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Friday, March 16, 2001
"Where's the beef?" That question was posed in a recent letter to the Recorder in which the writer said all the concern about the issue of Baptist autonomy is nothing more than a "bunch of isms and innuendo." He was questioning the reasoning behind an amendment to a resolution dealing with the Convention's constitution regarding autonomy of the Baptist State Convention.
The writer challenged readers to provide specific examples of any threat to autonomy. If he wants "the beef," then consider this menu:
1. Look no further than the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message (BF&M). Never in Baptist history have we had a document calling for conformity of doctrine. There were statements of faith in 1925 and in 1963, but they were not creeds. The 1963 document stated as much. The new BF&M has no language stating it is not a creed, and as such, it attacks autonomy at every level.
2. That document no longer refers to the priesthood of the believer (singular) but calls for "accountability to each other under the Word of God." Baptists have always believed that a person is ultimately accountable only to God.
3. The new BF&M can be used to exclude members from congregations, or it can exclude churches from associations, state conventions or the national convention. New Mexico has in fact charged a committee with studying the possibility of making adherence to the BF&M the criterion by which it determines if churches are in good standing with the convention and eligible to participate at the state convention. That attacks the autonomy of every association, every congregation, every member. The Georgia convention currently is threatening to oust the Atlanta association for failure to comply with its rules.
4. Recently the International Mission Board has voted to affirm the BF&M as the "standard for carrying out the program and ministries" of the IMB. Now the missionaries must sign an affirmation that reads "In accountability to the International Mission Board and Southern Baptists, I agree to carry out my responsibilities in accordance with and not contrary to the current Baptist Faith and Message as adopted by the Southern Baptist Convention." This follows the practice already in place at the seminaries, where anyone who teaches must sign a statement of compliance.
These are a few pieces of "beef." And there are some other thoughts to chew on. When the BF&M is a tool for doctrinal accountability that must be signed or accepted by those who work in related agencies and institutions, there is a serious threat to autonomy. Some state conventions and associations have adopted this tool. Will their employees have to sign or lose their jobs? Will our local churches be told who they can or cannot call as pastors - only those pastors who have signed the creed?
There is an obvious counter-argument to this, that the SBC is an autonomous body and can set its own rules. If churches and individuals don't like those rules, they can get out. But my point is that these new rules no longer allow me, other individuals or other churches to be fully autonomous and at the same time participate in the Southern Baptist Convention as we could in the past.
(EDITOR'S NOTE-Bolden is the former editor of the Burlington Times-News.)
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