When the Baptist General Convention of Texas meets in annual session next week, three proposed constitutional amendments will take center stage.
The proposals would redefine what it means for a church to be in “harmonious cooperation” with the BGCT, establish new financial requirements for churches sending messengers, and give the BGCT Executive Board greater authority over decisions about church membership.
The BGCT, also known as Texas Baptists, is the older and larger of two state Baptist conventions that cooperate with the Southern Baptist Convention. Previously, the BGCT also participated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship but does not anymore.
The state-level decisions about church affiliation and giving requirements come as the SBC also grapples with how to define participation and how to deny affiliation to churches that violate its doctrinal standards.
The proposals would redefine what it means for a church to be in “harmonious cooperation” with the BGCT.
Texas Baptists will gather in Waco Nov. 15-17. In recent years, annual meetings have included debates about the role of women in ministry. Last year, the convention elected an ordained female clergywoman as president for the first time ever.
While Texas Baptists allow diversity of opinion within affiliated churches on the role of women — some are affirming and others are not — the state body allows no such diversity on LGBTQ inclusion, another flashpoint of debate in recent years. For more than a decade, the BGCT has expelled any churches that affirm or ordain gays or lesbians.
That’s just one of the underlying issues in the proposed constitutional changes, which were recommended by a Constitution and Bylaws Task Force chaired by Suzie Liner, chair of the BGCT Executive Board, and approved by the board in September.
The proposed changes have elicited significant debate, including columns in the Baptist Standard, the online news journal associated with the convention.
Outline of changes
The three proposed changes would:
Create a more explicit definition of “harmonious cooperation,” the requirement for membership in the convention. Only churches may be affiliated with the convention; individuals relate to the convention only membership in affiliated churches.
Under the proposed language, a church would qualify as being in harmonious cooperation if it:
- Identifies with and aligns with the purposes and work of the BGCT
- Generally endorses those purposes and work
- Makes a financial contribution to the Texas Baptists Cooperative Program during at least one of the previous three years
Currently, there is no explicit requirement that an affiliated church contribute financially to the Cooperative Program. However, financial contributions factor into the allocation of “messengers” allowed to attend and vote at annual meetings.
Create new financial requirements for sending messengers. The proposed changes would move the rules governing messenger representation from the Constitution to the bylaws. The number of messengers a church could send would be tied more directly to its financial contributions to the Cooperative Program.
Give the Executive Board more power to decide church membership questions. The 90-member Executive Board would become responsible for receiving churches into BGCT membership and removing churches from membership.
The proposed change would place both admission and removal decisions under the Executive Board.
Currently, receiving churches is a staff function and removal of churches happens at the annual meetings by vote of messengers. The proposed change would place both admission and removal decisions under the Executive Board.
The constitutional amendments will be presented at next week’s meeting. If approved by a two-third majority, the changes will advance to the 2027 annual meeting for a second vote. The stated plan is to present the second reading of the constitutional amendments in 2027 along with some bylaw changes.
Opposition to changes
Those arguing against the changes talk about local church autonomy, concentration of institutional power, accountability and the possibility that financial contributions will become a condition of meaningful participation in Baptist life.
The most public questioning has come from David Mahfouz, chair of the Baptist Distinctives Council and a former BGCT Executive Board member, and from Eric Black, editor of the Baptist Standard.
A fundamental question: Are Texas Baptists transferring authority from the churches that constitute the convention to the convention’s Executive Board?
Another concern is that the proposed changes do not include any way for a church expelled from the convention to appeal that decision.
In an Oct. 31 response published by the Baptist Standard, Liner challenged the characterization that the proposal represents a significant expansion of Executive Board authority. One part of her reasoning is that the Executive Board is accountable to messengers and acts on behalf of those messengers, who remain the ultimate authority.
BGCT financial situation
These changes come amid a 20-year budget decline for the BGCT — similar to declines experienced by other state Baptist conventions affiliated with the SBC. The BGCT budget fell from $50.6 million in 2007 to $37.5 million in 2026, a loss of about 26%.
The proposed 2027 budget appears to show growth, to $44.6 million, but the increase is the result of change in accounting methods. The proposed budget relies on $24.2 million in Cooperative Program giving, compared with the $28.2 million anticipated in the 2026 budget — a reduction of about 14%.
The convention increasingly depends on investment income to fund its operations.