, loving spirit the last three days," Curtis told messengers as the convention drew to a close. "Did you see the article in the Springfield newspaper that described this convention as being full of disharmony? Somebody needs to write a new definition of disharmony.
"I’ve never sensed a sweeter spirit in my life. We came to Springfield as an MBC family, and that’s the way we’re going to leave," Curtis said, adding that the attitude and actions displayed by messengers had made him proud to be able to officiate as president the past year.
Kerry Messer, chairman of the MBC Christian Life Commission, also took note of the convention harmony in remarks leading up to presentation of the CLC’s Distinguished Service Award. "Can you believe it … only three hours left in this convention and we’ve yet to find any significant dissention," Messer said.
Bob Collins, a former MBC president and pastor of Plaza Heights Baptist Church, Kansas City, said he was going to leave Springfield singing "free at last, free at last … ."
Final enrollment totals showed 2,010 messengers and 370 visitors for a total attendance of 2,376.
With at least four former MBC churches having aligned with the new Baptist General Convention of Missouri, there was a noticeably smaller representation of the moderate/liberal wing. There were no messenger seating disputes. And opposition to the conservative-led MBC leadership was so small that no "ballot" counts were required during the convention.
In fact, every vote taken would have to be classified as overwhelming.
Moderate/liberal messengers to the convention made what appeared to be one final attempt to impact the convention’s conservative direction by introducing a motion from the floor that would have required "the MBC president, executive board and legal issues committee" to withdraw and drop immediately all legal action, lawsuits and the petition for declaratory judgment against the five breakaway MBC institutions.
The motion was introduced by Brian Kaylor a messenger from Union Mound Baptist Church, and messengers immediately rose to speak for and against.
One proponent said the MBC, by going to court, was fighting with the ways of the world, not the ways of Scripture. Another said it is time to start loving, not suing, and focusing on what really matters – the kingdom.
Paul Callahan, pastor of First Baptist, Marshall, countered that if those who quote Scripture to criticize the suit should also consider Jesus’ teaching to treat someone as a heathen if they will not arbitrate the matter. "If somebody broke into my house and stole my furniture, I wouldn’t quote Scripture," he said. "I’d call the police."
Another proponent of the motion begged messengers to halt the legal action. "I beg you to look and see what the world thinks about us," the messenger pleaded. "All they see is one group of Christians taking another group to court."
Ken Jones of the Boekerton Baptist Church at Portersville said he initially was against the suit.
"But it seems to me like the executive board has bent over backward to keep from going to court," he stated. "All they (they agencies) are being asked to do is abide by the laws of the Missouri Baptist Convention. If we let this stand, we might as well throw away the convention bylaws and constitution because they will be meaningless.
"If they (the agencies) are going to act like thieves, I say we treat them like thieves."
As the debate became more heated, the largely conservative messenger body responded with a smattering of applause, but the MBC president, presiding over the business session, stopped the supportive display immediately.
"I guarantee not happy about this lawsuit," Curtis said. "All I want is to see God’s Word uplifted. We’re not going to have clapping from one side or the other. All we’re going to do is hear, pray, and be obedient."
Following the lopsided vote, Curtis responded to one of the motion proponents: "All I know is that I have shared Jesus with three people here in Springfield this week, and not one of them brought up the lawsuit."
In other convention activity, messengers:
- Approved recommendations from the Committee on Continuing Review that would – if okayed by the 2003 convention – change membership requirements in the MBC Constitution to read: "Any Southern Baptist church in sympathy with to singly aligned …"
- Add one section to the Constitution regarding relationship between the convention and churches and associations. New language, if approved next year, would read: "The doctrinal guidelines for this Convention and its work shall be the Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention on June 14, 2000, understanding that any Southern Baptist church affiliated with the Convention has the right to affirm any historic Baptist confession of faith."
- Approved budgeting and staffing for The Pathway, with bi-monthly production of a tabloid-sized newspaper to begin Jan. 15, 2003.
- Approved eliminating all references to Word and Way in the MBC Executive Board’s bylaws and replacing with "official news journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention."
- Selected Cape Girardeau as the site for the 2004 MBC annual meeting.