BAGDAD, Ky. (ABP) — Members of the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board have voted to affirm the University of the Cumberlands' recent decision to dismiss an openly homosexual student.
Citing “the recent public controversy surrounding the Baptist school's dismissal of a student for violating the school's code of conduct,” the board action noted that “we commend the university's firm stand on its principles and appreciate the high standards to which it holds itself and its student body.”
Board members pledged “to pray for the university's leadership, faculty and students” as well as “the young man who was affected by this decision.”
The board action did not address a pair of lawsuits related to an $11 million state budget allocation to the University of the Cumberlands to help establish a pharmacy school. Opponents say the state money is inappropriate because of the school's policy against homosexuals and its religious nature.
Board members, meeting May 8-9, also approved a detailed plan to reallocate convention funds previously earmarked for Georgetown College. The plan came in response to a proposal adopted last fall by KBC messengers to revise the convention's ministry partnership with Georgetown after the college's trustees voted to establish a self-perpetuating board.
The redistribution of funds will take place over four years, beginning with the KBC's 2006-2007 budget. Georgetown's full $1.3 million annual allocation eventually will be redistributed each year, with 41 percent for KBC-related Christian education institutions, 24.1 percent for Southern Baptist Convention causes, 15 percent for Cooperative Program education and promotion, 10.9 percent for Mission Board ministries and 9 percent for the KBC's other institutions and agencies.
In other action, board members approved the report of a special Cooperative Program Study Committee that calls for establishing a long-term goal of sending 40 percent of CP receipts to the SBC Cooperative Program. The KBC currently sends 36 percent of funds to SBC causes.
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