Prestonwood Baptist Will Withhold Southern Baptist Funds as It Mulls Organization's Direction

Plano's Prestonwood Baptist Church says it will temporarily escrow monies normally given to support Southern Baptist Convention while it mulls its position on the organization's direction.Louisiana's The Message reported that the decision involves about $1 million contributed through the Cooperative Program, SBC's main source of funding for state and national initiatives.A statement provided to the publication by Prestonwood executive pastor Mike Buster said the 41,000-member megachurch made the move in response to various stances taken by leaders of Southern Baptist's ethics arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, "that do not reflect the beliefs and values of many in the Southern Baptist Convention."The action, it said, was temporary "until a decision can be made on current and future funding."Among issues that have prompted concern from Southern Baptists: Ethics commission president Russell Moore's signing of a friend-of-the-court brief supporting construction of a New Jersey mosque, as well as critical remarks Moore made about evangelicals who backed Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.For instance, in a column published in The Washington Post in February 2016, Moore wrote that "many of those who tell pollsters they are 'evangelical' may well be drunk right now, and haven't been into a church since someone invited them to Vacation Bible School sometime back when Seinfeld was in first-run episodes."Jack Graham, Prestonwood's senior pastor and a former SBC president, told The Message that the church's issues with the SBC weren't limited to Moore, instead referring to an "uneasiness" among Prestonwood leaders with the "disconnect between some of our denominational leaders and our churches.""I'm not angry at the SBC, and neither are our people," Graham said, "and I'm not working to start a movement to fire anyone.... We're just concerned about the direction of the Southern Baptist Convention, and feel the need to make some changes in the way we give."  Continue reading...