Southern Baptist agency suspends trustee

WASHINGTON - Trustees of a US Southern Baptist Convention agency voted in a closed door session to censure a trustee for violating several adopted policies in their code of conduct.

Oklahoma pastor Wade Burleson has been suspended from any active involvement with the board of trustees of the International Mission Board (IMB) for at least the next four meetings, the trustees reported on Wednesday.

The censure motion stated that Burleson had "repeatedly failed" to abide by the Trustee Standards of Conduct, including sharing private communications with fellow trustees on his blog and by e-mail and also having spoken in "disparaging terms" about fellow trustees.

Moreover, the motion claimed that Burleson has persisted in public criticism of board policies for missionary qualifications adopted in recent years instead of supporting the policies, said IMB trustee chairman John Floyd, who was deeply saddened at the course events had taken, according to Baptist Press.

"As trustee chairman, I have sought to be patient with Brother Burleson and have made efforts to restore him to full and effective service as a trustee without allowing his actions to distract the board from its focus upon the urgent need to take the Gospel to all the nations," said Floyd in a statement.

IMB trustees must "refrain from public criticism of Board approved actions" and are required to speak "in positive and supportive terms as they interpret and report on actions by the Board, regardless of whether they personally support the action," according to the Standards of Conduct, which were adopted in March 2006.

Burleson said he accepted the trustees' censure and vowed to continue to fulfill his four-year appointment as an IMB trustee and continue supporting the Southern Baptist agency.

His suspension may be lifted after four trustee meetings - which take place every other month - and if prior to that time, Burleson apologizes to the Board for his violations of the trustee code of conduct and agrees to refrain from blogging about the IMB.

Although he offered his sincere apologies for anything he has written that "construed to reflect poorly on any of my fellow trustees," he defended his freedom to dissent, especially when it comes to board actions.

"I cannot apologize for anything I have written when it involves my strong, courteous, and principled dissent concerning any board directive or policy that I believe encroaches upon the doctrinal parameters set by the Southern Baptist Convention or that in any way contravenes our cherished Baptist distinctives," he wrote on his latest blog, "Grace and Truth to You."

"Disagreement is not only the prerogative of individual Southern Baptists - it is the Baptist way," he had said in an Oct. 23 blog post in response to a letter sent by an IMB trustee to fellow trustees requesting that official action be taken against Burleson. "But to disagree is not sin. It definitely is not gossip or slander. It has never been my intention to do anything but cooperate in missions and ministry with other Southern Baptists who see things differently on matters that should never divide us."

Burleson is one of the more popular Southern Baptist bloggers who often critiqued IMB board policies, including a ban on missionary candidates who practice a "private prayer language."

He launched his blog in 2005 and said he started it as "a public response to an alarming trend toward narrowing the doctrinal parameters of Southern Baptist missionary cooperation and participation beyond the Baptist Faith and Message 2000" (the Southern Baptist Convention's faith statement).

In a released statement after the trustees' Wednesday session, Burleson said, "I respect my fellow trustees and humbly accept the censure and pray they understand I cannot violate my Baptist distinctives, particularly the freedom to dissent. I am an IMB trustee but for a season. I am a Southern Baptist for a lifetime. I am a follower of Jesus Christ for eternity."