Sole Membership Issue…

March 26, 2005 | 8:02 PM

The Southern Baptist Convention meets in Nashville in June. At that meeting, messengers from SB churches everywhere will vote to accept or deny NOBTS’s change in charter. NOBTS trustees honored the SBC’s wishes last fall and voted to accept sole membership and change the charter, although they did so out of disregard to their own wishes and the wishes of the entire seminary. The NOBTS website set up for the Sole Membership Issue says the following:

“The issue of sole membership as a strategy to amend the NOBTS charter may arise at the SBC Convention over the next two years. The NOBTS Trustees and Administration are in total agreement with the SBC Executive Committee to seek out the strongest legal protection that would secure NOBTS or any other SBC entity from some future takeover attempt. There is no disagreement about the importance of achieving this end.

The NOBTS Trustees and the Executive Committee differ, however, about what strategy should be used to achieve this worthy end. The Executive Committee has recommended utilizing the “sole membership” strategy. There are some unique features regarding “sole membership” in Louisiana law, however, that the NOBTS Trustees and Administration believe could possibly create future problems for Baptist polity, and possibly increase the liability of the SBC to future lawsuits.”

Please, if you are at the convention in June, do NOT accept NOBTS’s change in charter.

For more information, click here.