BUENA PARK, Calif. (ABP) — Wiley Drake, the Los Angeles-area pastor, radio crusader and Southern Baptist Convention gadfly, has announced he will not allow himself to be nominated for a second term as second vice president of the convention.
The news comes as a surprise to those who follow Southern Baptist news, since Drake had publicly stated in 2006 he would be nominated to the vice president position in 2007 and then ascend to a presidential nomination in 2008.
Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., said his nomination wouldn't be “best for the kingdom or the convention.” He had recently discovered that Bill Britt, former president of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists, would also be nominated and didn't want “a runoff situation” in which “factions are created and people get their feelings hurt,” he said.
“I really feel like my reason to withdraw was that God told me not to run,” Drake said. “I don't mean to spiritualize, but I woke up at three in the morning and knew I had to [withdraw]. … I had every intention of running again and being nominated and running again.”
Don't expect Drake to drop out of SBC politics, though. While he won't seek the presidency the June convention, he said, he would accept such a nomination in 2008.
“I think [current president Frank Page] has done a good job,” Drake said. “I mean, he's not perfect, he's not the Lord, but I think he deserves another chance. After that, I would accept a nomination to be president.”
Drake said he can't say for sure whether he'd accept a nomination this year as first vice president. It would depend on the situation and his opponent, he said. For now, he's ready to step out of the limelight, if only for a moment.
“I've seen it be a little bit divisive [in convention politics],” Drake said. “I've got a very busy ministry here, and I've enjoyed my year in office. I felt like it's time for me not to be back in the divisive.”
In a letter to Britt, Drake said he respected him and his “reputation in God's kingdom.”
“I will recommend to all our brothers and sisters to support you when you are nominated,” Drake wrote. “I also stand ready to offer any help I can when you are elected. I believe your emphasis on evangelism is not only great for the kingdom's work but our work as Southern Baptists.”
Drake, a self-proclaimed “champion of the little guy,” is a much-loved figure among many Southern Baptists. He gained prominence more than a decade ago in his role in the Southern Baptist boycott against the Walt Disney Co. for its perceived abandonment of its family-friendly image. In his hometown, Drake is best known as the pastor who fought city hall for the right to turn his 75-member church into a homeless shelter.
But despite his popular support, Drake has tussled with the SBC establishment. In October 2006, he created his own letterhead with the title “Southern Baptist Convention, Office of the 2nd Vice President” and used it to endorse Republican Dick Mountjoy of California in his bid for the U.S. Senate. Soon after, Drake received a terse warning from the SBC's top lawyer.
Earlier that year, Drake said he expected to attend the September meeting of the SBC's Executive Committee but was told he'd have to pay his own way. SBC policy states that pastors in top elected positions must pay for expenses in attending events, Drake said.
In an October 2006 story by Associated Baptist Press, Drake said that refusal to pay for travel expenses sent an unspoken message from SBC leaders: “'You don't need to know anything, because the president doesn't need to know anything, because the president doesn't do anything either. We control everything.'”
As second vice president, Drake has no specific duties except to succeed the first vice president and president if both are incapacitated, but he has questioned how he can take over if he doesn't know the inner workings of the group. “That's why I think I need to be at the meeting,” he said last October. “I really take my job as vice president serious. The Executive Committee don't. And the convention, so far, don't.”
The expense of attending SBC events played a small role as well in his decision to forego this year's nomination, Drake said. He called himself the first of the top executives to come from a small church and said that when elected, he didn't know he'd have to pay for convention-related trips on his own.
Church members at First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park would happily sponsor him in convention events, Drake said, but they just don't have the extra money.
“As a pastor of a small church, it's difficult to get to convention, budget-wise,” Drake said. “My total budget including my salary package at my church is less than $100,000.”
The convention will meet June 12-13 in San Antonio, Texas.
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Read more:
Reform-minded Wiley Drake won't accept traditional obscurity of SBC's 2nd VP (10/27/2006)