Friday, Sept. 19, 2003

Layoffs not political, Royston says

By Tony W. Cartledge
BR Editor

Baptist State Convention (BSC) Executive Director-treasurer Jim Royston is denying accusations that recent BSC layoffs were politically motivated.

Instead, the downsizing was a financial necessity, guided by a desire to preserve the most "mission-critical" services to churches, he said.

Many have noted that most of those laid off could be considered theological moderates.

In a Sept. 13 article in the Winston-Salem Journal, former Biblical Recorder editor Gene Puckett suggested that political motives may be behind the layoffs. "This thing is not just money. ... I think some of the (moderate) people targeted were ones people wanted to remove anyway."

In the same article, longtime conservative leader Mark Corts said he believed the cuts were not a "moderate purge" but a "financial purge." But, he said, "If 70 percent of your staff are moderates and you have to let 15 percent go, guess who's going to feel it the most?"

Corts called Royston "a good, balanced conservative" and said that the cutbacks portend change.

"They'll have to have new leadership, and they'll change," he said.

Corts also suggested that some of those released may not have been cooperating with the administration. "And a lot of them didn't agree with him (Royston) and they didn't agree with the movement the convention was taking, a slightly more conservative movement."

Royston has said that the positions were eliminated, so no new employees are expected to fill the vacated roles. He declined to respond to specific charges but told the Recorder that the employees involved "were always cooperative and supportive."

"The secular media is reporting this was a political decision," he said in a written statement. "Nothing can be further from the truth. Finances, rather than any political considerations, drove us to the point of having to reduce our staff by 20 percent. In making these reductions it was critical that we try not to harm any service that directly impacts our churches."

Jobs were eliminated "on principle, and not on persons," he said, and none would have been threatened if income had remained on track. "If the economy had not resulted in a shortfall of offerings to our churches, and a shortfall of Cooperative Giving, there would have been no need or motivation to make these reductions in staff."

Since the paid staff of the Council on Christian Higher Education were among those laid off, some critics have expressed concern that the move presages a distancing of the BSC and its affiliated colleges. But, "Christian Higher Education has and will continue to be a major part of our mission," Royston said.

"The programs of our Councils have not been eliminated. For example, full-time staff of the Council on Christian Higher Education was eliminated, but their program budget was not. The responsibility has been temporarily assigned to John Roberson, Executive Leader for Resource Development and Promotion until a more permanent decision can be made."

Royston said he and Roberson are currently meeting with all the college presidents to assure them of the convention's continued commitment to the colleges.

The staff reductions were painful but necessary, Royston said, and came about "following the unanimous vote of the Executive Committee in executive session."

"These were official actions of our governing body," he said. "It was my painful responsibility as executive director-treasurer to carry out their decisions."

Executive Committee members, their positions and hometowns are: Leland Kerr, General Board president, Shelby; Randy White, General Board vice president, Fayetteville; Kendall Cameron, business services committee chair, Whiteville; Randy Bishop, congregational services chair, Hamlet; Marshall Pridgen , mission growth evangelism chair, Morganton; George Smith, resource development and promotion chair, Clayton; Terry Brooks, strategic initiatives and planning chair, Rutherfordton; and Tom Crow, convention relationships committee chair, also chair of the budget committee, Charlotte.

Other members include Dixon Free, Council on Christian Higher Education president, Lincolnton; Jim Dean, Council on Christian Life and Public Affairs president, Sylva; and Marvin Gold, Council on Christian Social Services president, Supply.

BSC officers are also Executive Committee members: Jerry Pereira, BSC president, Black Mountain; Bob Foy, BSC 1st vice-president, Mooresville; and David Horton, BSC 2nd vice-president, Jamestown.

Mission organizations are represented by Caroline Jones, N.C. WMU president, Mocksville; Jim Burchette, N.C. Baptist Men president, Cary; and J.C. Bradley, N.C. Baptist Associational Missionaries president, High Point.

At large members are Don Warren, Gastonia; Doug Robinson, Sugar Grove; Wayne Hager, Mount Airy; and Bob Evans, Granite Falls.

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