12 Witnesses

First off, the Southern Baptist Convention does not have “delegates” and if you call yourself or anyone else that, you will be known immediately as a “newbie.”

The secular press makes this mistake every year. Sometimes they even condescendingly say something to the effect of, “their delegates, which they call ‘messengers’…” This tells us that someone has tried to explain the difference to them and they clearly thought that it was a nuisance to be bothered with the subtleties and therefore glossed over the whole thing.

Here is the difference as I understand it. A delegate is given a specific task for which they are responsible. There is a sense of obligation to do a certain thing. A messenger has no such obligation, but is simply a representative of the congregation, endorsed to handle things as they see fit and with no duty to answer back to the congregation for any particular issue.

During the resurgence, I knew of several groups from certain churches whose messengers would sit in different places so that no one could see them vote. Usually, this was because they were splitting the vote.

Anyway, each Southern Baptist church gets messengers, up to ten, depending on how much they give to the Cooperative Program. No, it is not according to the size of the church. Yes, that means “Mega Churches” get ten votes, as does FBC, Russellville, KY. I won’t bother to explain what some have called the “buy a vote” plan that allows you to get up to ten messengers, but most churches qualify for ten. If anyone wants to flesh that out in the comments, feel free, but for the sake of keeping this readable, I will move on.

If you are to be a messenger, you must be voted as such by your church. The church will then send you to the convention with credentials that identify you as their messenger. This is a standard form, but if the church doesn’t give it to you, or you lose it, a fax, letter or email to that effect will still get you your packet of information, ballots, etc. when you register at the convention site. It is not really a big deal and they do a good job of getting everyone settled.

The total number of messengers who are registered are the “convention.” It is this total number that percentages will be based on when deciding a quorum. I am going to discuss quorums later, but since it relates here, I will define it for you now.

A quorum is the minimum number of registered messengers necessary to say that the convention is adequately represented and therefore can conduct business. For us, 25% of registered messengers must be present.

Here is the fallout of that deal.

IF, say 19% of the registered messengers at the convention are in support of the new IMB policies and 13% think that Wade Burleson should be removed from office as a Trustee to the IMB,

AND we assume that the rest of the convention disagrees with the policies and thinks Wade should be restored to full duty,

THEN, we can safely say that the particular views for the policies and against Wade are in the minority and by a wide margin,

BUT, if we have a quorum of 28% (just over 25% needed) and they are made up of all of the aforementioned minority, and just a few of the vast majority,

THEN, the convention will do business as if it is fairly represented, even though it is not.

Let’s say that all of those particular people know that the subject of the IMB is due to come up and, it being important to them, they show up. Meanwhile, all those new to the convention, thinking it is a little tedious, head for the local Starbucks, since hanging out is our thing, we leave the business in the hands of those with whom we vastly disagree. We then will end up not doing what we came to do, right?

My point is…

1 Be properly voted as a messenger by your church.

2 Keep up with your credentials.

3 Arrive in plenty of time to register.

4 Keep up with the ballots and schedule given to you at registration.

5 Do not faint, and do not grow weary. You will be needed to vote and you can only do that if you are there.

Also, you will get a schedule of set business at the Young Leaders Summitt II and the daily bulletin will give you an updated schedule.

Don’t be overwhelmed. This is just the beginning, but it is easier than you think. I promise.

Oh, yeah, one last thing. I was reading over on Wade’s blog about a pastor who told Wade that he would move to have Wade removed as a Trustee for the IMB. You want to know what there will be to vote on? He just gave you one - and it’s a big one.

I would like to thank this pastor for giving us the rally point the IMB took away when they rescinded their motion. Some people just don’t know how to follow leadership, and in this case, I am glad.

If that vote makes it to the floor, I am thinking that the overwhelming vote against it may help people who are in the minority understand that working with others is better than trying to force people to do what you want them to do.

Please remember to put “Primer - Messengers” at the top of your comments so I will know where to find it when I get the email notice. Thanks.

It has been intimated and overtly questioned as to whether or not the convention leadership will be “fair” during the upcoming Convention in Greensboro. I have many reasons to believe that everyone, no matter what their convictions, will be treated fairly.

I want to publicly affirm my trust in Bobby Welch as the moderator of our convention. I think that he is a fair person and will be fair while fulfilling his duties. Why do I think that?

In previous years, when some Entity Heads gave their report, it would last for about 22 of their allotted 25 minutes and then open the floor for questions in the final three minutes. Last year, Bobby asked them to open the floor for questions early in their report so there would be plenty of time for interaction with the messengers. Some did not exactly follow the wishes of the President. Occasionally, our President would use the prerogative of his office to extend the time of the report to give the floor the ability to ask questions they felt necessary.

This sounds fair to me. How about you?

I understand that he is more committed to making sure that this accountability happens this year.

For those of you never having been to the convention, you might like to see what it is like and what matters. Did you know that the convention has live video streaming? Did you know you can still access last year’s video?

Click on this link to the ‘05 annual meeting and then click the link entitled, “Watch the 2005 SBC Annual Meeting.”

Pay close attention to the reports on the Committee on Order of Business reports on Tuesday. There are two. This will show you how some of what has been explained above is fleshed out.

Tomorrow it is time to start in on the bylaws.

I know, what a title. It is reflective of what has become a lot more than I thought it was going to be when I first started down this path. The first two posts I wrote last week. Then so many had more questions and there was so much more to say, we have ended up with a two week series. No kidding.

Well, let’s get it on.

Ok, Young ‘uns. It is time to get your head straight about Greensboro. I have been contacted by several longtime SBC participants who have served and led our Convention for many years. They are concerned that you are mistaken in several assumptions and that might influence you to mistrust people who are on your side or to not come to the Greensboro at all.

Specifically, they are concerned, and I think rightly so, that you mistrust anyone over 40 in the convention and you mistrust the power structure completely. Now, don’t get me wrong, not everyone is trustworthy in the convention. My posts over the last three months are plenty of evidence of that. Still, we can’t fail to work with everyone. I believe there are many more allies in the “older” generation than there are people who are not.

Their other concern is that we think the leadership on the platform is in control of the content of our business. This is not true. I believe many among the leadership are sympathetic to much of what we are doing and saying, but they do not control what is said either way. The rules that govern business do that. In other words, nobody will rule you out of order just because they don’t like what you say.

In combination, these two paragraphs lead us to understand that you have a voice and it will be heard, but like everyone else, you must adhere to the rules of the convention.

In order to help everyone understand the process, and how to avail themselves of it, I was sent this description by a concerned Southern Baptist who is desirous of us working well within the Convention. Pastor Allan Blume is the Chairman of the Committee on Order of Business for this year, and he confirmed the accuracy of this description to me after it was forwarded to him. He also gave me permission to say that the leadership of the convention was extremely interested in being fair. I am going to post about the fairness of the leadership this afternoon, and you should definitely tune in.

Emphasis is mine.

All microphones at the convention are on a computerized system. There are buttons to indicate speaking for or against a subject, and to indicate a point of order. The computer sends the order and nature of the request to a control panel. Two people on the committee on order of business watch over that, along with two parliamentarians. The cameras may know which microphone is coming up even before the President does! Microphones are then activated in the proper sequence; for example there must be a “for” and “against” back and forth sequence, or a point of order that takes immediate precedence, and the committee members/parliamentarians let the president know who to recognize next, according to the order on the control panel. The business is conducted according to Roberts Rules of Order and not the whim of the president. The president does not “control” the meeting, he moderates it. He is bound by Roberts Rules of Order and also by the will of the House. The House can vote to either overrule or sustain the chair if it so desires. No one’s microphone is arbitrarily cut off, but there are rules such as no personal attacks, attempting to discuss something that is not germane to the current item on the floor, or going over the allotted time allowed for each individual. (With thousands of messengers in attendance, it would not be fair to allow someone to filibuster!) A person doing such would be called out of order by the President. Only then would a microphone be turned off to go to another person. There are also may be fixed items of business that cannot be changed, such as the convention sermon and the President’s address. Otherwise, there can be a motion made to extend debate for “x” number of minutes if time for business has been exceeded.

You are encouraged to come prepared, to study Roberts Rules of Order and be familiar with the terms and procedures therein. It would be good to also be familiar with SBC bylaws. In the daily bulletin published for all messengers, there will be a detailed explanation of the convention procedures. Those in leadership positions want to encourage participation in this process and do everything in their power to facilitate a messengers’ desire to address the convention and have their concerns heard and questions answered.

In his return email, Pastor Blume added this:

One additional comment on what happens “behind the scenes.” There are specific times on the program when motions can be presented. After motions are presented on the floor, they cannot be discussed at that moment. They are taken to our committee, where we have convention lawyers and parliamentarians working with our committee to decide the right way to deal with the motions. The committee is not dispensing with motions by means of personal opinion, but by very specific guidelines in the SBC bylaws.

Our committee will meet during each lunch and supper break (with the lawyers and parliamentarians) to deal with the motions. It will then be my responsibility to report to the convention at the next session on the way we recommend that each motion be handled. The floor can challenge our advice on the dispensing of any specific motion. Our recommendation is going to be (1) to rule it out of order, (2) to refer to a specific SBC institution, or (3) to bring the motion to the floor of the convention at a specific point in time (for example, I may say, “This motion will be presented to the convention for discussion at the Wednesday morning session at 9:10 am.”)

He sounds quite fair to me. Doesn’t he to you?

Apparently, the wording of a motion is very critical to the process, which is the reason why every motion should be carefully worded and sifted through wise consultation from someone “in the know” on convention policies and procedures.

Later today I will post the second “Introduction Post” on fairness and leadership (much shorter). Then we will follow several specific and important by-laws. You may look at the SBC bylaws online at sbc.net. I ask everyone to feel to ask questions in the comment sections and for our veterans to feel free to help us out with practical knowledge that they may have.

I ask you one favor! At the top of your comment, type the name of the post so that when I get an email notification I will know where to go to address it. With so much convention business, it would be very confusing to track all the various conversations that I anticipate happening simultaneously. You can simply put something like: “By Law 20 - Resolutions” and then the rest of your question or comment. Thanks for your help!

Here is our schedule:

By Law 8 is on Messenger Credentials and Registration - Tuesday, April 11
By Law 10 is on the Election of Officers - Wednesday, April 12
By Law 15 is on the Committee on Nominations - Thursday, April 13
By Law 20 is on the Committee on Resolutions - Friday, April 14 (morning)
By Law 21 is on the Committee on the Order of Business - Friday, April 14 (afternoon)
By Law 26 is on Procedures - Monday, April 17
By Law 31 is on the Adoption of Reports - Tuesday, April 18
By Law 34 is on Voting & 35 defines a Quorum - Wednesday, April 19
By Law 36 is on Trustee Absenteeism (about removing Trustees) - Thursday, April 20
General summary - Friday, April 21