Virginia Baptists Approve Budget Increase and Membership to the BWA
Despite the SBC’s decision to break all ties and funding with the Baptist World Alliance earlier this year, the Baptist General Association of Virginia voted to re-bind its ‘historic and strategic relationship’ with the Alliance
The Baptist General Association of Virginia (BGAV) voted to apply for membership in the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) during its annual meeting in Roanoke, Virginia, countering the controversial decision by its related organization, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), to break its 99-year tie with the Alliance earlier this year.
"Virginia Baptists have been a part of the BWA since its beginning in 1905. Our
membership up to this point had been through the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). The decision of the SBC to leave the BWA has automatically removed our membership,” said John V. Upton, Jr., Executive Director of the BGAV. “In this annual meeting Virginia Baptists have overwhelmingly voted to maintain that historic and strategic relationship.
The SBC, one of two national organizations that bind Southern Baptists together – the other being the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) - voted in June to break its century-old relationship with the BWA over “theological” differences. While SBC officials claimed the break was due to the liberalization of the BWA’s views, members and theology, the BWA said the real reason for the separation was the Alliance’s recent approval of the CBF for membership.
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The CBF is the more moderate denomination that branched off from the conservative SBC in the early 90s over theological disagreements. According to a BGAV staff member, the Association is related to both the SBC and the CBF; some of its member churches send messengers and financial contributions to the SBC while others send the same to the CBF.
“We look forward to working with the Membership Committee of the BWA in pursuing membership. Virginia Baptists want to maintain their global friendship and want to be part of a global family ministering in the name of Jesus Christ,” said Upton, Jr.
According to the BWA, the BGAV also “approved a budget increase for the BWA” during its Nov. 10 annual meeting.
The budget increase would help the BWA cope with the financial shock it suffered from the SBC’s break – the SBC, in addition to halting its membership, severed all financial flows to the Alliance. As one of the historic denomination that helped create the BWA, the SBC once contributed a third of the BWA’s $1,275,000 income base.
In approving the budget increase, the BGAV president and member of the BWA Promotion and Development Executive Committee and the Budget and Finance Committee, Richard Smith, said the BGAV is excited to begin its alliance with the BWA once again.
"We are excited to begin the process of becoming a part of the BWA and sharing its ministry across the world,” said Smith. “We look forward to the time when we can work together to share the love of Jesus Christ with the world."
