[1]ARNOLD, Mo. (BP)–Gerald Davidson, the new president of the Missouri Baptist Convention, was part of the conservative movement within the Southern Baptist Convention “long before the ’79 election of Adrian Rogers,” as he put it.
But Davidson, 71, who in 1991 also won the state convention’s presidency, allowed his nomination in opposition to a group of conservatives whom he described as having developed “a political machine, so to speak.”
Davidson and three other nominees promoted by a “Save Our Convention” movement won landslide-like victories during the MBC’s Oct. 29-31 annual meeting over a slate supported by the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association, whose “Project 1000” campaign had been unopposed in tallying a string of victories in recent years.
“We went through the battle in the Southern Baptist Convention over the inerrancy of God’s Word and the liberalism that had developed. And Missouri fought that same battle,” Davidson, 71, a former SBC first vice president, said in a Nov. 5 interview with Baptist Press.
“But, you know, there comes a time when we have won the battle,” he said, acknowledging that “there’s always going to be problems that are going to develop” from time to time.
“But there’s no sense in conservative Bible-believing Baptists fighting with other conservative Bible-believing Baptists. It just divides, it gives a bad image, it gives a bad picture to the world.”
[2]Davidson said he and others who joined in the Save Our Convention effort are seeking to “pull the convention together and get rid of all the bickering and division that seems to have developed over the last few years.”
“We just want an open convention where the people are able, under God, to speak and lead out and have a part in the whole process.”
Of Project 1000’s success in reversing the moderate/liberal direction of the Missouri convention, Davidson said, “I think it was good that we were able to organize and get together and make some changes.”
But, in the Missouri convention as well as the SBC, the groups that won the victory over those who didn’t believe in biblical inerrancy “kept going on and on and on, and they got more and more picky and more controlling,” he said.
In Missouri, Davidson said, “They were the ones who basically controlled who was going to be the president, the first vice president, second vice president and so forth.
“And they began to pick on other issues or develop issues that weren’t even basically there.
“So, very few people had anything to say about the operation of the convention. All the committees were staffed by this particular group….
“I think there came a widespread feeling across the state convention that we just did not need somebody telling us who is going to the president … and telling us who was going to run what committee.
“And so, as a result, I think there was just a general uprising.
“The thing that sort of, I guess, broke the camel’s back, so to speak, were the actions taken against our executive director [David Clippard] this past year and his dismissal.
“I think that sort of culminated all of it.”
Davidson said he hopes the victories by Save Our Convention nominees send a message that “we’re not interested [in having] a group of people that’s going to dictate and rule and reign over the convention for the next several years.”
Davidson, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Arnold, defeated incumbent Mike Green’s attempt to become the first MBC president to be re-elected since messengers voted to permit that option in 2005.
Two former MBC presidents, Kenny Qualls and Jay Scribner, squared off in nominating Davidson and Green.
Davidson was nominated by Qualls, who succeeded Davidson in the pulpit at First Baptist Arnold. Green, director of missions for the Twin Rivers Baptist Association, was nominated by Scribner, retired pastor of First Baptist Church in Branson and a messenger from Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Springfield.
But other dramatic moments were still ahead in the election of officers.
Scribner was defeated 577-310 in the race for first vice president by the Save Our Convention-supported incumbent, Bruce McCoy, pastor of Canaan Baptist Church in St. Louis.
And in the race for second vice president, Roger Moran, the chief organizer of Project 1000, was defeated 649-160 by John Marshall, pastor of Second Baptist Church in Springfield, a congregation that leads the state convention in gifts through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong missions offerings. Moran, founder of the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association, is a member of First Baptist Church in Troy.
For recording secretary, SOC-supported Chadd Pendergraft, 31, pastor of Splitlog Baptist Church in Goodman, defeated Jerry Williams, director of missions in Barry County Baptist Association, 601-174.
–30–
Art Toalston is editor of Baptist Press. Following is a partial transcript of Baptist Press’ interview with Gerald Davidson.
ON THE SBC BATTLE FOR BIBLICAL INERRANCY
“I’ve been a part of the conservative movement now for 40 years, long before the ’79 election of Adrian Rogers. In fact, I met with Adrian and a few others when we first began talking about what was going on in the Southern Baptist Convention. So I’ve been involved with it for many, many years.
“But, you know, there comes a time when we have won the battle. It’s never going to be over, there’s always going to be problems that are going to develop. But there’s no sense in conservative Bible-believing Baptists fighting with other conservative Bible-believing Baptists. It just divides, it gives a bad image, it gives a bad picture to the world.
“We could always pick at something or somebody that’s a little different than we are, but it’s time that we begin to pull together and do the work that God has called us to do, and that’s to plant churches, win people to Christ and preach the truths of God’s Word.
“I think that time has come and I think Southern Baptists and Missouri Baptists are tired of picking on all of these little issues that really mean very little.”
ON DIVISIONS WITHIN THE MISSOURI BAPTIST CONVENTION
“My big concern is that we can just pull the convention together and get rid of all the bickering and division that seems to have developed over the last few years….
“We went through the battle in the Southern Baptist Convention over the inerrancy of God’s Word and the liberalism that had developed. And Missouri fought that same battle….
“But what happened as a result of that, the groups that formed in order to win the victory over those that didn’t believe in the inerrancy of Scripture, they began to develop kind of a political machine, so to speak, that kept going on and on and on. And they got more and more picky and more controlling. They were the ones who basically controlled who was going to be the president, the first vice president, second vice president and so forth.
“And they began to pick on other issues or develop issues that weren’t even basically there.
“So, very few people had anything to say about the operation of the convention. All the committees were staffed by this particular group … .
“I think there came a widespread feeling across the state convention that we just did not need somebody telling us who is going to be the president, who’s going to be the first vice president and so forth. And telling us who was going to run what committee.
“And so, as a result, I think there was just a general uprising.
“And the thing that sort of, I guess, broke the camel’s back, so to speak, were the actions that were taken against our executive director [David Clippard] this past year and his dismissal.
“I think that sort of culminated all of it.
“And so, there was a small group of people who got together with the ‘Save Our Convention’ idea and they just said, ‘Let’s offer a whole new slate of officers and let’s ask people to come out and vote.’ And so that’s what happened, it was a landslide victory in all four offices. …
“I hope [it sends] the message that we’re not interested [in having] a group of people that’s going to dictate and rule and reign over the convention for the next several years. …
“We just want an open convention where the people are able, under God, to speak and lead out and have a part in the whole process.”
ON THE ISSUE OF ALCOHOL THAT BUFFETED MISSOURI BAPTISTS THIS YEAR
“Missouri Baptists, as a whole, are basically Bible-believing conservatives.
“One of the issues that [the Project 1000 leaders] raised this year was the alcohol issue. They talked about an Acts 29 [network of church planters], and I don’t know anything about the Acts 29 group, but people say that they are basically conservative but they believe in the use of alcohol. And truthfully, I know churches all over the state of Missouri but I don’t know any churches that condone the use of alcohol. I don’t know any pastors that condone the use of alcohol. I don’t know any pastors or church staff members that drink. Now, there may be — I’m sure probably there are — but I don’t know who they are.
“But that’s sort of a straw man, I think, for the Project 1000 or Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association to try to rally people around. It was basically a straw man because that’s not a problem in Missouri.”
Regarding controversy over The Journey, contemporary-style congregation in St. Louis holding a Bible study in a brewery, Davidson said, “You know, it’s easy to make insinuations and suppositions that aren’t necessarily true. I understand that The Journey church in St. Louis, they have a Bible study in a bar and they go in and challenge these people and deal with them and endeavor to win people. And the church has had quite a rapid growth. I know their pastor [Darrin Patrick] says he does not use alcohol.
“But, you know, that’s one location, one church, and that ought not to be something that possesses all of our time.
“The funding that [The Journey] got [from the Missouri convention], a $200,000 loan to buy a building to meet in, all this alcohol thing developed after the loan was made, and so it’s been made a big issue, but that’s not the real issue as far as Missouri Baptists are concerned [versus the control of one group over the convention’s elections and operations].”
ON AN EFFORT TO DEFUSE THE MBC STANDOFF
“Roger [Moran, chief organizer of Project 1000 and founder of the Missouri Baptist Laymen’s Association] has endeared a lot of people to himself because he basically has run the operation and therefore he was able to choose who was going to be president and who was going to be first vice president and second vice president and recording secretary.
“After having done this for six, seven, eight years, a lot of people are committed to him as a result. So he carried a great deal of influence.
“We had a meeting, probably back about four or five months ago, back in the summer, and I said to Roger in this meeting -– there was Roger and myself and [Bruce McCoy, the convention’s first vice president who was re-elected on the “Save Our Convention” this year] — ‘Roger, we can solve all this issue real easily and bring Missouri together in a simple way. Many people in the state are looking to me because of my name, my reputation, my conservative involvement through the years. I [could] just bow out and have nothing to do with the situation politically. Many people are looking to you, and if you would just bow out, and both of us just get out of the way and let Missouri Baptists do Missouri Baptist work — let whoever is nominated and whoever has the ability to get the most votes, win, without us being involved politically. The whole situation would be solved almost overnight. Missouri Baptists would do that which I believe is right. I’d be willing to do that.’
“But he was not willing to…. In essence, he was saying he was going to keep going with his political organization and keep controlling what’s going to happen in the state of Missouri. As a result, there wasn’t any other alternative other than just saying we’re going to have to deal with the issue [by nominating] another slate of officers…. Nobody really knew what the outcome would be until last week, but it was overwhelming for every candidate that was opposing Roger and his group.”