Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 13, 1990 TAG: 9006130586
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Long
Leaders on both sides disagreed not only about the election itself, but about whose responsibility it was to assure peace.
In a news conference after the election, Chapman said it was up to those who disagree with the dominant faction's theology to decide if they can stay in the denomination.
Leaders in the moderate camp, such as Vinton (Va.) Baptist Church Pastor Bill Ross, said it is up to the current leadership to reach out to the disaffected and bring them back into full participation in boards and agencies.
Chapman won with 58 percent Chapman of 38,000 votes cast, among the widest margins in recent history. Outgoing President Jerry Vines had won by half a percentage point in his first election in 1988.
Chapman, 45-year-old pastor of a church in Wichita Falls, Texas, defeated Atlanta minister Daniel Vestal, who also lost an election bid last year.
The vote was the 12th consecutive victory for the ultraconservative group. One of the strategists of the faction said Tuesday that he hoped no churches would leave the convention as a result of the elections, but said those he described as "liberals" in the convention should "learn to read election results."
Houston judge Paul Pressler, one of those who designed the "conservative resurgence," said those who disagree on the inerrancy issue perhaps should consider affiliating with another group.
Another ultraconservative leader, former convention President Adrian Rogers, said those who "feel they cannot agree on convictional issues" probably should look elsewhere for a denomination.
Ultraconservatives have been saying for a year that the issue of inerrancy has been settled. Inerrantists insist that the Bible is literally correct in matters of history and science as well as theology.
Chapman's nomination by John Bisagno of Houston received a standing ovation. Bisagno, a thundering preacher, told the convention that Tuesday's election "should put this issue to rest once and forever."
Chapman had run on a platform of promising greater inclusiveness in denominational leadership. That was based on a call by Bisagno earlier this year to "enlarge the tent."
The Rev. Charles Fuller of Roanoke endorsed the Bisagno plan, but stopped short of endorsing Chapman's candidacy.
Fuller said he was surprised by the margin of victory. Fuller said he thought one possible explanation may be that a number of people who had been undecided until the last minute felt that "maybe this does need to be decisively settled."
Fuller said he expects Chapman to be closely watched during this term to see if he fulfills his promise to "enlarge the tent."
Ministers such as Blacksburg Baptist Church's Ray Allen said after the election that any changes toward inclusiveness must come from the controlling faction.
He said he called on Fuller and others to exert influence on the national leadership to appoint representatives from the moderate side to national offices.
"I do expect to be responding, making recommendations, and say whether I feel that is being done or not," Fuller said, adding that he expected to recommend people from Virginia who have not been in leadership positions before.
At his post-election news conference, Chapman was asked if he would appoint someone such as Allen to national office. He said he regretted that he does not know Allen's theology, but that he would appoint only those "who share in my commitment . . . to the perfect word of God."
Allen said he believed "what we are seeing is the death of denominationalism" because rather than compromise, those in charge would prefer to see the convention die.
The leadership, he said, is composed of legalists who have no understanding of God's grace. "It's a continuation of the crowd that stoned Stephen in the book of Acts."
Ross, the Vinton pastor who also is a vice president of the Virginia Association of Southern Baptists, said other young preachers such as himself were angry with the results of the election and would be looking for alternatives for affiliation.
"Vinton Baptist Church will still be a cooperating Southern Baptist church," he said, but indicated that he and the church will examine whether to enhance relationships with other institutions.
Vinton Baptist is a member of the Southern Baptist Alliance, a splinter group that is attempting to create a new seminary in Richmond. Ross also is affiliated with a group called Baptists Committed to the Southern Baptist Convention, which has championed moderate causes.
In a breakfast meeting with the Baptists Committed group, Vestal, the losing presidential candidate, said he was mystified by the results of Tuesday's elections in which all of the moderate candidates were defeated.
He said he was particularly perplexed by the relatively large margin of defeat. Nonetheless, "This I do know, we have done what is right."
Vestal outlined several options moderates now have ranging from leaving the convention to strengthening auxiliary relationships such as those with Baptists Committed. He urged each of the of the 1,000 or so at the breakfast to return to their homes, "engage in hopeful tasks," and continue to work and pray for their denomination.
Questioned after the breakfast, Vestal said he would not rule out another try for the presidency. He also called on Baptists Committed to convene an assembly to discuss the future of the denomination.
by CNB