[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–More than an upcoming convention, it’s “a divine appointment:” “There’s never been a major evangelical Christian group come into Utah and do what we’re preparing to do this summer,” a Utah Baptist leader said of the Salt Lake City annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, June 9-11.
Jim Harding, executive director of the Utah-Idaho Southern Baptist Convention, urged intensive prayer for the convention, for Crossover evangelistic efforts and church mission trips to Utah this summer in comments to the SBC Executive Committee Feb. 17.
“The closer we get to the convention in June, the more Satan works to try to disrupt,” Harding said.
“I plead with you to go home … to your families, to your churches, to your associations, to your states and begin bathing the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention and everything associated with it … in prayer as never before.
“I’m convinced God’s going to do something eternal this summer in Salt Lake,” Harding said, “but it can only happen through prayer.”
Feb. 16-17 Executive Committee sessions in Nashville, Tenn., also included estimates on the scope of Mormon TV and radio advertising and, among various business items, a report affirming the relationship between the SBC and the Baptist World Alliance from an eight-member ad hoc committee of SBC leaders.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spends from $22-30 million per year on television advertisements, or spots, across the United States — a minimum of $7 million for production and $15 million for air time, reported Bob Reccord, president of the North American Mission Board, summarizing NAMB estimates drawn from contacts with TV industry executives. Reccord’s comments involved a motion referred from the 1997 annual meeting in Dallas that NAMB “develop national television and radio spots to reach people for Christ, strengthen families and enhance the image of Southern Baptists.”
For radio spots, the Mormons spend approximately $8 million a year, Reccord said.
comparison, Southern Baptist Cooperative Program funding for North American missions is $38 million for the year, counting SBC and state-convention/fellowship totals, he noted.
“Their whole home mission thrust is commercials,” Reccord said of the Mormons, noting their large two-year missionary force is funded by the missionaries’ families, not the LDS church.
Southern Baptists, by comparison, have a church- and people-based missions outreach, “supported by media, not driven by media,” Reccord said.
Currently, NAMB is developing a series of print, radio and TV ads focused on the Celebrate Jesus 2000 evangelism initiative that will be used for the first time in Salt Lake City in conjunction with the SBC annual meeting. Plans call for the ads to be made available at nominal cost to churches, associations and other Baptist groups. NAMB currently distributes a series of four media kits containing print, radio and TV spots that can be customized for local churches. Information about the media kits may be obtained by calling 1-800-292-2287.
The SBC’s relationship with the Baptist World Alliance was discussed in Oct. 29 and Feb. 10 meetings between the eight-member SBC ad hoc committee and BWA representatives including the BWA’s general secretary, Denton Lotz, and president, Nilson A. Fanini, a Brazilian pastor. The ad hoc committee was chaired by Morris H. Chapman, the Executive Committee’s president and chief executive officer, and included SBC President Tom Elliff, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church, Del City, Okla., who initiated the study last September, and International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin.
The ad hoc committee reported three observations after the two meetings with BWA leaders:
— “Baptist World Alliance personnel affirmed a definite commitment to historic Baptist theology, particularly in reference to the Bible, the person and work of Christ, evangelism, and missions.”
— “The Baptist World Alliance constitutional statement of its objective is, ‘To act as an agency for the expression of biblical faith and historically distinctive Baptist principles and practices.’ The Baptist World Alliance has declared its intention to reflect that objective in its conference planning.”
— “The officers and the staff of the Baptist World Alliance have indicated their desire for current Southern Baptist leaders to become more involved at all levels of the Baptist World Alliance. Without reservation, the Committee affirms Southern Baptists need to relate to Baptists of the world and strongly desire that this may be facilitated in part through participation in the Baptist World Alliance. Good stewardship requires the Southern Baptist Convention continually to evaluate and assess supporting relationships with non-SBC organizations.”
The ad hoc committee also recommended BWA funding of $425,000 for the 1998-99 year, up from $417,838 in 1997-98, be presented to the SBC annual meeting in June, which was approved by the Executive Committee.
Tom Elliff issued a statement last fall noting reasons he was calling for the committee’s creation: “Over the years the SBC has enjoyed a positive and encouraging relationship with the Baptist World Alliance. The BWA sometimes lends credibility to the Baptist witness in countries which might otherwise deny the opportunity for a significant presence. This is especially helpful for smaller Baptist conventions in developing countries or countries where Christian organizations are looked on with suspicion.
“Recently, however, questions have arisen regarding perceived changes in the mission, focus and doctrinal positions of the BWA,” Elliff continued. “Since Southern Baptists give a significant amount to the BWA through our Cooperative Program ($417,838 for the 1997-98 fiscal year), good stewardship requires that we be fully aware and in accord with their objectives, doctrinal positions and operational procedures.”
In other business, the Executive Committee:
— approved a recommendation to the SBC annual meeting for the name, LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, to replace the current name, Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, of the 106-year-old SBC agency. The name change was initiated last year by the agency’s staff and approved by trustees. The name change will require two consecutive votes at the SBC on bylaw 15. The recommendation to the SBC would also allow the board immediate use of the name.
— adopted a statement on the relationship between the SBC and state Baptist conventions: “The Executive Committee believes the established principles and methods of cooperation between state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention have been blessed of God and demonstrated to be reliable and effective. We are committed to the historic patterns of cooperative relationships with state conventions and to developing those relationships to the fullest potential in carrying out the Great Commission mandate to reach the lost world for Christ.”
— approved a recommendation to the SBC that the Inter-Agency Council be renamed the Great Commission Council, and the group called the “Great Commission Council” in the SBC “Covenant for a New Century” restructuring, involving representatives of the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board, be renamed the Inter-Mission Council.
— asked the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission to study the potential costs, impact and liabilities concerning a motion referred from last year’s annual meeting to establish a system for the ERLC to vote by proxy all investments held by Southern Baptist institutions. The ERLC’s report is to be presented at the Executive Committee’s June 8 meeting in Salt Lake City.
— approved two new quarterly publications of the North American Mission Board, “Church Planting Today” and, for volunteers, “OnSite.”
— elected two trustees to the six-member board of the Southern Baptist Foundation: William “Bill” Hall of California and William C. “Bill” Lovell of Tennessee.
— filled two vacancies on the SBC Committee on Nominations: Charles Betts, pastor of First Baptist Church, Vidalia, Ohio, and Candace Tallent, member of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Voorhees, N.J.
— received as information that a contract has been signed with C. Barry McCarty as chief parliamentarian during the SBC annual meeting in Salt Lake City.
— approved resolutions of appreciation for Paul W. Powell, who retired as Annuity Board president last September after seven years in the post; Allen Schmidt, who retires July 31 after 13 years as executive director-treasurer of the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists; and Fletcher Allen, who retires Feb. 28 after 11 years as editor of Tennessee’s Baptist & Reflector newsjournal.
— declined action on a motion referred from last year’s annual meeting to create a new track for Cooperative Program giving, noting “adequate options are presently available for churches to use as they exercise their autonomy in supporting Southern Baptist ministries.”