THE BGCT AND TEXAS BAPTISTS COMMITTED

As word has leaked out that David Currie is resigning as Executive Director of Texas Baptists Committed and that the organization will seek to change its focus, I am compelled to make some observations and some suggestions, which I admit I have no right to make, since I am not a dues paying member of TBC.

Similarly to President Obama’s claim to have saved or created a half million jobs since he took office, a claim no one, not even him, can really prove, TBC takes credit for “saving” the BGCT from the fundamentalists. I was working at the BGCT during those “takeover” days in the SBC, so I was in a position to see things from inside the Washington Street offices.

I am one of those who does not believe the fundamentalist takeover of the BGCT would have taken place, as it did on the SBC level. I do not believe fundamentalists could have ever taken over Baylor, without taking over the BGCT, who was electing the Baylor Regents. However, that takeover scare was useful in allowing Baylor to change its charter, without approval from the Bill Pinson-led BGCT. Baylor wanted to change the way regents were selected so that they could get some out of state influencers on their board. That would not have been possible under the BGCT system of election and the existing charter. The goal might have had merit, but not the reason given.

So, the charter had to be changed and the best way to get it changed was to invoke the fear that without that change Baylor might be taken over by fundamentalists. However, in conjunction with the Baylor action, and with the help of some strong Baylor supporters, an organization was created to keep that takeover fear alive. In came David Currie, and Texas Baptists Committed. With the help of at least one BGCT staff member, people went behind the back of Bill Pinson to…1. Change the Baylor Charter, and 2. Started seeking to insure only “certain” like-minded people got elected to the various committees, boards, commissions, etc. of the BGCT.

It took about five or six years, but TBC finally got control of all the processes of the BGCT, garnered enough power to elect presidents, convinced them to serve only one term, elected subsequent presidents and at least one vice president so that they could name their chosen ones to the nominating committee, etc. In so doing they weakened the office of the president, making him little more than a figure head. This enabled the power to stay with those who ran the processes, instead of the officers.

Well, at least that’s how I view what took place, but all of that is water under the bridge. TBC now says they are going to refocus themselves, make themselves into a different organization, writing a new mission statement, etc. I have some suggestions.

First of all, instead of trying to run the BGCT, why not offer yourselves to churches to help them understand what the BGCT is really about? Why not offer educational opportunities for churches to understand the differences in the two state conventions in Texas? Why not help churches understand the benefits of giving to the Cooperative Program?

Secondly, why doesn’t this organization seek to fill in some of the gaps in promotion of the BGCT institutions and ministries. Give up trying to control the BGCT electoral processes and instead promote attendance at the convention sessions, and participation in the convention processes.

Also, I would hope the organization would quit the fear-mongering about fundamentalists, and recognize that all those who disagree with them are not evil fundamentalists. Had we been a bit more generous in allowing a seat at the table for some of those pastors who led their churches away, they might still be in the BGCT. Our efforts to keep out any who didn’t see eye to eye have come back to bite us.

Finally, when you elect a new TBC Executive Director, why not think about someone who is a uniter, instead of a divider. Bring someone to your leadership who can listen to all points of view, and refrain from categorizing as extremists or “fundies” those whose point of view might be different than yours. I worked with some good men at the BGCT, whose loyalty to the convention was never questioned, but whose differing point of view got them accused of being fundamentalists. Not everyone who disagrees with your point of view is a fundamentalist, in the sense that you use that word.

I repeat an assertion from a previous blog—TBC has become what they profess to have hated in others. You have become manipulative control freaks. I would hope, for the sake of the Kingdom and the BGCT, that you would want to change that perception.