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Crisis at Bellevue

Update on the Congregational Meeting

Unfortunately, the pot of discord was stirred vigorously at the congregational meeting held on March 25, 2007.  More on that later.  Overall, the meeting with thousands of church members was conducted smoothly and orderly, utilizing Roberts Rules of Order as a guide for communication.  The main purpose of the business meeting, as far as leadership was concerned, was to obtain congregational approval of the proposed budget and lay ministry committees.  Advance notice was given to church members that other business could be brought forth for consideration and many were looking forward to that opportunity.

Prior to the actual business meeting, there was a “Special Ministry Celebration Service”, whereby members of the church were re-acquainted, by way of video presentation, of all the wonderful fellowship programs being offered through Bellevue Baptist Church, as well as the various and numerous mission programs.  This was done to set the mood for approval of the proposed budget.

 There was considerable visual presentation on the various programs offered by the church, but nothing presented or discussed with regard to “compensation” of the staff members, which involves 54.3% of the total budget.  In a general conversation after the meeting, a member expressed that it may be more noble to reduce the “compensation” budget by 4.3% and forward that amount to the wonderful “missions” effort in order to spread the Word of God and reach a greater number of souls for salvation.  As it stands now, only 17% of the budget earmarked for missions programs, not including compensation to the staff. 

With commencement of the business meeting, one member made a motion to have voting expressed by written ballot, both for members that were present and members who were not present.  That motion was shot down, possibly due to the request for members who were not present to have the right to vote, as many were anxious to finalize voting without further delay. 

A second member of the church took the opportunity to make a motion that a generous amount of money be transferred from the substantial financial reserves of the church to be donated to Mid-America Baptist Seminary to help in paying off their existing debt.  There was an objection to that motion from leadership, suggesting that such expenditure should be made at the discretion of the Budget Committee at a later date.  The majority of the congregation then voted against the motion for that donation.  Without further delay, at the request of leadership, the majority of the congregation voted for acceptance of the $23,800,000.00 budget, as originally proposed by the Budget Committee. 

The eleven-page “Lay Ministry Committees” proposal was not presented to church members for consideration prior to their attendance at the meeting.  The professional-style brochure outlined all of the pre-selected slate of various committee chairmen and members, as well as the board of directors for Bellevue, without any input from the congregation in general.  One member of the church raised concern that several members from the previous year’s budget committee had newly appointed positions on financial committees for the new term.  The concern referenced poor judgment made by the Finance Committee during the previous term, as it authorized a substantial donation of church funds to a local organization that supports abortion and homosexual rights, in contradiction to Southern Baptist Doctrine.  This objection was passed over, as there was not a definite motion made.  There was no further discussion from the masses, no changes or modifications made, and the committees were approved, as pre-determined, by majority of the congregation as they placed faith in the leaders to do what is right. 

The next consideration was to allow new business concerns to be brought forth by individuals.  It is noted that the “Special Ministry Celebration Service” was scheduled for 10:00a.m. – 11:20a.m.  There was only forty minutes of actual business discussion and voting by the congregation before the moderator gave a signal for someone to make a motion to adjourn the meeting for lunch.  During that time, the budget and committees were approved, leaving approximately twenty minutes to cover all other church business that had accumulated during the past year.  Before adjournment was called, the following motions were made: 

·          A proposal for “conflict of interest” policy, whereby members of the church that have a direct business relationship with the church, as well as any members who have family members with a direct business relationship with the church, would not be allowed to serve on a committee of financial nature.  That motion was easily passed by majority of the congregation. 

·          A proposal, with a two-pronged agenda to:  (a) have future quarterly business meetings of the congregation, and (b) formally accept the policy made by the Southern Baptist Convention in 2002 to be responsible for exposure and discipline of church leadership or staff members who are involved with sexual abuse. 

While this topic was being discussed, and prior to a vote being taken, a spokesman made a second motion to adjourn the meeting so that parents could pick up their children from the nursery and everyone could go to lunch.  After consultation with the parliamentarian, it was decided that this was a “privileged” motion and therefore could request a decisive vote.  The congregation was asked for a standing vote whether or not they preferred to continue the meeting.  According to witnesses interviewed, it appeared that the vote could have been 50%-50% and was too close to call by general observation.  However, Bryan Miller, the moderator, who is part of church leadership, declared the results to be the majority in favor of ending the meeting.  The person who had submitted the original motion being considered made a request to have a “room divided” vote count, but his microphone had been turned off whereby he could not be acknowledged by the moderator.  A second person requested the same procedure of a divided room vote but he, too, was ignored.  There were no further plans announced for a future meeting, leaving many frustrated people. 

Bellevue is greatly divided at this time.  Many concerned members of the church had pleaded for months to have a congregational business meeting in order to be heard, with an attempt for healing of fellowship and to be of one accord.  That opportunity was dashed with the well-orchestrated presentation by the church leadership, and obviously pre-planned method to squelch further discussion at a selected time for adjournment with unfinished business.  It became evident that the sole purpose of the meeting was to “rubber-stamp” the pre-determined agenda of leadership in order to meet legal requirements for a non-profit organization. 

There were many other church members who had prepared motions to be presented for consideration.  Among the people waiting to speak was the person who has been subject of sexual abuse by a (former) counseling minister of Bellevue, whose position was terminated in January 2007.  That victim was not given the opportunity to speak before the congregation after he courageously came forward and was waiting to be recognized. 

Leadership has spoken.  The message is that they are not interested in transparency and openness at the possible risk of disclosure of their private agenda.  Rather than making a serious attempt for reconciliation and healing, the message relayed for the past year, is in essence: “If you don’t like the way things are being run at Bellevue, leave and find another church”.  Compassion and concern for the bewildered sheep of Bellevue, both individually and collectively, is not there.  The general consensus is that concerned members, nicknamed “trouble-makers”, can easily be replaced with newcomers who will accept the purpose-driven methods of elder-rule without question. 

Dedicated Christians, who are steadfast in faith and knowledge outlined in the Bible, should consider this a temporary spiritual battle, not the whole war.  There is much going on that many do not understand.  Faith dictates that God is in control and will lead Bellevue Baptist Church in the right direction, if members seek His guidance.  Many are suffering and want Bellevue to be restored to being “a friend to the family and family of friends”. 

It would seem that a church “family” would work together, be open and honest in all things in order to maintain trust, bringing all offenses into the light to be dealt with through regular congregational meetings until there is satisfaction that all has been done toward reconciliation.  If this is ignored, problems will fester until the poison kills the body of Christ.  The frustration, name-calling, and disobedience to God will take its toll.  It’s up to each individual to do his/her best to find resolution, as inspired by the Word of God and the love of Jesus Christ.

Report by Carol Pemberton