ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 30, 1996 TAG: 9610300062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
The religious road map of Virginia has always indicated a prominent stop in Lynchburg at Jerry Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church.
But the directional markers there will need to be changed slightly. The 20,000-member megachurch has quietly affiliated with the nation's largest non-Roman Catholic denomination - the Southern Baptist Convention.
The decision makes Thomas Road one of the largest Southern Baptist congregations in the country and, by far, the largest in Virginia. Roanoke's First Baptist Church on Third Street Southwest in recent years has been at or near the top of the state list with a membership of more than 5,300.
Thomas Road's affiliation also gives the newly formed Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia a significant boost in membership and may help attract some other independent Baptists to its ranks.
The Thomas Road congregation supports missions through a loose confederation with other churches in the Missouri-based Baptist Bible Fellowship, but it had been staunchly independent of other groups since its founding by Falwell in 1956.
Falwell confirmed over the weekend that the church has sent the first of what are to be "modest" monthly contributions to the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia.
Although membership requirements for the state group are still developing, half the money will go directly to the national Southern Baptist Convention, in effect making Falwell and his church's members Southern Baptists.
The national convention's rules allow any church that is a "bona fide contributor" to its causes in the previous year to send messengers, or voting members, to its next annual meeting. It also means Falwell and Thomas Road's members will be eligible for election to Southern Baptist Convention offices and boards.
The Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia, based in Virginia Beach, was formed last month by Southern Baptists who disapprove of the 173-year-old Baptist General Association of Virginia, which they consider theologically liberal and hostile to the Southern Baptist Convention.
In a prepared statement, Falwell said, "For many years, I have watched with admiration the theological renaissance within the Southern Baptist Convention," as conservatives insisting on strict adherence to the doctrine of the inerrancy of the Bible moved into leadership positions.
When the new state organization was formed, "Thomas Road Baptist Church was quick to show its approval and to offer encouragement by beginning modest monthly financial support."
Falwell said his church would continue its support of other groups, such as the Bible Baptist Fellowship, but "we fully intend to take our permanent stand with the national and Virginia Bible-believing conservatives who have rescued the Southern Baptist Convention from theological liberalism."
Falwell also said the new affiliation doesn't mean Thomas Road intends to give up its identity: "Thomas Road Baptist Church will continue to be what Southern Baptist churches have always been - independent and autonomous. We are now happy to work in voluntary cooperation with Southern Baptist churches."
Falwell frequently has been misrepresented as a Southern Baptist by reporters and others who did not understand that there are not only many other Baptist denominations, but a large number of churches, such as Thomas Road, that consider themselves "independent" and have few or no links to other Baptist churches.
Although Falwell has strongly defended his church's place in the independent Baptist movement, he also has had strong ties for many years to prominent Southern Baptists. His invitations to Southern Baptist speakers at Thomas Road church and Liberty University, sermons at Southern Baptist megachurches, and appearances at Southern Baptist Convention national meetings have led to a decade's worth of rumors that he was about to affiliate with the denomination.
Former Southern Baptist Convention president Jerry Vines is chairman of Liberty University's trustees, which also include Ronnie Floyd, an Arkansas pastor who is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's powerful Executive Committee.
Numerous other Southern Baptist pastors also have served on the university's boards, and many of them have sent their children to Liberty, including Bob Reccord, pastor of Norfolk's First Baptist Church and a leader in the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia.
Falwell has said about 40 percent of Liberty's 14,000 students are Southern Baptists, as is a significant percentage of the faculty.
"In many respects, it is already a Southern Baptist" school, said Doyle Chauncey, executive director of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. Still, the financial contributions by Thomas Road church do not automatically create any official Southern Baptist ties to Liberty, Chauncey said, nor have any been discussed.
Despite the size of Falwell's church, Chauncey said he didn't expect the affiliation to have "any large impact on the way we do business. I don't think he'll give us much of his time day to day."
The status of Falwell's membership in the Virginia group isn't clear yet. A committee studying the group's transition from an informal fellowship to a full-fledged state convention will meet Thursday to consider such issues as membership requirements.
Rules call for a "letter of petition" from churches seeking affiliation and a vote of acceptance by the membership. That has never been fully implemented, however, Chauncey said, and the new group's executive committee will discuss procedures at its meeting Nov.14.
"Technically," Chauncey said, Thomas Road Baptist Church is "as much a member [of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia] as anybody else."
Bill Merrell, vice president for convention relations of the Southern Baptist Convention, released a statement saying, "We are delighted to link arms with Thomas Road Baptist Church and any other evangelical, Bible-believing Baptist church."
The president of the Baptist General Association of Virginia also said he was happy that Falwell was part of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"I'm glad to see it," Clint Hopkins told Associated Baptist Press. "I think it clarifies and brings out in the public eye what has been a long-term relationship" between Falwell and the convention leadership.
"I think it will settle for some of our churches their own directions and will help clarify things for the General Association, as well."
LENGTH: Long : 115 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff The Rev. Jerry Falwell said theby CNBchurch has sent its first "modest" monthly contribution to the
Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. color.