Six to 800 missionaries must come home apparently due to apathy of Southern Baptists

source

Recently, International Mission Board (IMB) leaders announced a plan to scale back Southern Baptists' global mission effort by cutting personnel by approximately 15%. The plan was presented by President David Platt and his senior leadership team during an Aug. 27 "town hall" meeting, a meeting which included missionaries and staff and was available both on and off site (i.e. digitally). According to Baptist Press

"Platt said the urgency of the plan is based in the reality that while Southern Baptist giving through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has increased in recent years, the IMB projects it will fall $21 million short of its current annual budget, marking several consecutive years of budget shortfalls for the 170-year-old organization. Over the past six years, the organization's expenditures have totaled $210 million more than has been given to it each year."

Consequently, "If we are going to balance our budget," Platt reasoned, "we must reduce approximately 600 to 800 of our staff and field personnel."

If I understand the report, Southern Baptists have "in recent years" increased their giving to both the Cooperative Program (regularly consistent missions monies contributed mostly through percentages of 40k+ individual church budget receipts) as well as special IMB offerings for global missions (namely, The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions) collected annually from virtually the same churches. Even so, the IMB will fall approximately $21 million short of what's needed to remain on budget.

What is more, apparently the only reason the IMB will not show more of an annual deficit is because it sold off tens of millions of dollars worth of physical assets to substantially lower the budgetary overages to the $21 million shortfall announced by Platt. In the Q/A section of the Baptist Press article, consider the following question and subsequent answer IMB gave:

Q: What is the status of IMB finances?

A: Despite increased giving to the IMB over the last four years, the organization has consistently spent more money than it has received. For example, looking at the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, a goal of $175 million was set for several years, but each year the amount received fell short. In 2014, IMB budgeted $21 million more than it received, so it drew from contingency reserves and global property sales to cover the shortfall. Not only did IMB fall $21 million short of budgeted revenue in 2014, but it also utilized global property sales to cover $18 million of budgeted expenses. In total in 2014, the organization spent $39 million more than it received. Since 2010, the organization has spent $210 million more than it has received. Fortunately, with contingency reserves and global property sales, the organization has been able to cover these shortfalls each year (embolden added).

So, even though Southern Baptists increased both their regular giving and their annual special giving, IMB nonetheless still operated on a $39 million deficit (2014), approximately half of which was subsidized by selling off Southern Baptists' assets.

Am I the only one who's missing something here?

I mean, come on. Outside the Federal Government, what organization runs on such a fiscally reckless basis for any year much less four consecutive years? And the only way it stays in the game is by massively depleting its cash reserves and selling off its physical assets?

Where under the clear blue sky were the trustees? Isn't this one substantial reason why we have trustees? To represent Southern Baptists' interests? We now learn our properties are being sold to offset a $39 million shortfall? 

I fully realize I've served neither in mega-churches with budgets exceeding $10 million nor organizations like the IMB demanding hundreds of millions of dollars. Nonetheless, it seems to me there remains a very simple principle which predictably keeps one out of this type of fiduciary fiasco regardless of the size of the organization; namely, no matter the budgeted amounts, we spend within our means and not beyond our means.*

IMB financial problems result from churches' spiritual problems

To compound the issue, we have some high profile leaders who are suggesting what seems on any reasonable basis the fiscal irresponsibility of IMB remains a burden of guilt that 40k+ Southern Baptist churches must bear. It grieves me to mention this because some of ones suggesting Southern Baptists by and large remain responsible for IMB's woes I call without reservation my friends. I fellowship with them, dine with them, dialog with them, publicly support and defend them. Even so, I do not and will not stand by while they lay the onus of blame exclusively on the back of Southern Baptist churches, and especially not when IMB itself concedes Southern Baptist giving through the Cooperative Program and the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has increased in recent years.

One had this to say: 

"The only reason for this massive recall of missionaries from around the world is that Southern Baptist individuals and churches would rather spend the massive resources God has entrusted to them on other things than the most effective proven means of taking the Good News of Jesus to the nations.  A high percentage of these 800 missionaries will be those with the most experience, relationships, language, cultural knowledge, and ministry expertise.  This will likely be the greatest loss of mission social capital in such a short time since the beginning of the Protestant mission movement in 1792.   Since it takes 7-10 years for a missionary to reach their full effectiveness potential this represents a loss from which Southern Baptist missions will likely never recover.  When histories are eventually written, this will likely be a major milestone in the demise of a denomination.  The only positive result that I can think of is that perhaps we will stop bragging about the biggest and richest mission program in the world." (embolden original)

Similarly, another opined:

"The International Mission Board (IMB) announcement of a budget cutback was financially prudent and long overdue. They have been overspending their income for years. However, it means cutting their personnel by 15 percent, or about 600-800 missionaries and staff. That is tragic, because it is due to Southern Baptists simply not giving sufficiently to support our international missions efforts" (embolden added)

Unless I am misreading the commentaries above on the IMB announcement, the blame remains you and me; my church and your church. Though SBC churches for years have increased gifts both to the CP and global missions, we nonetheless are charged with apathetically spending our remaining monies upon ineffective pursuits; we believe missionaries are simply not "sexy" enough for today's church; and since our "culture favors style over substance" missionaries can't keep up with "styles back home." Hence, we are to blame in toto for 600-800 missionaries being sent home.

Well, here's my response

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has demonstrated its fiscal irresponsibility by announcing that since 2010, it has spent $210 million more than it has received. On average, that's approximately $40 million more per year than budgetary projections would reasonably indicate. Trustees obviously knew, at least on some level, this was taking place. Furthermore, in order to accommodate its massive overspending, the IMB not only sold off tens of millions of dollars of assets to subsidize the overages ($18 million worth of property in 2014 alone), it also depleted the cash reserves so much so that it's now in emergency status. And, for all this, we have leaders poking Southern Baptist churches in the eye for not giving more to IMB.

For my part, this is unmitigated nonsense. A type of don't-blame-them-blame-you game. After all, Southern Baptists voted on both IMB strategies and budgets at the annual meetings. Yes we certainly did. We voted on one amount while IMB spent another. We voted to presumably live within our means, and IMB consciously chose to spend outside our means and far beyond our means. For clarity's sake, what am I missing here?

The bottom line so far as I am concerned

I personally will not advocate one extra dollar for either the Cooperative Program or the annual global missions offering from our church. Nothing. Not a single dollar more. If the church decides to give more, it will not be due to my advocacy for more. For my part, Southern Baptists now have a serious breach of integrity in both its means of giving (Cooperative Program) and its entities' spending (IMB). Besides other issues I've cataloged on this site through the years, we now have entities announcing gargantuan deficits brought upon us by flagrant, irresponsible overspending in their budgets.

So, no. I refuse to accept it. I both refuse the personal guilt aimed at me as well as corporate guilt aimed toward my church. And in doing so, I personally think Southern Baptists in general should do similarly though each church is perfectly free and personally encouraged to respond to the dictates of its free church conscience.

Until our entities prove once again their trustworthiness as models of fiscal integrity and responsibility, I will not advocate giving more either to the Cooperative Program or special annual offerings like The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for Foreign Missions and the Anne Armstrong Easter Offering for Home Missions.

And, though since my first church in 1981, my primary missions focus has been cooperate missions giving since I so much believed in the Cooperative Program, I will no longer make a commitment to advocate giving monies either exclusively or generally to the Cooperative Program. Indeed there seems to be enough evidence now to reasonably sustain a sort of "cafeteria approach" in giving to SBC causes. In other words, I think there may exist reasonable merit in designating gifts to certain entities rather than just giving generally through the Cooperative Program. While the jury still remains sequestered in my own mind, for the first time in my lifetime as a Southern Baptist this option may possess merit I find worth considering.

Know to even make a public concession like that tearfully rips at my soul as a Southern Baptist. Even so, this latest financial fiasco from the IMB, along with the subsequent charges that churches bear the guilt even though churches have in recent years increased their gifts to the CP, has solicited in me a response that says enough is enough.

The time comes to consider all our options for world evangelism. The spread of the gospel to the uttermost parts of the globe as our Lord commands remains much too significant for our commission as a church to do less.

    

 *perhaps an exception is an organization which creates, develops, and introduces new products for profit which virtually always includes financial risks; but hardly an organization like the IMB which depends upon exclusively voluntary subsidy.

Related articles

Southern Baptists Will Cut 600 to 800 Missionaries and Staff

Richmond-based International Mission Board to cut jobs

Comments

[Joshua Barlowe]

Your post is right on target. However, I think it should be noted that new IMB leadership is not the one pointing the blame at the churches. In all the official statements from the IMB I don't see them pointing the blame at anyone—just saying we have a problem and unfortunately, we're going to have to have 600-800 people leave to fix it. It seems that tried and true SBC apologists (and perhaps those in former leadership at the IMB) are the ones blaming churches.

[Hugh McCan]

LUKE 16:

1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?

13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

[eric]

unfortunately the church is just as susceptible to financial irresponsibility as the world. x10 when it come to a bloated organization like the baptist corporation. I do have lots of friends who are on the field thru the IMB and the IMB does take care of them.
Eric

[eric]

Another question:
What are these assets that are being sold. If they can be liquidated so easily over a 4 year period, why do we have them in the first place. Are these stocks/bonds or buildings/property.

[peter lumpkins]

So far as I know, IMB has not released any details on what specific assets were sold off. Some are privately wondering whether IMB possesses plans yet to be revealed to sell out in Richmond and move into NAMB's headquarters in Atlanta and share space. Is this what the largest, most prestigious modern day missionary force has come to? A dad moving into his son's basement?

[Max]

IMB brings 600-800 veteran missionaries home from evangelizing lost souls on foreign fields because of a $20 million budget shortfall. At the same time, NAMB is prepared to spend $60 million this year for 1,000 new church plants with mostly unproven young pastors. I realize the budgeting streams and missions are different for these SBC entities, but ...

[Rick Patrick]

I'm not sure how things work in anyone else's church, but my staff does not present plans to church members in "town hall meetings" in which they have no right to approve or disapprove the proposal. Rather, we present recommendations which are then studied and discussed. The final decision is only made after two committees, a deacon body and a congregation all vote in the affirmative.

If something akin to this approach was not utilized in making this decision, I hope the IMB Trustees will insist upon a greater level of oversight in the future.

[Lydia]

"I'm not sure how things work in anyone else's church, but my staff does not present plans to church members in "town hall meetings" in which they have no right to approve or disapprove the proposal. "

It's show biz

[Scott Shaver]

I was just informed by my wife we've been contacted by a mutual friend, long-term, currently active missionary journeyman with IMB. He expects very shortly to receive his letter of offer from IMB.

Not only is he heart-broken that he will not see his work to the fruition for which he and his family have labored for decades, He is disappointed that this was not a collective board decision and convinced that this is just as much about a paradigm shift toward a "new kind" of "Southern Baptist Missionary"as it is about the current budget structural deficit.

Also was not aware that journeymen IMB missionaries were provided with a "statement of their rights" by IMB leaders around the time of Baltimore.

Is this correct?

[Scott Shaver]

Correction: not "journeyman"....career.

[Scott Shaver]

I just read Danny Akin's comments about the need of "our churches" to repent of selfishness.

How's this for selfishness Danny.....NOT ANOTHER DIME THROUGH THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM.

If that's as highly as our leaders think of SBC churches, let em make up the difference with the heretofore 1-3 percenters.

Such arrogance!

[Max]

If IMB sold SBC assets, I hope they got a better deal than LifeWay did when they sold Glorieta Conference Center for $1.00! I understand that it was getting expensive to maintain and running in the red, but that example, and now IMB, demonstrate we need some good Christian businessmen running operations rather than pastors whose giftings are different.

[Max]

Scott writes "He expects very shortly to receive his letter of offer from IMB ... heart-broken that he will not see his work to the fruition for which he and his family have labored for decades ..."

If IMB has been deficit-spending for years, they should have been phasing out these positions more gradually to allow career missionaries time to complete their "calling", rather than calling them home by the end of the year.

[Lydia]

http://sbcvoices.com/david-platt-imb-report/

I will link here what I don't think is allowed to be linked back to you. :o)

Ok, I am really confused. According to this OP Platt was all about sending more missionaries. Yes, he mentions the 20 million but what about all the other stuff that meant it was much more serious?

See, I don't think Platt was wise or experienced enough to ask for a serious accounting picture before he did his rah rah. I think he was appointed for his rah rah and name recognition among the YRR. And he is a stage persona guy with all the passion moves of Piper.

So, I am even wondering if the Trustees knew how bad it was. Perhaps but one thing is for sure, Platt is in way over his head. But his followers will prop him up. And I don't think Platt is responsible for the deficit at all. I think he is responsible for not getting enough facts either before he took the job or before he went in front of an audience doing the usual rah rah.

But why should the IMB be responsible when it is OPM and no one is bothering to do some check and balances on the trustees. OUr system only works when people can be trusted and have courage.

Where are the grown ups?

Gordon, thanks for your comment. I can only imagine some of it based upon some family who left the field around 2004 totally disgusted over similar.

SBC'ers deserve to see not only salaries but also speaking gig fees, personal travel expenses, etc. The Dubai Hilton is not dangerous and a conference does not count as foreign missions.

[Lydia]

"I understand that it was getting expensive to maintain and running in the red, but that example, and now IMB, demonstrate we need some good Christian businessmen running operations rather than pastors whose giftings are different."

Yeah, the flashy passion stuff has just gotten old. Corporations had to change and now the finance guys are becoming the CEO's. The boring bean counters.

Perhaps they thought Platt would bring in bigger bucks from churches despite the fact his church did not "see the beauty of the CP" before he was appointed?

How about some boring bean counter types with real experience, life long support of the CP who have courage to give it to us straight and are not interested in their "stage personas". Seems these days everything is about appealing to the lowest, most inexperienced and entitlement thinking denominator.

[Max]

From the picture Gordon has painted, sounds like IMB could make the necessary cuts elsewhere to get back in the black ... and leave our missionaries on the field. Priorities? Buildings or souls? If/when mission positions are restaffed after this down-sizing, will the new and younger appointments have the same evangelistic zeal as the seasoned folks due to exit the ranks shortly?

[Lydia]

"I just read Danny Akin's comments about the need of "our churches" to repent of selfishness."

He sounds like the IFB guys. And what is HIS salary?

Here is what kills me about these guys. They expect people making the average family wage in America to pony up to pay them six figures. I am sure Jesus is not amused at all.

[Tim Rogers]

Peter,

It looks like we have a former VP of the IMB expressing somethings we need to take heed. This is absolutely amazing to know that we have this kind of waste as Dr. Fort expresses in his above comments. But what really places the burr under my saddle is the spending atmosphere--if you dont spend the budget you will not get it next year." That is a sure fire way to break any organization.

Tim

[Scott Shaver]

According to MillerVoices, Questions and comments like the one's we're raising over a 210 million dollar structural deficit are doing "serious damage to Christ's church" and we've been called upon, clear-eyed, to "repent" of our "divisiveness" and "lack of love".

Guess I can add these infraction to my mourning list bench along with "selfishness"? :)

Perhaps, meanwhile, they and the "faithful" remnant can come up with 300 mil before the next Lottie Moon offering rolls around.

[Max]

Gordon writes "I was told "you need to spend all the budget money for the year because if you don't we won't be allocated as much for next year" ... "

I worked in a government position for a few years. This was the same charge given to our office by the higher-uppers. Soooo ... near the end of the budget year, we bought unnecessary items. I didn't like spending taxpayer money that way ... and it sure doesn't set well with me to know SBC entities have been spending the widow's mite in that manner.

[Kevin Peacock]

It is hard for me to believe that the "Gordon Fort" who commented above is the "IMB senior VP for prayer mobilization and training," who, as far as I know, is still with the IMB. Unless there are two "Gordon Forts," I believe someone is posting under a false name. The words and the spirit don't sound like the man I know and respect (who also lost his mother yesterday).

[Lydia]

. "The words and the spirit don't sound like the man I know and respect"

Why don't you respect truth and courage? If it is him and he still works there....thanks to guys like you....he will be gone soon enough.

[Lydia]

"According to MillerVoices, Questions and comments like the one's we're raising over a 210 million dollar structural deficit are doing "serious damage to Christ's church" and we've been called upon, clear-eyed, to "repent" of our "divisiveness" and "lack of love"."

Sadly, this is someone who promoted and defended Driscoll even when he was so obviously a charlatan. Yet those of us warning about him were the sinners. Not sure why we should expect anything different now.

[Max]

Peter writes "The time comes to consider all our options for world evangelism."

With 45,000+ SBC churches, surely we could keep 600-800 of our veteran missionaries on the field ... even if it meant local associations of churches coming together to directly support these fields and bypass the IMB hierarchy, theo-politics, and waste. We could call it the "Cooperative Program", but keep it local.

This is time for some "Macedonian Christians" to rise to the challenge in SBC ranks:

"Now, my brothers, we must tell you about the grace that God had given to the Macedonian churches. Somehow, in most difficult circumstances, their joy and the fact of being down to their last penny themselves, produced a magnificent concern for other people. I can guarantee that they were willing to give to the limit of their means, yes and beyond their means, without the slightest urging from me or anyone else. In fact they simply begged us to accept their gifts and so let them share the honours of supporting their brothers in Christ. Nor was their gift, as I must confess I had expected, a mere cash payment. Instead they made a complete dedication of themselves first to the Lord and then to us, as God’s appointed ministers" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5 Phillips).

We can keep these missionaries on the field - our brothers and sisters in Christ - if we want to. Are there any Macedonians left among us or have we all settled on our lees?

[peter lumpkins]

Hi Kevin,

I do not know if the person who logged on as "Gordon Fort" is the "Gordon Fort" of (or possibly formerly of) IMB anymore actually than you are "Kevin Peacock" an OT professor since I know neither of you. Nor to my knowledge has either of you ever logged on here before. And unless a comment is either vicious or personally slanderous, I will most likely leave it alone.

What I find more troubling is, you seemed to be more concerned that a comment is possibly or even probably pseudonymously logged incognito than the present dismal fiscal condition of the IMB, an IMB that has historically pumped millions of dollars into a seminary of which you now teach (presuming of course you are the same "Kevin Peacock").

Thanks for your contribution.

Peter

[peter lumpkins]

Max

Bravo brother! Consider:

The Macedonian Southern Baptist Missionary Society

If I can raise 10K, will your church raise 10K? All we need is a few more like minded churches to upstart a missions-sending society which focuses on traditional, cross-cultural evangelism rather than church planting.

[peter lumpkins]

Oh, and I almost forgot:

The MSBMS would definitively put in place internal/external fiscal controls whereby it would be virtually impossible to either spend outside its means or far beyond its means.

[Max]

"The MSBMS would definitively put in place internal/external fiscal controls ..."

What?! No preacher boys drawing 6-figure salaries?!

[Max]

Peter writes "cross-cultural evangelism rather than church planting."

Should we be bringing veteran missionaries home due to an IMB $20 million shortfall ... when its sister agency NAMB is spending $60 million to plant new churches? Perhaps the Macedonians over at NAMB need to send IMB some of those funds and keep the "old" alive, rather than the "new."

[peter lumpkins]

Max

You've got a good point. According to the GCR agenda, NAMB and IMB were wedded together like never before. They agreed to "partner" in specific areas of global missions, areas historically divided by hardlines between the two entities. Perhaps NAMB trustees could instruct KE to hand over any surplus monies it had to the IMB to assist the bailout. After all, it's all SBC money is it not? What is more, perhaps most of our seminaries' physical assets could be sold and consolidation of our theological education could take place. We could go almost exclusively *virtual* campus along the lines of Liberty University. Talk about saving hundreds of millions of dollars! Most of which could go to global missions--after, of course, we start with a clean whiteboard when we've scrubbed the "bloated bureaucracy" of its fiscal disease...

[Max]

" ... most of our seminaries' physical assets could be sold ... consolidation of our theological education ... *virtual* campus ... start with a clean whiteboard ... scrubbed the "bloated bureaucracy" of its fiscal disease... "

But, Peter, what would all the SBC elites do then?!

[Kevin Peacock]

Peter, I can assure you that I am indeed the OT professor you mentioned. And I can assure you that my concern for the financial situation at the IMB is great. Addressing that concern was not the purpose of my comment.

To my point of my comment -- several words and phrases in the posted comment makes me question if this "Gordon Fort" is indeed the senior VP at the IMB, a senior administrator who has been at the leadership table for years now, and formerly serving as VP for overseas operations and would have had some sense of control over budgets and how money overseas is/was used. As one who managed and approved overseas budgets, he could have curtailed the "huge wasteful behemoth." "I was told you need to spend all the budget money for the year" doesn't sound like coming from an administrator who approved and managed budgets. "I'm no longer with the organization" does not seem to apply to the current senior VP. The senior VP for prayer mobilization and training is the one who conducts "A school in Richmond teaching people how to pray, as if the Holy Spirit isn't enough anymore." That just sounds strange to me.

I could be wrong -- I have been before. But the comment struck me as strange if coming from the Gordon Fort who is senior VP at the IMB, especially the day after his mother died. I just wanted to add a word of caution to anyone who might make a false assumption of the source. It may be another "Gordon Fort."

[peter lumpkins]

Thanks Dr. Peacock for your further explanation. Your caution is duly noted.

With that, I am...
Peter

[Tim Rogers]

Dr. Peacock,

Good points as you have given. I assumed it was the Gordon Fort with the IMB as the author stated some things that only Dr. Fort would know about as VP of overseas operations. But, that is another debate for another day.

Let me ask you something. If an entity is operating in a deficit budget and is sending millions of $$$'s to another entity that my be operating under a balanced budget, and all the funds being given is coming from the same source. Would you agree that unless we can find other entities that are receiving funds from the same source operating under their budgeting needs then all entities are operating in deficit budgets?

[peter lumpkins]

All,

Given the startling announcement that our IMB has spent, on average, up to $40,000,000 MORE per year than they received the last 4-5 years, being forced to not only deplete what their own policies state are healthy reserve amounts but also sell off physical assets belonging to Southern Baptists all over the world in order to slice, at least in appearance, the huge deficit spending approximately half, it's hardly surprising that anything IMB is doing and reporting presently so far as actual missions work is concerned inevitably suffers prima facie suspicion so far as I am concerned. Once a person or organization breaches trust, then the lost trust must be earned back, assuming it's possible to regain it at all. In short, regaining trust remains a process that takes time rather than a promise with a handshake.

[[email protected]]

Sorry to come late to the conversation-the comments posted above are falsely attributed to me-Gordon Fort-indeed I have been involved in the funeral services of my Mother, a career IMB missionary doctor for 36 years who died yesterday at 91 years of age. However-as Peter says I realize he cannot control who writes under what name-and has to exercise his judgement. I regret that someone would feel a need to use my name in this way.

[Lydia]

"Once a person or organization breaches trust, then the lost trust must be earned back, assuming it's possible to regain it at all. In short, regaining trust remains a process that takes time rather than a promise with a handshake."

It takes serious transparency but all I am seeing are charges of "gossip" because all the information is not forthcoming. But that is how it works, isn't it? People are given a shock then told they are gossiping when they dare question or even speculate. Yet, they expect MORE money from the very people they are insulting as selfish. Sounds like the government.

[Mary]

Soooo if the Trustees aren't returning any calls or responding to emails does that give anyone else the feeling that the Trustees didn't actually vote or have a say about all these changes? A 36 year old man whose church didn't support the IMB has just sorta put this together maybe with the help of a few other dude bros who probably come from churches who never supported the IMB? And the wise thing to do is move all the actual "elders" out of the IMB so there's room for those cool hip dude bros who didn't actually support the IMB until suddenly for some reason it became cool?

May you live in interesting times. The Calvinists in the SBC have always reminded me of the liberals in this country in their behaviors and rhetoric. Well not their "behavior" but you know in how they go about their business and interact "behavior" I think it's interesting that in the country as in the SBC we've been told for years and years that everything is greaaaaaat! And only getting better. And look at all these wonderful young leaders! All these new ideas. But the ideas aren't actually new. They're old and have already been tried and failed. Of course pointing this out get's you labeled a hater, divisive, anti this or that. But now I think what the rise of Trump is showing us is that a lot of people are just to the point of - no things aren't actually great, rich people are not rich enough to pay for all the things you think should be "free" and no I am not a hater just because I disagree with you. And so people have been pushed to the edge and are just at a place where they say "Burn it down" The elites aren't listening, they think we're stupid but they want our money/votes. So not only am I not going to give you my money/vote - I say "burn it down" Interesting times in the country and the SBC.

[Tim Rogers]

Dr. Fort,

Thank you for providing a clarification of one who may be using your name falsely. I want to say, as one whose name has been used falsely in other places and venues, I am sorry you have to see that, especially during this time of grief. I will be praying for God's peace to overwhelm you during this time.

Tim

[Rick Patrick]

I am deeply sorrowful that one has falsely used the name of Gordon Fort, unless by chance there are two in the convention. There are three Rick Patricks—a professor, yours truly a pastor, and a music minister. I am also sorry to hear about Gordon Fort's mother and offer my condolences to the family.

Having said that, does anyone, include the "other" Gordon Fort, who mentioned it above, have any information about this Mansion Complex in London? When an organization spends $210 million more than it has, it is time to examine both their assets and their spending policies with a fine tooth comb.

Regarding the IMB, after this overspending crisis, churches need to receive lots and lots and lots of information. The status quo will no longer do.

[peter lumpkins]

Dr. Fort,

With others, I share my condolence to you and your family. It's been over 20 years since my mother passed, and I still have moments of grief.

As for the pseudonymous author above, thank you for your understanding. I've unpublished his/her comment. While I do understand why some folks cannot just "(wo)man-up," there's no viable reason I can tell why anyone could legitimately, knowingly, and intentionally use another living person's name to publicly record a post.

With that, I am...
Peter