Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 11, 1993 TAG: 9311110219
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
A bid to change the constitution of the Baptist General Association of Virginia was widely interpreted as an attempt to force churches in the conservative wing of the denomination to give more money to state missions or lose representation at the annual meetings.
The change would have allotted representatives according to the amount of money donated to state denominational causes, rather than to all Southern Baptist work, including the national convention.
The moderate majority failed to get the two-thirds vote necessary to pass the amendment, which its sponsors called a "matter of fairness."
"If your are going to participate, you have to help pay the bills," said the Rev. Bob McKinley of Tappahannock, who introduced the measure.
Some denominational leaders have complained that a few churches don't send enough money to the state association to cover the costs of the pension coverage their pastors receive.
Others, such as the Rev. Charles Fuller of Roanoke's First Baptist, urged representatives - called messengers - to consider "the perception of exclusiveness" that the changes would generate and to vote against it.
Although Walter Harrow, association president, at first ruled there was a two-thirds majority in a show of hands, he acceded to calls for a written ballot. Only 60 percent of the 3,238 voters approved the change, so Harrow reversed himself.
Participants afterward also killed a motion from the Rev. Wayne Harrison of Belmont Baptist Church that would have required the state leadership to define a "cooperating" church.
While conservatives won those decisions, they were decisively turned back when they attempted to force public statements on abortion.
Messengers rejected bids to force state Baptist agencies to define "human life" or to research and publish biblical perspectives on abortion.
For the first time in recent years, the balloting for president of the association included two moderates, as well as a conservative.
The Rev. Ron Crawford, a Richmond-area pastor who was the choice of many moderate leaders, failed to get the necessary majority by five votes on the first ballot.
The Rev. Vander Warner, the conservative candidate and a Richmond-area evangelist, asked those who voted for him on the first ballot to support the Rev. Cecil Chambers, touted as the middle-of-the-road candidate, on the second ballot.
That gambit apparently drove some of Chambers' moderate supporters to switch their allegiance to Crawford, who handily won on the second ballot with 58 percent of the vote.
Afterward, Crawford said he hoped to reach out to the conservative faction in the state association. The cooperative spirit evident at this meeting presents "a window of opportunity" for better relations, Crawford said.
In other action, the 3,975 registered messengers enthusiastically endorsed a new Southern Baptist program called "True Love Waits."
After hearing 17-year-old Michelle Donachy of Mechanicsville describe her commitment to remain "sexually pure until a covenant commitment of marriage," messengers rose to their feet in applause.
The program aims to gather 100,000 commitment cards signed by teen-agers across the country before next June's annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, Fla.
Teens are urged to promise to remain sexually inactive - or to cease sexual activity - until they are married.
Donachy said she has "gained respect at school" since signing the pledge. She said she wanted to be able to tell her future husband, "I loved you before I knew you. That's why I saved myself for you."
by CNB