Summary: Ronnie Yarber's paper "An Historical Perspective: An Opinion Paper on the Reason for the Birth of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention," distributed by the SBTC, misrepresents several issues involving the BGCT. Major problems include: falsely indicating that the BGCT's CLC has not denounced abortion on demand; falsely claiming that the BGCT action withdrawing fellowship from University Baptist Church in Austin was non-binding; misrepresenting the history and impact of BGCT budget changes with regard to the SBC; falsely claiming that BGCT churches cannot have any voting messengers in the absence of financial participation; exaggerating the contrast between the BGCT and SBTC/SBC on issues of abortion, women pastors, and churches affirming homosexual behavior; and misrepresenting the issues of Sunday school literature and BGCT actions regarding Baylor.

• Baylor: Regarding Baylor University, Yarber states, "1991-92: The Baptist General Convention of Texas leaders provided no strong opposition to the loss of Baylor University to independent status orchestrated by the Baylor Board of Trustees (Regents). The final vote in 92 received no opposition at all from the BGCT leadership, either elected or employed."³ In fact, the BGCT suspended the transfer of funds to Baylor after Baylor's action and began negotiations with Baylor during which Baylor rejected the BGCT's first proposal. The final agreement, which took a year to culminate, committed Baylor to Baptist ideals and a Baptist Board of Regents.⁴ In recommending the agreement to the convention, the Naylor Committee indicated that it "seems the best approach for the Convention to maintain a relationship with Baylor"⁵; indeed, it was likely the only option that would both keep Baylor a Baptist institution and avoid long, costly litigation.
  Later in his chronology, Yarber notes the controversy between Baylor University and Baylor Health Care Systems in 1997. He refers to "public protest" that prevented the sale of BHCS,⁶ but does not acknowledge the opposition of BGCT leadership which was decisive in preventing the sale.⁷ He also does not acknowledge that the outcome was an improved relationship between BHCS and the BGCT, affirming BHCS as a Baptist institution committed to Baptist ideals.⁸

• BGCT budget: Yarber states, "1995: The BGCT leadership recommended reducing the Cooperative Program giving formula for Southern Baptist Convention causes from 37% to 33% and increasing the amount kept by the BGCT from 63% to 67%. This 4% reduction to the Southern Baptist Convention created a $1.4 million shortfall of funds for the Cooperative Program going to the Southern Baptist Convention."⁹ Yarber also references the "shortfall" later in the chronology where he states that the BGCT's giving option 3 is "the option created in 1995 which lowered funding to the Southern Baptists Convention by $1.4 million dollars [sic]."¹⁰ Actually, the 1995 proposal changed the SBC share of the BGCT's Cooperative Program budget from 35.5% to 33%, a change of only 2.5%, effective with the 1996 budget.¹¹ The previous year a reduction of 1.35% had occurred, from 36.65% to 35.5%.¹² There was no shortfall of funds for the SBC, which for 1996-97 reported $1,564,761 more CP receipts from the BGCT than in 1995-96, and $564,914 more than in 1994-95.¹³ These increases in part reflect the fact that the BGCT gave individual churches the option of setting their own percentage breakdown.
  Yarber also states, "NOTE: If churches in Texas should choose option 5 [73% BGCT, 27% SBC], as they are being encouraged to do, it could reduce Cooperative Program funds going to the SBC missions and ministries by a minimum of 2.9 million dollars, creating a shortfall for SBC missionaries around the world. This reduction of 6% added to the 1995 reduction of 4%, which created a 1.4 Million dollar shortfall, can amount to a total annual reduction of 4.3 million dollars to the SBC Cooperative Program."¹⁴ In addition to the issues discussed above, the figures Yarber gives are mutually contradictory. If a 4% change truly produced a $1.4 million shortfall, then a 6% change would give a $2.1 million shortfall, for a total 10% change or $3.5 million shortfall. Based on Yarber's previous figures, the $4.3 million figure is too high by 23%. However, Yarber's whole hypothetical discussion is of questionable relevance. No SBC shortfalls have occurred, and indeed BGCT Cooperative Program support of the SBC has not shown the changes described here because churches have availed themselves of the various giving options. The BGCT did not "encourage" churches to select option 5 over any other option; rather all options were made available equally, with option 5 at the end of the list.¹⁵ Additionally, the new option would impact SBC missions specifically less than Yarber indicates, since the option would designate money to the missions agencies over the Executive Board, seminaries other than SWBTS, and ERLC.¹⁶

• University Baptist Church: Yarber's chronology states, "1995: The BGCT leadership refused to allow the matter of the University Church, which has a practicing homosexual deacon, to be discussed and voted on by the messengers at three consecutive annual convention sessions. Rulings by the President upon recommendation from the parliamentarian kept the issue from being debated and decided by the messengers."¹⁷ In fact, the issue was raised at the 1995 and 1996 BGCT convention meetings, but not the 1997 meeting.¹⁸ The 1995 motion regarded seating of UBC messengers and was referred to the Credentials Committee (the UBC apparently did not send messengers to these conventions).¹⁹ An additional motion to amend the constitution was referred to the Executive Board, resulting in the Messenger Seating Study Committee Report approved by messenger vote in 1996. This report charged the Credentials Committee with issues of seating messengers. The motion to withdraw fellowship from UBC in 1996 followed this messenger vote and was ruled out of order because UBC had sent no messengers to refuse seating to.²⁰ On the issue of accepting UBC funds, the remaining element of affiliation with the BGCT, the Executive Board voted to decline such funds in 1998.²¹
  Yarber continues, "Finally, on February 24, 1998, the Executive Board of the BGCT passed a resolution that was a non-binding action."²² This action is also described as "non-binding" later on, where the text of the resolution is given followed by the statement, "Note: This allows the University Baptist Church to continue receiving BGCT funds to be sent to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship."²³ The allegation that the action regarding UBC funds was "non-binding" may reflect the fact that Yarber quotes from the Administrative Committee's recommendation to the Executive Board, which "recommends" the action; however, the affirmative vote by the Executive Board on 24 February 1998 makes the action binding. If Yarber's "non-binding" allegation is in reference to the "request" that UBC not claim affiliation with the BGCT, this is arguably the most the Executive Board could do to prevent such UBC claims short of legal action. In any case, UBC acted to comply with the "request" eight days after the Executive Board action.²⁴ The final "Note" appears to be a misstatement, since there has never been an issue of the BGCT using a church as a conduit of funds.
  In this section Yarber also states "The difference between the two Texas conventions of Baptists on the issue of homosexuality is not whether it is a sinful practice but rather whether a church should be disfellowshipped from the Convention for accepting practicing homosexuals into the membership."²⁵ Later on, Yarber describes the contrast differently: "The difference in the position of the two Conventions is on the point of how to deal with churches which accept the practice, i.e., should the convention messengers, in convention session, be given privilege to cast a vote to disfellowship such a church?"²⁶ Indeed, on neither point is there a contrast between the BGCT and SBTC. Regarding the former statement, BGCT leadership did effectively withdraw affiliation from University Baptist in 1998. The BGCT's Messenger Seating Study Committee recommended that such actions be taken through the Credentials Committee rather than by vote of convention messengers. Such a policy serves to eliminate the politicization of such withdrawal of fellowship (contrast with past motions at SBC conventions to withdraw fellowship from Immanuel Baptist Church in Arkansas, where Bill Clinton was a member₂₇). But even this policy, which Yarber seems to refer to in the latter statement, is not a contrast, since the SBTC constitution stipulates that removal of churches from the convention will be upon action of the Executive Board, not messenger vote.²⁸

• World Hunger offering: Yarber's chronology states, "1996: The BGCT leadership unilaterally redirected the World Hunger offerings from the churches to be shared with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, thus dispersing World Hunger funds directly from the BGCT to other states, by-passing the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention."²⁹ Yarber then quotes (without argument) a Baptist Standard article³⁰ which describes 20% of hunger offerings being directed to the NAMB--the same fraction as before 1996. The quotation also correctly cites the percentage of funds to CBF projects as 20%, in contrast to the unspecified "redirection" in Yarber's chronology. The basis for the reference to "dispersing... funds directly... to other states" is unclear, given that no funds are designated directly to other state conventions; such direct cooperation between state conventions, however, would hardly be an unprecedented practice by Southern Baptists (indeed, the SBTC is currently engaged in direct partnership missions with state conventions in the northeast³¹).
  The BGCT's World Hunger offering remains a designated offering, and churches may give to the offering generally, with funds dispersed as described above, or they may designate money for a specific project, such as IMB projects.³² Yarber describes the funds for the SBC as "minimal", whereas the hunger offering brought more money to SBC projects in 1997 than in 1995, despite the changed percentages.³³

• Linkage of representation to giving: Yarber's chronology states, "1996: An amendment requiring Southern Baptist Churches in Texas to give a certain amount (a poll tax) to the BGCT in order to allow messengers from the churches to participate in voting was presented and defeated in the Ft. Worth convention meeting. The same motion was re-submitted in 1998 at the Houston convention and was passed. Therefore churches must meet a certain financial obligation in order to participate in the annual convention sessions."³⁴ The reference to a "resubmitted" motion is repeated later: "The poll tax amendment was resubmitted and passed in Houston in November '98."³⁵
  The 1996 motion would have allowed each church two voting messengers without any financial contributions, with numbers of additional messengers dependent on membership and financial participation.³⁶ The same motion was not re-submitted in 1998: in 1997 the Effectiveness/Efficiency Committee presented a report addressing several areas, one of which was a proposed amendment similar to but not identical to the 1996 proposal. This proposal also allowed each church two voting messengers without any financial obligation, with a different dependence of additional messengers on membership and financial participation.³⁷ This constitutional amendment passed a first reading at the 1997 convention and a second in 1998.³⁸

• Churches with women pastors: The report states, "1998: The Calvary Baptist Church (BGCT affiliated) in Waco called a woman as senior pastor. No response nor action by BGCT as to continued affiliation by the church."³⁹ At that time, this was the only BGCT-affiliated church with a woman pastor among 4,800 BGCT churches total.⁴⁰ In comparison, the SBC had 75 churches with women pastors among 40,900 churches total, or one per 550 churches.⁴¹ Neither the BGCT nor the SBC has taken action to withdraw fellowship from these churches. (The SBC did adopt a new Baptist Faith and Message in 2000 which addresses the issue⁴², although churches are still not excluded from the SBC over the issue.)
  Yarber also states, "BGCT is presently funding the City Church in Dallas, which began April 4, 1999, with a woman pastor. The BGCT issued a financial grant to a mission church in San Marcos, which has a woman senior pastor."⁴³ Further is the statement, "The BGCT has now positioned itself on the theological issue of women serving as Senior Pastors of Texas Baptist churches by virtue of financial support being given to at least two churches in Texas with women serving as Senior Pastors. One of those churches is located in Dallas and the other is in San Marcos."⁴⁴ The latter statement refers to both congregations as "churches" whereas the former identifies one as a mission. The City Church of Dallas is apparently a mission as well; their web site lists three churches supporting them.⁴⁵ Yarber does not identify the mission in San Marcos; I have not been able to identify a BGCT-affiliated mission in San Marcos that does not have a male pastor.

• Sunday school literature: Yarber states, "1999: A proposal was made by the BGCT to contract with Smyth & Helwys Publishing to produce BGCT literature."⁴⁶ No such proposal was made by the BGCT, according to Bernie Spooner, director of the BGCT's Bible study and discipleship division. Rather, while the BGCT was making plans regarding literature, Smyth & Helwys made a proposal to the BGCT, which the BGCT rejected.⁴⁷
  Yarber also states, "Heretofore Southern Baptist churches have used Lifeway Christian Resources literature (SBC)."⁴⁸ This statement is also false; for decades, Southern Baptist Churches of all theological and/or political persuasions have used literature from a variety of sources other than the SBC. Many SBC churches use a mixture of Lifeway material and material from other sources (some Southern Baptist, some not); about 10% of SBC churches do not use any Lifeway material.⁴⁹ Strictly speaking, SBC churches have only used Lifeway literature since 1998, when SBC's Sunday School Board became Lifeway Christian Resources.

• Giving options: Yarber gives quotations from a 1999 Baptist Standard article⁵⁰ regarding giving options, but he does not distinguish his own comments from the direct quotation. The introduction includes his following comment within the quotation for the text from the Standard article: "Made a unilateral decision to create a Fifth Option for giving which further reduces funds going from Texas churches to the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program... "⁵¹ The same occurs with the inset list of options from the Standard article, where Yarber makes some changes in wording and mixes the following comments with the original text without differentiation: Option 1: "this is the equivalent of defunding the Southern Baptist Convention allowing for a complete departure from Southern Baptist Convention affiliation." Option 2: "this also allows for defunding of the SBC while allowing for positive designations to the non-SBC mininstries which creates a process of distancing from the support of SBC ministries." Option 3: "This is the option created in 1995 which lowered funding to the Southern Baptists Convention by $1.4 million dollars." Option 4: "This is the combination of the 1994 redesigning of the Cooperative Program and the 1995 change of the giving formula."⁵²
  Yarber erroneously identifies both option 3 and 4 as "67% BGCT, 33% to SBC, with up to five line-items exclusions on either side" (although he does distinguish between them in terms of his comments).⁵³ Option 3 should be "67% to BGCT, 33% to SBC", without exclusions, while option 4 is with exclusions.⁵⁴ Yarber represents each flexible option as negatively impacting the SBC, whereas the same flexibility can be used to positively impact the SBC and/or negatively impact the BGCT. Yarber's comment on option 2 does not acknowledge that a church could use that option and set an arbitrarily high percentage for the SBC. Indeed, following introduction of these options Texas churches used the flexibility to give more, not less to the SBC. Note that option 4 was widely utilized by churches in Texas to exclude Baylor University and the BGCT Christian Life Commission: while Yarber criticizes the "redefinition" of the Cooperative Program involved here, many conservative churches have been content to utilize that redefinition in regard to support of the BGCT. (The comment on option 3 has been discussed previously.)

• Statements on abortion: Yarber cites a statement from the BGCT Christian Life Commission regarding abortion; this statement, from the 1994 CLC booklet "Abortion and the Christian Life"⁵⁵, is incorrectly quoted. Between the first and second sentences of the text Yarber has omitted the sentence "Reverence for the life of the mother helps to define these circumstances." Additionally, he begins the following sentence with "The obvious case" instead of "The most obvious case" as in the document.⁵⁶
  Yarber follows the quotation by stating, "The clause which says, "...her mental and emotional stability..." makes room for abortion-on-demand and abortion as birth control."⁵⁷ However, other statements from elsewhere in the same CLC document leave no such room. Two paragraphs earlier the CLC states, "It should be a major concern to the Christian community that most of the 1.5 million abortions performed annually are performed for reasons more related to birth control than urgent medical therapy. Abortion as birth control is not compatible with the gospel's call to reverence life."⁵⁸ Later in the document the CLC writes "The raising of the exceptions described above should not be interpreted as encouraging abortion even in the face of extreme circumstances."⁵⁹ In the next to the last section the CLC writes "The Christian Life Commission supports legislative remedies which serve to limit abortion except in extreme circumstances."⁶⁰ Yarber quotes the CLC out-of-context and his comments significantly misrepresent the CLC position.
  Additionally, Yarber states, "Notice also that the statement does not address the tragic practice of Partial Birth Abortion, which is the killing of the child while being removed from the mother's body alive. No adequate, nor serious, discussion of Abortion can take place by a serious student of the Bible that does not address Partial Birth Abortion."⁶¹ Again, Yarber ignores a CLC statement in the same document, "In similar fashion we sense that the closer the fetus has developed to viability, the more heavily the unborn life weighs against competing claims of other lives. This means that while all abortions are tragic, late term abortions are especially tragic."⁶² In contrast, the SBTC has failed to address partial birth abortions specifically in any of their five resolutions on abortion (in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002), and the resolutions in 1998 and 1999 failed to identify abortion as murder and used vague language comparable to sections of the CLC document.⁶³

• Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs: Yarber cites the research of the Missouri Baptist Laymen's Association in this regard. Despite the practice of citing the MBLA's research and publications, its information has a history of being misleading, incomplete, or erroneous. Proper research should, if at all possible, cite primary sources, not secondary sources such as the MBLA. The two statements Yarber quotes from the How to Win manual are apparently not cited from the original but from an MBLA publication. Yarber gives a reference for the second citation of p. 20,⁶⁴ whereas the MBLA gives p. 120.⁶⁵ Yarber prefaces the quotations with the statement "Two statements from the manual clarify the extremely liberal position of the BJCPA."⁶⁶ However, these statements are not from any of the articles contributed by BJCPA members; both are from an article by Tom Swift of the Human Rights Campaign Fund.⁶⁷

1. Yarber, Ronnie, "An Historical Perspective: An Opinion Paper on the Reason for the Birth of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention," 1999, SBTC.
2. Yarber, ibid.; Wingfield, Mark, "Claims of SBTC literature don't match well-documented facts", Baptist Standard, 23 Feb. 2000 [http://www.baptiststandard.com/2000/2_23/pages/truth_claims.html].
3. Ibid, p. 4.
4. Committee on BGCT/Baylor Relationship, "Report of the Committee on BGCT/Baylor Relationship (1990-91)", 1991 BGCT Annual, 1992, pp. 62-70; BGCT Executive Board, "Report of the Executive Board," 1991 BGCT Annual, 1992, pp. 82-85.
5. Committee on BGCT/Baylor Relationship, op cit., pp. 64-65.
6. Yarber, op cit., p. 6.
7. Knox, Marv, "Trio Shares Baylor 'Concerns'," Baptist Standard, 12 March 1997, p. 1.
8. Druin, Toby, "Baylor Boards Reach Health Care Agreement," Baptist Standard, 14 May 1997, p. 3; "Addendum I," 1998 BGCT Book of Reports, 1998, p. 83; McBeth, Harry Leon, Texas Baptists: A Sesquicentennial History, 1998, Baptistway Press (Dallas, TX), pp. 452-453; "Health Care System Changes Considered," Texas Baptist Convention Bulletin, 9 Nov. 1998; "BGCT Votes on Officers, Amendments, Budget," Texas Baptist Convention Bulletin, 10 Nov. 1998; Druin, Toby, "University, Health System Agree," Baptist Standard, 9 April 1997, pp. 1, 6.
9. Yarber, 1999, op cit., 5.
10. Ibid, p. 7.
11. "Proceedings," 1994 BGCT Annual, 1995, p. 66.
12. "Proceedings," 1995 BGCT Annual, 1996, p. 69.
13. SBC Executive Board, SBC Book of Reports, 1996, SBC; SBC Executive Board, SBC Book of Reports, 1997, SBC; SBC Executive Board, SBC Book of Reports, 1998, SBC.
14. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 7.
15. Knox, Marv, "Fifth giving option recommended for Texas Baptists," Baptist Standard, 5 May 1999, p. 2.
16. Ibid.
17. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 5.
18. "Proceedings," 1997 BGCT Annual, 1998.
19. "Proceedings," 1995 BGCT Annual, 1996.
20. "Proceedings," 1996 BGCT Annual, 1997.
21. "Recommendation to the Executive Board from the Administrative Committee," 24 Feb. 1998; BGCT Executive Board, "Report of the Executive Board," 1998 BGCT Annual, 1999; Knox, Marv, "BGCT Marks Turf on Homosexuality," Baptist Standard, 4 March 1998, pp. 1, 6.
22. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 5.
23. Yarber, 1999, op cit., pp. 8-9.
24. "UBC and the BGCT," May 1998, UBC, on line [http://www.ubcaustin.org].
25. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 8.
26. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 9.
27. "Southern Baptist leaders criticize President Clinton," Biblical Recorder, 11 Sept. 1998, on line.
28. "Constitution and Bylaws," SBTC Book of Reports, 1999; "Constitution and Bylaws, SBTC Book of Reports, 2002.
29. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 5.
30. Baptist Standard, 28 April 1999.
31. SBTC, SBTC Book of Reports, 2002.
32. Camp, Ken, "World Hunger Offering Seeks $850,000," Baptist Standard, 16 July 1997, p. 2.
33. Moore, Louis, "N.C. Baptists Lead Soaring Gifts for Hunger, IMB Trustees Told," 21 Nov. 1997, Baptist Press, on line.
34. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 5.
35. Ibid., p. 6.
36. "Proceedings," 1996 BGCT Annual, 1997.
37. Effectiveness/Efficiency Committee, "Toward a More Excellent Way: The Report of the Effectiveness/Efficiency Committee," Baptist Standard, 27 Aug. 1997, p. 8.
38. "Proceedings," 1997 BGCT Annual, 1998; "Proceedings," 1998 BGCT Annual, 1999.
39. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 6.
40. Knox, Marv, "Church Calls 1 st Texas Baptist Woman Pastor," Baptist Standard, 10 June 1998, p. 2; BGCT, 1998 BGCT Annual, 1999.
41. Knox, op cit., 10 June 1998; SBC, SBC Annual 1998, 1999.
42. SBC, "Baptist Faith and Message," 2000, Article VI.
43. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 6.
44. Ibid, p. 7.
45. "City Church," on line, City Church [http://www.citychurchdallas.org/].
46. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 6.
47. Wingfield, Mark, "Claims of SBTC literature don't match well-documented facts," Baptist Standard, 23 Feb. 2000.
48. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 6.
49. Report by Lifeway Christian Resources at SBC Convention, June 2001.
50. Knox, op cit., 5 May 1999.
51. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 6.
52. Ibid, p. 7.
53. Ibid.
54. Knox, op cit., 5 May 1999.
55. Christian Life Commission, "Abortion and the Christian Life," CLC, 1994, p. 3.
56. Yarber, op cit., 1999, p. 8; CLC, op cit., p. 3.
57. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 8.
58. CLC, op cit., p. 3.
59. Ibid, p. 4.
60. Ibid, p. 6.
61. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 8.
62. CLC, op cit., pp. 3-4.
63. SBTC, SBTC Book of Reports, 1999; SBTC, SBTC Book of Reports, 2000; SBTC, SBTC Book of Reports, 2001; SBTC, SBTC Book of Reports, 2002; SBTC, "Resolution #1: The Psalm 139 Project," 29 Oct. 2002.
64. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 9.
65. MBLA, "Interesting quotes from the How to Win manual," undated flyer from the MBLA, p. 4.
66. Yarber, 1999, op cit., p. 9.
67. How to Win: A Practical Guide for Defeating the Radical Right in Your Community, 1994, on line [http://gopher.well.sf.ca.us:70/ls/Politics/activist.tools/how.to.win].