SBC MISSIONS: Southern Baptist Mission Board members ...

... seek to dump a supposed gadfly member!

Trustees of the International Mission Board have initiated an action to ask the Southern Baptist Convention to remove one of their members.

The story is told that Trustee Wade Burleson violated board policy by posting board discussions on his blog. That is at least the spin-line most often reported. Burleson and others deny this.

Some feel strongly there's more to this story than meets the eye; Marty Duren at SBC Outpost makes the following observations regarding some curious happenings during a meeting break ...

It took me a few minutes to put 2 and 2 together, but then what I had witnessed on Monday night made sense. Wade Burleson, Rick Thompson, Joey Jernigan and I were just returning from dinner, when we noticed a group of trustees sitting in the lobby of the Comfort Inn where we were staying. As we entered the elevator, Wade (as a trustee) walked over to speak to the group.

A while later, Joey and I met Wade in the lobby and listened as he confronted the group about disparaging comments made about Oklahoma trustees (which both Rick and Wade are). During that conversation, a Texas trustee who can rightly be called the grand-poobah of the Caucus Group, said, "All I was doing was telling them that I was going to make a motion tomorrow because of the website." (He was referring to the wrongful vote total mentioned above.) Then, "And I just said, 'Who's going to make the second?' That's all it was."

That's all it was?? The man confessed, in the presence of at least 5 witnesses, to violating board policy by doing exactly what Wade, and at least 10 current and former trustees have stated was the problem! [...]

I have a call in to an attorney and what I expect that he will say is this:

1. What Wade Burleson did on his blog did not violate board policy.
2. Caucus groups that meet to discuss motions, seconds and business issues outside the full trustee body do violate board policy.

Now this is an eye and ear witness account. It's clear, at every level of SBC life, elected or appointed members of the convention and state boards, committees, and commissions NOT discuss business with other members outside officially convened meetings.

Actually, some members of the IMB have apparently had it with this young Southern Baptist pastor; Burleson evidently thinks for himself while representing his State Convention and local association.

A brief IMB statement said Burleson's proposed removal involved "broken trust and resistance to accountability, not Burleson’s opposition to policies recently enacted by the board." [ABPNews]

But there are other takes on this story: first, that the old "f__ts" (Ouch, I resemble that!) on the board won't tolerate anyone who brooks their agenda; second, that the young pastor of Emmanuel BC out of Enid, OK, is a blogger; and third, that he opposed the board for their archaic decision regarding foreign missionaries using their "private prayer language."

Burleson and a handful of other trustees say the November vote to exclude missionaries who use a private prayer language was actually aimed at undermining IMB President Jerry Rankin, who has acknowledged using such prayer language when he was a missionary in southeast Asia.

"I have felt for some time that there are a few trustees who are dead set on opposing the direction, vision and leadership of Dr. Jerry Rankin," Burleson wrote. "… I am blogging to make sure Dr. Rankin is no longer undermined, or if he is, to call it out." [ABPNews]

[NOTE: Actually I heard directly from a very reliable source that Burleson's foes are actually jealous of his Brad Pitt good looks and his beautiful wife (pastors aren't supposed to have beautiful possessions). My source has asked to remain anonymous.]

Today's post by Burleson speaks volumes about where his heart is and why he's willing to fight. God bless you Wade (but I still hate you for your Brad Pitt good looks and your beautiful wife). But seriously, bloggers can't be the troublemakers ... right?


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TAGS: Baptists, Christianity, IMB, Missions, Religion, SBC,
Southern Baptists, Wade Burleson