That hissing sound you hear is air whooshing from the lungs of members of the Giving Plans Study Committee—and the 45 percent of messengers who supported their proposal to adopt a single giving plan, with options. The other 55 percent of messengers said clearly they do not want the option of allowing churches to pass money to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship through the Baptist State Convention giving avenue. That opinion prevailed despite the blanket support of the Baptist State Convention Executive Committee, the full Board of Directors, BSC leadership and a widely diverse study committee. The 2008 annual meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina has just finished and after three days of inflating the Special Events Center in Greensboro with an international missionary commissioning; hundreds flooding the altar after the president’s sermon; smooth sailing on complicated business matters; creative and inspiring missions presentations and worship times that lifted the roof in prayer and praise the air went out at the end. Nearly 900 attended the Wednesday morning session, a larger group than is typical lately. Total messenger count for the week was 2,131 at 9 a.m., but as usual, nearly two-thirds had important engagements elsewhere on Wednesday morning. Until Vic Ramsey of Moyock Baptist Church tried to amend the NCMO allocations presented by Budget Committee Chairman Steve Hardy there not only had not been a single ballot vote, not a single messenger had stepped up to use a floor microphone. Ed Yount’s response to a disappointing result was palpable, polite and politic. His group worked a year on this. I’m never one to commend an idea or a product just because those who produced it “worked hard,” but at every turn once the plan had been finalized Yount emphasized over and over again how every meeting and decision had been bathed in prayer. They did not come lightly to this recommendation. Allan Blume, president of the Board and pastor of Mount Vernon Baptist Church, created a dream team committee. When he solicited members he told the candidates that they would be on a committee with people they probably won’t see eye to eye with. C.J. Bordeaux said as much in speaking against the amendment that cut most of the strength out of the plan. Some committee members would never ask him to preach a revival meeting in their churches. But the newly blossomed Christian camaraderie of this diverse committee was evident.
Steve Reeves, retired pastor of Iotla Baptist Church in Franklin, told me the committee meetings were like talking to a friendly neighbor over the back fence. While they approached the initial meeting without knowing each other except by reputation, they soon learned that diversity is a positive characteristic in a body of believers. Now, the majority of North Carolina Baptists meeting in annual session, flatly declare diversity is overrated, tolerance is not to be tolerated and it is better to be smaller and more narrowly defined as a convention, than it is to work side by side in mission with fellow Christians who share our Baptist DNA. Of course, the side by side part is a problem, according to Matt Williamson, who made the motion to delete the CBF giving option. If BSC and CBF volunteers are working side by side and a person is won to Christ, “which church do we send the convert to?” he asked. “A CBF church or one of our own?” For those of you who wonder why in the world it would matter, he is of course referring to CBF being soft on inerrancy and Williamson said while some hills are not worth dying for, he “will certainly die on the hill of inerrancy of scripture.” This was no line in the sand today. It was a line drawn in wet cement. And it’s official. While most—hopefully all—of you have friends who do not agree with you at every point, we have circumscribed our Baptist compound with “keep out” signs.