By Greg Warner
Executive Editor
Associated Baptist Press
The rise to power of conservatives among North Carolina Baptists, at times arduous and slow, clearly is picking up steam.
As recently as two years ago, control of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, once a moderate stronghold, was in doubt. But after losing a string of elections, most moderate Baptists have tired of defending the denominational battleground in the state's largest religious group.
Meanwhile, emboldened conservatives have made several moves recently to flex their newfound muscle:
• Impatient with a search process that could take 16 months to hire a new executive director, conservatives are moving to replace the convention's interim director with one clearly identified with the conservative movement.
• A new proposal would further tighten membership restrictions to exclude churches that accept gays as members or support organizations that condone homosexual behavior, creating perhaps the most specific ban of gay-friendly churches in Southern Baptist life.
• Another proposal in the works would stop the convention from counting money churches send to support the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as “Cooperative Program” giving. That is expected to be approved. But conservatives also are proposing a more drastic approach to do away with all four of the convention's alternative giving plans, returning to an SBC-only budget.
• In July, nominees to trustee positions in the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina were rejected because they are members of churches affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, a national organization conservatives say has a “pro-homosexual stance.”
• Conservatives rejected several candidates for the board of the Biblical Recorder, the convention's newspaper, and replaced them with hard-liners. The nominating committee's chairman said the newspaper was singled out because it needs to become “more conservative.”
“In convention leadership, conservatives are at the helm,” said Greensboro pastor David Horton, the outgoing convention president, to a rally of conservatives at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary Oct. 20.
Anticipating even more contentious times ahead, the five colleges and universities that relate to the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina recently asked the convention for a formal study of its legal relationships with the schools. Such a study could lead to severing ties between the convention and some of the schools-Campbell University, Chowan College, Gardner-Webb University, Mars Hill College and Wingate University.
Both moderates and conservatives are pointing to the annual convention meeting Nov. 14-16, which will vote on many of the conservatives' proposals, as a pivotal event. But while that prospect motivated moderates to action in years past, it has generated more resignation than talk of revolution.
“We fought for a long time,” said Randy Sherron, pastor of Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, a church that affiliates with both the state convention and the Alliance of Baptists. “We don't have any fight left in us,” he said.
“It comes down to: Do you spend your time and energy engaging in a dispute, or do you spend your time and energy doing something positive and constructive?” added David Hailey of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh.
Moderates are not fielding a candidate this year to succeed Horton as president. Conservative Stan Welch, pastor of Blackwelder Park Baptist Church in Kannapolis, is the only candidate to emerge so far.
Already conservatives are acting to counter any apathy that might arise among their followers because of the moderate concession.
“The fight's not over” Bill Sanderson, president of Conservative Carolina Baptists, told the Southeastern rally Oct. 20, one of three scheduled across the state. “We can't say we don't need to be at the convention this year.”
Greg Mathis, a former convention president and a current member of the budget committee, told the group the practice of counting CBF money that is channeled through the North Carolina budget as Cooperative Program funding is a top complaint among conservatives.
But Mathis urged attendees to support the modest CBF-related budget change rather than do away with all four alternative budgets- which would leave the convention with a single plan that sends 35 percent of church contributions to the SBC. Doing away with all four plans might have unintended consequences, he said.
The convention's top executive, James Royston, 57, resigned in July to return to the pastorate. Convention policies say an executive director must be elected at the annual convention in the fall. Since the search committee has just begun its work, an interim will likely serve until the 2006 annual meeting.
George Bullard, Royston's associate executive director, was selected as interim in July. But conservatives are not willing to let Bullard hold that post for another year. The convention's governing documents are not clear about who selects an interim for an extended period of time, so a committee is expected to propose a process before the annual meeting.
Meanwhile, conservative Brian Davis, the convention's second vice president, said he will recommend Mike Cummings, director of missions for the Burnt Swamp Association and a past president of the convention, as acting executive director.