MESQUITE, Texas (ABP) — A small group of Baptists met Jan. 16 in Mesquite, Texas, to discuss ways to fund some Baptist General Convention of Texas ministries but not necessarily support a state convention in which they feel they have no voice.
Three prominent Baptist bloggers led the group: Kevin Holmes, pastor of Edgemont Park Baptist Church in Mesquite; Rick Davis, pastor of First Baptist Church in Brownwood, Texas; and David Montoya, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Mineral Wells, Texas. About 20 people attended, including several who identified themselves as observers. Six participated online.
Speakers expressed continued frustration with the BGCT over mismanaged church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley; some wondered whether the scandal should prompt an alternative funding mechanism for the convention.
Montoya, who said he has defended the BGCT in the past, also questioned whether the existing denominational bureaucracy, or “palace in Dallas,” had become irrelevant.
Last year, Montoya made a motion at the annual meeting requesting the convention itself to ask for a criminal investigation of the Valley church-starting fund scandal, but then-President Michael Bell ruled the motion out of order.
Participants at the meeting also agreed to send a letter to the Executive Board prior to its Feb. 26-27 meeting, asking the board to change governing documents to protect the right of messengers to vote on substantive issues. They plan to circulate the letter by e-mail and post it on several blogs so other people can sign it.
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