JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (ABP) — David Clippard remains executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention, despite an apparent effort to oust him Sept. 22.
Following a marathon, closed-door meeting at the convention building in Jefferson City, Executive Board members attempted to quell infighting between the convention's conservative factions by affirming Clippard and his apparent protagonist, fundamentalist leader Roger Moran.
In a press release issued Sept. 25, three days after the meeting, Executive Board members confirmed they “investigated concerns” that had been brought to the board and affirmed Clippard, Moran, the work of the nominating committee Moran chairs, and the convention's other committees.
According to sources close to the board, Clippard spent about 30 minutes of the seven-hour session accusing Moran and the nominating committee of trying to stack the Executive Board with members intent on removing or impeding him. Moran was allowed to counter those allegations, saying he was only seeking accountability from the convention's staff, the sources said, not Clippard's removal.
With board members apparently equally divided, the outcome was “a draw,” one source said.
Moran, as research director for the Missouri Baptist Laymen's Association and organizer of Project 1000 — a group of ministers and laymen who sought to swing 1,000 votes for handpicked conservative candidates — is credited with helping move the Missouri Baptist Convention from a moderate to a fundamentalist stance by electing conservative convention presidents.
Clippard was put in place by those conservative powers in 2002, replacing executive director Jim Hill, who resigned, reportedly under pressure. He previously was associate executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma.
Although Clippard's supporters had warned before the Sept. 22 meeting there would be a motion to remove the executive, “such speculation proved untrue,” reported The Pathway, the convention-controlled newsjournal. “The discussion did not center on Clippard's dismissal and no motions or votes to dismiss were taken.”
But conservative sources said Clippard's performance was criticized by board members — his bosses — some of whom have complained that his decisions are out of step with the board majority and detrimental to relationships within the convention, particularly with associational directors. Some view Clippard's style as autocratic and dismissive. “We have leaders who think once they are in power they don't have to answer to anyone,” explained one leader.
Clippard did not comment on the meeting. The statement from the Executive Board said only convention president Ralph Sawyer would speak for participants.
The statement affirmed Clippard as “God's man to be our executive director,” as well as “Roger Moran, chairman, and the works of the nominating committee and of all Missouri Baptist Convention committees this year.” Board members broadened their affirmation to include conservative doctrine, inerrancy, the conservative resurgence in the state convention and Southern Baptist Convention, and nearly every aspect of convention life.
During the closed-door session, board members emerged for an occasional break mostly grim-faced and refusing to provide details of the talks.
Several decisions by Clippard in recent years demonstrated to many that he was out of step with the majority of the Executive Board's conservative leaders. Clippard got crossways with the Executive Board when he opposed the board's decision to contribute $100,000 to a political coalition against embryonic stem-cell research. He also opposed the board's allocation of $200,000 for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a Southern Baptist school in Kansas City, Mo.
Two years ago, the convention signed a secret contract to sell its headquarters property to Cole County officials for $2.75 million, but the deal fell through when voters blocked a sales-tax increase to fund the new county facilities to be built on the downtown site. Clippard fired the associate editor of The Pathway for revealing details of the contract.
In a move that reduced Clippard's authority, the Executive Board later removed Pathway editor Don Hinkle from under Clippard's supervision, making him accountable directly to a committee of the board.
Clippard also drew criticism for settling a harassment lawsuit filed against him by former convention controller Carol Kaylor. His supporters, however, credit him with building a strong convention staff and refocusing Missouri Baptists on outreach.
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