AUSTIN, Texas (ABP) — Rallying under a banner of “One Family — One Mission,” messengers to the Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting took decisive steps toward demonstrating the diversity of the Texas Baptist family.
Messengers elected the convention's first African-American president, approved a governance plan that mandates at least one-third non-Anglo representation on a streamlined BGCT Executive Board and heard the convention sermon preached by a Vietnamese Texas Baptist pastor.
Even the entry of a last-minute nominee for convention president — the first contested race in eight years — reflected a desire for diversity, judging by the nominating speech appeal for diverse voices to be heard and for messengers to be offered meaningful choices.
Messengers elected as president Michael Bell, pastor of Greater St. Stephen First Baptist Church in Fort Worth. He succeeds Albert Reyes, the first Hispanic BGCT president.
David Currie of San Angelo, executive director of Texas Baptists Committed, nominated Bell, urging messengers to “make history” and “send a powerful signal” about Texas Baptists through the election.
Bell won the president's race by a four-to-one margin over Rick Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brownwood and former director of the BGCT Center for Strategic Evangelism.
David Montoya, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells nominated Davis. Although he praised Texas Baptists Committed — a powerful moderate organization that has endorsed a slate of candidates for nearly two decades — for its leadership in resisting fundamentalism, Montoya insisted it was time for Texas Baptists to “once again have a choice” in its elected leaders.
BGCT messengers also approved changes to the state convention's constitution and bylaws that streamline governance and ensure a greater non-Anglo presence on the BGCT Executive Board.
Their actions resulted in “the most sweeping changes in BGCT governance since 1959,” said Wesley Shotwell, pastor of Ash Creek Baptist Church in Azle and chair of the BGCT Governance Committee.
The governance changes reduced the Executive Board from 230 to 90 members, with three people from each of 30 sectors across the state. Sectors are drawn according to county lines and determined by a formula that factors in resident church membership, number of churches and amount of Cooperative Program giving.
Executive Board committees will assume duties previously assigned to BGCT Administrative Committee and to coordinating boards and commissions.
Revised bylaws stipulate at least 30 percent of the board membership will be non-Anglo. Bylaws also include provisions that non-church or denominational employees have representation on the board, with neither employees nor non-employees having more than 60 percent of the makeup.
An attempt to require that women make up at least 30 percent of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board was withdrawn by its author due to a technicality.
But Aaron Brown of First Baptist Church in Copperas Cove urged the board to take seriously his recommendation that the nomination process pay as much attention to gender as to race and ethnicity. Currently, Brown said, women make up only 23 percent of the Executive Board but represent at least half of the state's population.
Brown's motion could not be considered, however, because it was introduced in the Monday evening session of the annual meeting, and the standing rules of the convention require any proposed bylaws changes to be introduced in the opening session on Monday afternoon.
Cassandra Northcutt of First Baptist Church in Longview spoke to messengers as chair of the Committee to Nominate Executive Board Members. “We work very, very hard at gender representation,” she said. “We look at this every time we meet.”
In his president's message to the convention, Reyes challenged Texas Baptists to follow New Testament examples rather than North American sensibilities when it comes to handling conflicting cultures. He noted a conflict in the early church between Hebrew and Greek culture was settled by giving power, authority and resources to a group that was underrepresented.
“It wasn't an American model. It was a New Testament, Jesus kind of model,” he said.
Reyes urged Texas Baptists to welcome “those who have come to the table late” and recognize them as equal partners in the gospel.
In the convention sermon, Nguyen sounded some of the same themes.
“We can't let our little differences hinder our work,” he said. “We need to encourage one another, to partner together, if we are truly to be one family to accomplish one mission together.”
In other business, messengers to the annual meeting:
— Approved a $49.4 million budget. Of the total, $41.3 million depends on Texas Baptist Cooperative Program giving — a 3.5 percent increase over 2005. The balance will be provided by gifts to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, endowment income, allocated funds and fees. The budget proposal as approved by messengers includes a provision that the convention's strategic plan direct 2006 budget priorities.
— Honored Irby Cox of Dallas for 35 years of service as BGCT recording secretary. Cox and his wife, Margaret, worked with the registration process at the annual meeting 39 years and directed it since 1970.
— Referred to the 2006 Committee on Convention Arrangements a motion by Samira Izadi of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas that in future flag processions, placement of the Christian flag should be above all others.
“As Christ is Lord of all and Lord above all, I think it would be just the right thing for the flag of Christ to be above all,” said Izadi, a native of Iran. “It would be idolatrous, as each flag represents a different entity, to place a flag above the Christian flag.”
The annual meeting drew 2,440 messengers and 844 visitors — down from the 2,937 messengers and 708 visitors who attended the 2004 convention in San Antonio. In 1997, the last time the BGCT met in Austin, the meeting attracted 6,100 messengers and 283 visitors.
— Mark Wingfield and Teresa Young contributed to this article.