OSAGE BEACH, Mo. (ABP) — For the first time in eight years, messengers to the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting have rejected a slate of officer candidates allied with an organized fundamentalist faction.
Meeting Oct. 29-31 at a resort on the state's Lake of the Ozarks, messengers did an abrupt about-face, overwhelmingly rejecting four officer nominees closely identified with Project 1000. The effort, almost a decade old, had been a successful strategy for conservatives to take control of the state convention.
However, messengers did not return the MBC to the moderate fold. They elected Gerald Davidson, a retired pastor who was one of many Missouri Baptist conservatives to break ranks with the Project 1000 faction in the past year.
Since 1999, messengers have backed officer slates endorsed by Project 1000, which refers to the number of messengers that conservative leaders estimated would be needed to beat any moderate candidate for MBC president. But among this year's election casualties was Roger Moran himself, architect of the bitter takeover effort.
Instead, messengers opted for a slate endorsed by a group supportive of the so-called “conservative resurgence” in the state convention but critical of what they said was a legalistic spirit and the increased tightening of control by Moran, his five-member Missouri Baptist Laymen's Association and other Project 1000 insiders.
The group held “Save Our Convention” rallies across the state starting in May to state their case for a leadership change.
Messengers elected Davidson, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Arnold, Mo., who had served a previous stint as MBC president, over incumbent Mike Green 832-381. Green is director of missions for Twin Rivers Baptist Association, based in Wright City, Mo.
In perhaps the most closely watched election — for second vice president — John Marshall, pastor of Second Baptist Church of Springfield, Mo., garnered 80 percent of the votes to defeat Moran. The vote was 649 to 160.
Marshall's church is one of the MBC's largest and is the state's leader in gifts through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong missions offerings.
For first vice president, incumbent Bruce McCoy, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis, was an easy winner over Jay Scribner, retired pastor of First Baptist Church of Branson, Mo., 577 to 310.
Chadd Pendergraft, pastor of Splitlog Baptist Church in Goodman, Mo., was elected recording secretary. He defeated Jerry Williams, director of missions for Barry County Baptist Association in Cassville, Mo., 601 to 174.
In their Save Our Convention rallies, speakers decried the power of the laymen's association and its allies. They criticized Moran groups not only for having an inordinate amount of influence in the selection of trustees to state convention boards and commissions, but also for positioning themselves on the most powerful boards and committees in Missouri and Southern Baptist life.
At last year's annual meeting, Davidson prefaced the annual sermon with an appeal that Project 1000 shut down its operation. He declared that while the “conservative resurgence” needed to happen, Missouri Baptists did not need anyone or any group to be “a kingmaker.”
At the SOC rallies, speakers expressed dismay at a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article that called Moran “the most powerful Baptist in Missouri.” They circulated a list of positions held by Moran and fellow MBLA members Kerry Messer, Cindy Province, Richard Stone and Ron Turnbull, as well as Moran's brother-in-law, Jason Rogers.
Four of the six — Messer, Province, Turnbull and Rogers — were simultaneously members of the powerful MBC Executive Board until March, when Province resigned.
At one SOC rally, pastors spoke of being contacted the year before by Moran when he was chair of the convention's nominating committee and being told that Executive Board positions needed to be filled by people willing to address “a problem” on the MBC staff — the future of then-executive director David Clippard.
The Executive Board fired Clippard in a closed session on April 10. Clippard claimed he was not given a chance to defend himself.
Davidson, the new MBC president, said in an interview shortly after this year's annual meeting that he felt the convention had given him and the other officers a mandate.
“I'm going to convey that to the Executive Board as we endeavor to lead,” he said. “We'll have to wait and see what their spirit is.”
Messengers felt the need for change, Davidson added.
“I think Missouri Baptists just got tired of the fact that they really didn't feel like they were given a choice,” he explained. “Everything was already handpicked for them, the committees were being built and stacked, and there was great dissatisfaction with that. Missouri Baptists want to be heard.
“I think we're just wanting to get on with the task of evangelism and missions and soul-winning and building churches and quit bickering, fussing and fighting,” Davidson continued.
“Baptists believe the Bible. We Baptists as a whole are conservative and we are just interested in getting down the road,” he said. “We can spend our time tearing up one another and tearing up churches and everything else. But there's no need for it.”
How long will Save Our Convention continue?
“As far as I'm concerned, it can stop right now,” he said.
Robert Marus contributed to this story.