SBC Government Needs Judicial Branch

Dr. Rick Patrick
Executive Director
Connect 316 – SBC Today

According to an anecdote in an 1826 newspaper article, Thomas Jefferson attended a small Baptist church a short distance from Monticello roughly a decade before the American Revolution. On one occasion, while dining with the Pastor, Rev. Andrew Tribble, Jefferson was asked what he thought about the Baptist form of church government. He replied that he “considered it the only form of pure democracy that then existed in the world, and had concluded that it would be the best plan of Government for the American Colonies.”

Imagine the eye rolls one would receive from enlightened elitists in Washington today upon mentioning that the primary architect of America’s governing system was schooled in his political philosophy by his observations of a small town Baptist congregation!

Jefferson and our other Founding Fathers would later frame the United States Constitution in such a manner that its first three articles would address the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of government, each with its own limited powers held in check by the other two. This system was intentionally inefficient, designed to prevent any branch from ruling with an iron fist. It was deemed better to get nothing done at all than to get a great deal accomplished without sufficient accountability to leaders constitutionally charged with looking at each decision from a different point of view.

Roughly 250 years after Jefferson’s conversation with Tribble, it would be wise for Southern Baptists to allow him to return the favor, advising us to borrow a page from his political philosophy playbook. In order to operate in a manner most likely to prevent any branch of Southern Baptist government from ruling with an iron fist, we must create a judicial branch capable of balancing the powers of the other two. 

Our Weak Legislative Branch 

Technically, the Southern Baptist Convention only functions two days out of the year. Messengers from nearly 50,000 churches are invited to a major city to vote on a host of mostly routine business decisions, like the annual budget and the committee nominees. Attendance is usually between 5,000 and 10,000 people. However, since everyone is rarely in the convention hall at the same time, perhaps only 4,199 people might cast a ballot, meaning a voting bloc of only 2,100 people can decide matters affecting all sixteen million Southern Baptists!

These messengers could be said to comprise our Legislative Branch, for they deliberate and vote upon our major decisions. It should be noted that, for the most part, these voters will approve budgets they have not perused carefully. They will approve individuals for service on boards and committees even though they have never met these individuals and know very little about their specific qualifications.

Essentially, this is a Legislature that approves proposals 98% of the time. A few years ago, messengers were told we were in need of an optional name change, so they obediently passed it, only to discover later that nobody in the entire SBC ever actually adopted it. The chief sponsor could not even get his own church to adopt it!

The point is that it is easy to get this body to pass motions even if nobody really favors them. Let an articulate and well-dressed Southern Baptist leader propose an idea, introduce the fine people on the platform who considered it, discuss it a while, call the question, and vote. There are occasional exceptions, of course, but for the most part, motions pertaining to SBC business pass overwhelmingly. The only votes that are sometimes controversial are the non-binding resolutions often dealing with secular political matters.

Our Strong Executive Branch

Every other day of the year, the work of Southern Baptists is handled by entities, like our six seminaries, the International Mission Board, the North American Mission Board, LifeWay Christian Resources, Guidestone Financial Resources, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, and the Executive Committee.

These organizations essentially function as the Executive Branch of our denominational government. They are structured as independent and autonomous organizations. Presently, decisions made by their Boards are final and not subject to any type of appeals process.

Although SBC Entity Executives should be accountable to all Southern Baptists, they are technically only accountable to their own Board of Trustees. But within each Board of Trustees, there is a smaller Executive Board. The inner workings of this type of arrangement provide a fascinating study of group dynamics.

The full board relies heavily upon the recommendations of the Executive Board. If a Board Member ever speaks contrary to the views of the Executive, they are extremely unlikely ever to be chosen for service on the Executive Board. The Executive Board follows the lead of the Executive. The Board follows the lead of the Executive Board. Southern Baptists follow the lead of the Board. Transitively, the Executive faces relatively little accountability compared to leaders in other walks of life.

There is, in all of this, the illusion of accountability, of checks and balances. Someone may object: “But the SBC Messengers (Legislative Branch) approve the Trustees!” Yes, one is forced to admit, but these Messengers don’t know the first thing about the Trustees when they vote to approve them. Someone else may object: “The Entity President (Executive Branch) is accountable to the Board!” Yes, one is forced to admit, but the Board follows the Executive Board, which follows the Executive.

Our Non-existent Judicial Branch

Most large organizations recognize the need for some type of internal control over their own activities. Police departments may have an Internal Affairs Division because they recognize the need to police themselves. Government agencies and educational institutions may have an Office of the Ombudsman to investigate claims by the public against those in their own administration who may have acted inappropriately. Persons who serve in such offices are tasked with making certain that administrators are not ruling with an iron fist, exercising undue authority beyond their mission, or violating any provisions in the organization’s founding documents. 

The United States Supreme Court is perhaps the best known example of a Judicial Branch. If an executive is guilty of abusing their authority, the Court can rule their action unconstitutional. Justices are appointed by the Executive Branch and confirmed by the Legislative Branch. From that point on, they have permission to rule on the legitimacy of the laws enacted and the actions performed by the other two branches.

We have no organization or office in Southern Baptist life capable of fulfilling this function. Is anyone authorized to rule on the legitimacy of actions taken by our Entity Executives or their Trustees? Is there any kind of Southern Baptist Board of Appeals? Is there an Office of the Ombudsman? Is there a Southern Baptist Board of Internal Affairs? Where exactly is one supposed to go to get justice within Southern Baptist life? Certainly, one could try the United States Court system. But this is also an option for the Police Department, the college and the government, and yet these organizations have also recognized the need for some type of internal affairs group.

Current Southern Baptist Justice Issues

The virtually unchecked power that we invest in Trustee Boards who generally rubber stamp the work of our Executives creates a system vulnerable to abuse. Reasonable questions may be asked of these Trustee Boards related not only to their internal operations, but to the manner in which they relate to the Trustee Boards of other SBC entities. We simply have no Judicial Branch capable of investigating concerns such as the following.

• Should SBC entities be permitted to require the signing of Confidentiality Agreements as a condition of cooperation with other SBC groups or should our agreements be made openly to allow for greater accountability?
• Should the salaries of SBC entity executives be made public just like the salaries of those leading other non-profit organizations?
• Should SBC entities be authorized to hire non-Southern Baptist leaders to fill high-level denominational vacancies?
• Should the SBC be permitted to seal as confidential, for fifteen years, the proceedings of a convention-formed committee charged with developing our long range plan?
• Should an entity executive be authorized to terminate hundreds of employees with no official vote by the Board?
• Should entities be permitted to make real estate deals negatively impacting faithful Southern Baptist senior adult homeowners by offering only thirty percent of their home’s appraised value? 
• Should any entity of the Southern Baptist Convention be authorized to provide legal support in favor of a false religion, cult, or other non-Christian organization?
• Should any SBC entity executive be permitted to accept outside part-time employment, whether paid or volunteer, or will they be expected to devote 100% of their efforts to the position for which they are hired?
• Should national entity executives be permitted to assert themselves into the autonomous personnel and policy decisions of state conventions simply because they are helping to finance the work in that state by forwarding the contributions of Southern Baptists?
• Is Article Four of our SBC Constitution (While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise any authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations, or convention) being violated by any current SBC national entity?

SBC Board of Appeals and Internal Affairs

Many similar questions can and will arise in the future. Many have observed that our denomination is lacking in public disclosure, transparency, and openness. No organization exists that is authorized by Southern Baptists to police ourselves, interpret our founding documents, and hold our strong Executive Branch and weak Legislative Branch accountable for their actions. The absence of such an organization is a glaring weakness in the structure of the Southern Baptist Convention, tilting our balance of powers in favor of our Entity Executives and Trustees.

Since, in the opinion of Thomas Jefferson and our other Founding Fathers, the establishment of a Judicial Branch of government was deemed prudent to maintain a balance of powers and protect our republic, Southern Baptists would be wise to consider creating one ourselves. Unless we do so, we will be hard pressed to make the claim that our denominational structure remains “the only form of pure democracy” existing in the world.