Missouri Baptists will vote again on local-church loyalty to SBC

By Vicki Brown

Associated Baptist Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - No congregation could be a Missouri Baptist Convention church without cooperating with the Southern Baptist Convention, if a constitution amendment is passed next week.

Requiring a church to cooperate with the national convention would be a departure from Baptist tradition. But the Missouri move - believed to be the first of its kind among traditional state conventions - reflects the growing power of conservatives in Baptist state conventions.

The issue of "single alignment," which has alternately united and divided Missouri Baptists almost since they began working together in 1834, will again come to a vote at the Oct. 24-26 annual meeting of the Missouri Baptist Convention in Springfield. Messengers will consider the "second reading" of a constitutional amendment that will restrict membership in the convention to churches that are singly aligned with the Southern Baptist and Missouri Baptist conventions.

If approved, the change would exclude congregations that support the alternative state convention established by moderates, the Baptist General Convention of Missouri. Likewise, congregations that support the state and national Cooperative Baptist Fellowship would not be allowed to participate.

Technically, the amendment to the constitution's membership article would change wording from "any Baptist church" to "any Southern Baptist church" and would change the words "in sympathy" to "singly aligned" with the convention.

Another amendment apparently would permit some churches to relate to other organizations, conventions or associations along racial, ethnic or cultural lines as long as the relationship is not contrary to the MBC constitution and does not "violate accepted Southern Baptist faith, polity and practice."

According to the report presented at the 2004 annual meeting, a church would have to adopt a doctrinal statement and contribute financially to the work of both the SBC and Missouri Baptist Convention to be considered a cooperating church.

Currently, the MBC constitution does not require giving as a condition for affiliation, although the SBC constitution does.

The congregation also could not send a representative or messenger or financially support any other state or national convention or an organization that acts as a convention.

Rules for the convention's credentials committee define a national convention as "any organization which independently sends and ordains ministers to the United States military services."

By that definition, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and some state Baptist conventions, such as the Baptist General Convention of Texas, would be classified as "denominations." Neither the CBF nor state conventions consider themselves as denominations.

Rules and procedures would allow the committee to "investigate" the qualifications of a church and of individual messengers. Under proposed committee procedures, the convention might claim the right to examine churches' contributions to determine whether congregations support other national or state conventions or bodies that act as conventions.