International Mission Board trustees heard a challenge to speed up the sluggish growth of Southern Baptists’ global mission force and appointed 43 new missionaries during their Jan. 29-31 meeting in Ontario, Calif.
ONTARIO, Calif. (BP) – International Mission Board trustees heard a challenge to speed up the sluggish growth of Southern Baptists’ global mission force and appointed 43 new missionaries during their Jan. 29-31 meeting in Ontario, Calif.
Trustees and executive staff members also responded to a motion, made by IMB trustee Wade Burleson during last year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting and referred to the trustee board, calling for investigation of alleged improprieties by trustees.
In his report to trustees, IMB President Jerry Rankin appealed for a “new resolve” among Southern Baptists to counteract a slowdown in the growth of the international mission force -– especially in short-term missionary categories.
“I really believe what we have seen God doing in the first six years of this century exceeds even the previous decade in fulfilling the Great Commission,” Rankin said. “It’s evident God is using the volatile events around the world to turn the hearts of people to spiritual answers that only Jesus can provide.
“However, as we move into 2007 we see a disturbing trend,” Rankin said. “Appointments of new missionaries have plateaued, and the candidate pool is smaller than it has ever been in my tenure as president.
“In 2005, [trustees] approved a goal of sending out a thousand missionaries each year. I believe Southern Baptists are capable of sending out at least a thousand missionaries each year.”
New IMB missionaries in 2006 numbered 758 – 306 long-termers and 452 in short-term (two- or three-year) categories.
In his remarks, IMB trustee chairman John Floyd tearfully appealed to trustees to pray that God will send many new mission workers into the harvest.
MISSIONARIES
APPOINTED
Trustees traveled to nearby Highland, Calif., where they were joined by hundreds of California Baptists for the appointment of 43 new missionaries Jan. 31 at Immanuel Baptist Church.
Rankin noted the diversity and various backgrounds of the group. “Yet, there is one thing [you] all have in common,” he said. “Someone touched your life with the witness about Jesus Christ … and the Great Commission became very personal.”
BURLESON MOTION
During their business session, trustees adopted a response to the motion made by fellow trustee Wade Burleson at last June’s SBC annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.
Burleson’s motion called for an investigation to “determine sources of the controversies in the International Mission Board, and make findings and recommendations… so that trustees of the IMB might effect reconciliation and effectively discharge their responsibilities to God and fellow Southern Baptists by cooperating together to accomplish evangelism and missions to the Glory of God.”
The trustees replied to each of the five concerns in Burleson’s motion:
Regarding alleged manipulation of the IMB trustee nominating process of the SBC, trustees said the IMB “has no authority to speak to the work of the nominating committee elected by the Southern Baptist Convention or to investigate the process by which it does its work.”
Regarding alleged attempts by one or more heads of other Southern Baptist entities to “influence and/or coerce” IMB trustees and administration toward specific action, trustees responded: “While the IMB may exercise authority over its own president and elected staff, we are not in a position to question or investigate the actions and motives of heads of other entities.”
Regarding the use of closed trustee forums and executive sessions and the “propriety and/or impropriety of excluding any individual trustee… from participating in meetings where the full IMB is convened,” the trustees stated: “The IMB does not allow formal business to be transacted in its closed trustee forums… Official executive sessions are limited to matters dealing with sensitive personnel actions related to staff, missionaries and/or trustees or those in which public exposure would result in detrimental consequences for personnel serving in sensitive and restricted locations around the world.
“Any actions that may be taken to exclude any trustee from participation in closed board sessions by the chairman will have been made with support of the board as a last resort and in order to avoid disruption and distractions…”
(Burleson was excluded from committee participation by former IMB trustee chairman Tom Hatley last year after Burleson publicly opposed trustee positions and commented on meetings in his online weblog. Floyd has continued the exclusion.)
Regarding “new doctrinal requisites for eligibility to serve as employees or missionaries of the IMB beyond the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message,” trustees maintained that “(w)hile the Baptist Faith and Message represents a general confession of Southern Baptist beliefs related to Biblical teachings on primary doctrinal and social issues, the IMB retains the prerogative and responsibility of further defining the parameters of doctrinal beliefs and practices of its missionaries…”
Regarding the “suppression of dissent by trustees in the minority… and the propriety of any agency forbidding a trustee, by policy, from publicly criticizing a board approved action,” the trustees insisted all board-approved actions “result from a process of committee… before they are brought to a plenary session for adoption. All trustees have opportunity in the committee process and plenary session to express and advocate minority opinions… once the majority has determined the action to be taken, the board feels that the action should receive the unified public support of all trustees for the sake of effectively moving forward to fulfill our mission task.”
OTHER ACTIONS
In other action and discussion, trustees:
n
responded to a motion referred from the 2006 SBC annual meeting requesting an audit of “all funds handled by the IMB/Central Asia Region for the years 1999-2005” in relation to the alleged embezzlement of mission funds. The trustees adopted a response confirming that in 2004 “there was both an audit as well as supplemental procedures accomplished by a qualified certified public accountant…” Results of those procedures were “fully disclosed” to trustees in November of that year, and “appropriate action was taken.”
n
heard a response from Rankin concerning criticism in several state Baptist newspapers of the board’s phase-out of its annual unrestricted subsidy to WMU, which is scheduled to end in 2009.
“The [news] articles have [not fully] acknowledged that we reimburse Woman’s Missionary Union for all the expenses in promoting of the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering,” Rankin said. “…and that amount was approximately $350,000 this past year. But we do not have the luxury in our budget to continue to make an [unrestricted annual] grant….”
n
heard from the trustees’ mission personnel committee that consideration of the previously adopted policy on the practice of private prayer language and guideline on baptism for missionary candidates has reached a “critical juncture.” The policy disqualifies missionary candidates who practice a private prayer language, while the guideline stipulates candidates must be baptized in a church that practices believer’s baptism exclusively, embraces the doctrine of security of the believer and rejects a regenerative view of baptism. The committee anticipates bringing recommendations regarding the guideline and policy to the trustees’ next meeting.
The trustees’ next meeting will be March 19-21 in Memphis, Tenn.