ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (ABP) –Trustees of the International Mission Board elected John Floyd, a former top administrator of the Southern Baptist agency, as trustee chairman — raising questions about a possible conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, outgoing chairman Tom Hatley leveled additional criticism against blogging trustee Wade Burleson, whom the trustees previously tried to have removed from the board.
The IMB trustees have been deeply divided in recent months over the leadership of IMB president Jerry Rankin, stricter policies governing new missionaries, and Burleson's accusations of agenda-driven political machinations behind the scenes. Trustees tried again to get Burleson to quit blogging about trustee meetings.
Floyd's election as chairman could signal further division on the board. Administrative vice president at the independent Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Germantown, Tenn., Floyd out-polled Wayne Marshall of Mississippi 39-34 for the chairmanship. Sixteen trustees were absent or abstained from the vote.
Floyd, retired IMB regional director for Europe, has been linked to new IMB policies, adopted by trustees late last year, that require stricter baptism practices for new missionaries. Burleson and other bloggers say Floyd is sympathetic to “Landmarkism,” an exclusivist theology that claims to be the only true church by virtue of its narrow view of proper baptism. Many independent Baptists, Missionary Baptists, and conservative Southern Baptists ascribe to some Lardmark beliefs.
Immediately after Floyd's election, Burleson and fellow blogger Marty Duren raised concerns about his new role. “Is there a conflict of interest when a former staff administrator of the IMB becomes the chairman of the board?” Burleson, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Okla., asked May 23 in his blog, wadeburleson.com.
Burleson and Duren asked if it is appropriate for Floyd, who currently receives a pension administered by the IMB, also to sit on the committee that controls IMB pensions.
Floyd “may turn out to be the best chairman the IMB has ever had,” Burleson conceded. But he added, Floyd's service could be a violation of a Southern Baptist Convention bylaw, which states: “No person shall be eligible to serve on any one of the above entities from which he/she receives any part of his/her salary, directly or indirectly, or, which provides funds for which he/she has a duty of administration. When such conditions become applicable, that person shall be considered as having resigned and such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with established convention procedure.”
Duren, in sbcoutpost.com, wrote May 23: “I'm sure the question will be raised if pension is the same as salary, but should they be differentiated in these cases? In my mind, no.”
Former employees serving as agency trustees is rare in SBC life, although the IMB currently has three. Spokesmen for the SBC and IMB did not return phone calls seeking comment on the SBC bylaw and the appropriateness of a former agency employee serving as board chair.
Outgoing chairman Tom Hatley concluded his final report to the board by saying Burleson had breached trustee confidentiality in his blog. Previously, Hatley endorsed a trustee request that no blogging about the IMB sessions be allowed, “out of respect for the trustees.”
Burleson quickly stepped up to a floor microphone and asked for evidence of his offenses. Hatley said the issues were not for discussion in open meetings and had been misrepresented. He then asked for Burleson's microphone to be turned off.
Soon after, Burleson approached the journalists in the back of the room and encouraged them to report “every word” of the meeting. “The issue is free and open debate,” Burleson told Baptist New Mexican editor John Loudat. “While I may abide by the request not to blog, it is ludicrous to ask everyone not to blog.”
Burleson also said the trustees' controversial policies for new missionaries — involving proper baptisms and speaking in tongues — impose doctrinal restrictions that go beyond the “Baptist Faith and Message,” the SBC's official doctrinal statement.
“I've drawn a line in the sand,” Burleson said. “We must drop the narrowing of the parameters.”
In the executive committee report, Hatley acknowledged that Burleson had “apologized” for and retracted “certain things” on his blog that criticized trustees. But Hatley encouraged new chairman Floyd not to lift restrictions previously imposed on Burleson governing his online comments.
Trustees tabled a motion that would have reopened discussion of the two controversial policies adopted in December. The executive committee recommended that Hatley appoint a task force to determine what Southern Baptists expect in the way of doctrinal qualifications for future missionary candidates.
The proposed committee — nine to 11 people, including non-trustees — would be charged “to discover, contextualize and report back to us” on matters of a further doctrinal statement or parameters, Hatley said. After much deliberation, the motion was tabled until July.
A second motion, to create a six-member team of current and former trustees to relate to staff and missionaries when they felt the system had failed their needs, was referred to the executive committee. Sponsors of the motion said the team would be the “supreme court” to which missionaries would make their final appeal. The committee will announce its recommendation at a later date.
Along with Floyd, John Russell from Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla,. was elected vice chairman.
IMB trustees also appointed roughly 100 new missionaries.
Rankin gave an update on missions activities around the world. In the report, Rankin offered encouragement to missionaries struggling with low morale because of “confusion,” “conflict,” “uncertainty” or “insecurity” — an apparent reference to trustee turmoil. He encouraged missionaries to focus on worship and “the privilege of serving,” not their own problems.
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— John Loudat contributed to this story.