The Rev. Jay Dennis, who will conclude a one-year term as president of the Florida Baptist Convention this week, said he is glad he's in Florida where Southern Baptists have a measure of unity.
Lakeland Pastor's Presidency of Baptist Convention to End
"Never have I been more thankful to be here and not somewhere like Texas," he said, referring to a state where there has been ongoing controversy over doctrinal issues.
Dennis, senior pastor of First Baptist Church at the Mall in Lakeland, will preside over the 140th annual meeting of the Florida Baptist Convention, which begins Monday at The Lakeland Center. About 2,000 delegates, or "messengers," from Southern Baptist churches across the state are expected to attend the two-day event. Many are expected to come a day early for a pastors' conference, at which the Rev. Jerry Falwell will speak.
Dennis' term as president has been fairly calm, and he said the convention will concentrate on helping churches strengthen their missions and evangelistic efforts. To that end, Dennis has invited several speakers from outside the state, including author and evangelist Josh McDowell of Dallas, who will give the closing address on Tuesday evening.
In convention business, messengers will:
Elect new officers. The only person known to be a candidate to succeed Dennis is the Rev. Dwayne Mercer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Oviedo.
Consider several changes to its bylaws, including one that would allow the convention president and one of its vice presidents to be re-elected to a second one-year term.
Consider a $32.9 million budget, a 2.8 percent increase. Of that amount, 60 percent will fund programs and agencies of the state convention, and the rest will go to the Southern Baptist Convention. The Florida Baptist Convention counts more than 2,500 churches and mission posts, comprising more than 1 million members.
Tonight, Falwell, televangelist and senior pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, Va., is scheduled to speak to the Pastors' Conference that precedes the convention. Falwell recently drew criticism for his remarks that the activities of feminists, gays, abortion-rights activists and other groups had caused God to lift his protection of America, allowing the Sept. 11 attacks. Several days later, Falwell apologized for the statement.
Dennis said that Falwell was invited long before Sept. 11 and that his apology was sincere.
"He's a man of his word. When he says he's sorry, he means it. One on one, he's the most personable and humble of men. That doesn't always come across in the media," he said.
Nevertheless, Dennis said he disagreed with Falwell's remarks about Sept. 11.
"I was glad to see Dr. Falwell apologize. I didn't agree with the timing or the substance of the remarks. I thought it was inappropriate, and he saw that, too."
Thanks to a solid conservative majority, the Florida convention has been relatively free from struggles for power that have gripped national and state Southern Baptist conventions in recent years, but it is possible that some lingering discontent may be expressed over a dispute involving a church that ordained a woman as an associate pastor.
In October, Parkview Baptist Church in Gainesville narrowly avoided being ousted from the Santa Fe Baptist Association in Alachua County because the church ordained the Rev. Lynn Williams as its minister of education in January. In Southern Baptist churches, ordination is the prerogative of a local church, but conservatives in the association said Parkview had violated scriptural teaching and a recently adopted statement of belief, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
The document was approved by the national Southern Baptist Convention at its meeting in June 2000 and adopted by Florida Baptists in November 2000. It contains statements that conservatives said were needed to maintain the authority of Scripture, including an article stating, "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."
Some opposed the document, saying it was a shift from traditional Baptist tenets, such as freedom of conscience and the autonomy of the local church.
Dennis said the issue would not be revisited this year, but the Rev. Greg Magruder, pastor of Parkview, said as many as five churches in the Santa Fe Baptist Association, upset over the outcome of the vote, are considering withdrawing from the association and becoming at-large members of the state convention or transferring to another association.
Convention bylaws allow a church to be an at-large member, but Magruder said the rules are strict and complying with them is time-consuming.
Parkview is one of about 50 churches affiliated with the Florida chapter of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a network of moderate churches formed after conservatives gained control of the Southern Baptist Convention. Conservatives said in ordaining Williams, Parkview had colluded with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a charge Magruder denies.
"Still to this day I don't know what (they are) talking about. They think somehow we're trying to seduce other churches to join the CBF," he said.
Magruder and members of his church will attend a luncheon Tuesday sponsored by the fellowship at Lakeside Baptist Church. The speaker will be Randall Lolley, former president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., who resigned under pressure after conservatives gained a majority on the seminary's board of trustees.
Dennis said the power struggles that have consumed other state conventions could happen in Florida, but expressed hope that moderates and conservatives could work together.
"I've always said that on both sides of this issue we've got good and godly people," he said. "But also, there are people on both sides whose spirit doesn't reflect the spirit of Christ."