ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (ABP) – Messengers to the Kentucky Baptist Convention's annual meeting Nov. 13-14 elected all of the body's officers by acclamation, decided to shorten next year's annual meeting and heard a sobering report on the theological views of average Kentucky Baptists.
The quiet meeting, held at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown, Ky., featured no contentious issues or items of miscellaneous business.
One major item approved by messengers was a proposal from the convention's committee on order of business to conduct all convention business on one day, with the option of a second day for workshops or other events. It was approved, with a smattering of opposition, on a voice vote.
Committee chairman Charles Barnes, a former convention president and member of Hurstbourne Baptist Church in Louisville, said the reason for the change was a lack of attendance during second-day convention sessions in recent years. In two of the past three years, for example, the convention was unable to conduct business on its final day due to the lack of a quorum. KBC bylaws require at least 25 percent of registered messengers in a session to constitute a quorum for conducting business.
The change will take effect at next year's annual meeting, scheduled for Nov. 11, 2008, at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington, Ky.
This year's annual meeting saw the number of registered messengers dip dramatically, to only 942 from more than 1,400 last year and 1,800-plus in 2005. It was the first time messenger registration has dropped below 1,000 since 1974.
In the KBC's first uncontested presidential election in five years, Bill Henard was elected by acclamation. Henard, pastor of Porter Memorial Baptist Church in Lexington, also is a part-time assistant professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and chairman of LifeWay Christian Resources' board of trustees. His election marked the third time in four years that a Southern Seminary faculty member has been elected KBC president.
“It's an interesting connection between Kentucky Baptists and Southern Seminary,” Henard told reporters in a post-election press conference. “I don't think it's a conspiracy by any means.
“I've never had anyone from Southern Seminary ever try to tell me what I should do,” he added. “They've always asked: ‘How can we help?' and ‘How can we be more involved with what is happening in the Kentucky Baptist Convention?' I've been pleased with that.”
Former KBC president Hershael York, also a Southern Seminary professor and associate dean, nominated Henard.
York, who is also pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, Ky., noted that Henard's congregation “has been a perennial leader in our state in baptisms, in missions and in Cooperative Program giving,” He said Henard will “keep us working together to reach our state and our world with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ.”
In other elections, two directors of missions were named convention vice presidents. Jim Castlen of Three Forks Baptist Association in Hazard, Ky., was elected first vice president. Rick Reeder of Caldwell-Lyon Baptist Association in Princeton, Ky., was elected second vice president.
Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay's research department, presented findings from a study on the level of spiritual maturity and discipleship among Kentucky Baptists.
Describing some of the findings as “troubling,” McConnell said only 49 percent of respondents disagreed with the “heretical statement” that “Christians must continually work toward their salvation or risk losing it” and only 45 percent disagreed with the statement that “if a person is sincerely seeking God, he or she can obtain eternal life through religions other than Christianity.”
“These are not issues we can solve by simply talking louder,” McConnell emphasized. “We need to acknowledge the fact there are people quietly misunderstanding or quietly choosing not to believe some of the truths in the Word of God.”
In other business, messengers adopted five resolutions without discussion or opposition, including measures opposing expanded gambling and urging protection of children from abuse.
Messengers also approved a Cooperative Program budget goal of $24 million for the 2008-09 fiscal year, unchanged from the current budget goal. The full budget includes an additional $1.3 million challenge goal, for a total 2008-09 CP goal of $25.3 million. It also increases the percentage the state convention forwards to Southern Baptist Convention causes to 37.04 percent, an increase of 0.34 percent over the current budget year.
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