Dakota Baptists Prepare to Petition SBC for Greater Representation
A team of Dakota Baptists plans to present a resolution and a motion at the 2024 SBC annual meeting in Indianapolis. The two actions will petition the Convention to provide greater representation for smaller state conventions on the trustee boards of Southern Baptist agencies.
In August 2023, the Dakota Baptist Convention Executive Board approved a motion authorizing the Executive Director to “develop a team to research, plan for, and carry out an effort to request the SBC increase the DBC representation on the trustee boards of the agencies of the SBC.” Dakota Baptists affirmed this action in a resolution at the 2023 annual meeting in Rapid City.
The task force began work a few months ago, led by Dr. John Flowers, retired pastor of Living Hope Baptist Church in West Fargo, ND. Other team members include former DBC Executive Director Garvon Golden (Rapid City, SD: Christ Church), Tanner Olson (West Fargo, ND: Living Hope), Dr. Steve Ford (Vermillion: Grace Baptist), Will Page (Miller, SD: First Baptist), and current Executive Director Dr. Fred MacDonald.
Flowers commented, “Our gifts help support the Cooperative Program. Like other Southern Baptists, we generously and sacrificially support our special mission’s offerings. The era of excluding us from full participation in our denomination must end. It’s time for the Convention to include us in the oversight of our boards and entities.”
In April, the team submitted a resolution to the SBC Resolutions Committee. (The resolution can be seen by clicking the link at the end of this article). The resolution points to the financial independence achieved by new state conventions over the past three years. Smaller state conventions now “stand on their own two feet, with operating budgets that are fully funded by the Cooperative Program giving of their churches.” Prior to that, the North American Mission Board and Lifeway heavily subsidized the operating budgets of the Dakotas and similar “emerging” state conventions.
MacDonald recalled the moment that the Dakota Baptist Convention adopted their first operating budget that was fully funded by the CP giving of their churches at their 2021 annual meeting. “It was the first time I ever saw a budget vote get a standing ovation.” He said, “The funding changes meant we had to tighten things up some, but Dakota Baptists are excited about this new era. Now they are eager to have a greater participation in the worldwide mission partnership that unites Southern Baptists.”
The resolution asks SBC annual meeting messengers to “acknowledge and celebrate the historical change that has taken place, which has eliminated the need for emerging state conventions to be dependent on support from outside Southern Baptist agencies for their operating budgets.” It also asks messengers to affirm the “value and basic fairness” of including these conventions in the “governing decisions” of SBC agencies.
The task force plans to present a motion on the floor of the annual meeting. The motion will ask the Convention to take specific action towards increasing representation. Currently the Dakota Baptist Convention has one trustee on the Executive Committee and one trustee on the International Mission Board.
Flowers said, “The Convention should not expect any Baptist to contribute to a system which excludes him or her from full participation.”
The task force encourages pastors and members of Dakota Baptist churches to attend the meeting in Indianapolis and support this effort. Those that plan to attend and who are willing to help with the effort to present the motion are asked to contact either Flowers ([email protected]) or MacDonald ([email protected]). Those that cannot attend the Indianapolis meeting are invited to join them in praying for this effort.
See the Proposed Resolution HERE