Bailey Smith

Former pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, OK. Elected President of the SBC in 1980 and 1981.  Presumes to know the limits of divine hearing — having twice declared that God "does not hear the prayer of a Jew."  He led his congregation to build a large and expensive new facility. After the facility was built, he became an evangelist. A few years later the church defaulted on 14 million dollars worth of church bonds.

The Willhoites

Scores of people invested retirement savings in Del City First Baptist bonds. The prestigious positions and the influence their pastors held within the denomination helped create an impression that the congregation was stronger financially than was warranted. Among those who lost money were the Fred and Odetta Willhoite. Now retired, Fred formerly pastored Council Road Baptist in Bethany, OK.

Tom Elliff

Current pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, OK. Brother-in-law of Bailey Smith.  Asked bond holders to forgive the church’s debts.  Elected President of the SBC in 1996 and 1997.    Registered a complaint with Southern Seminary President Al Mohler that resulted in the dismissal of Paul Debusman, the Seminary’s reference librarian.

Paul Debusman

Reference librarian at Southern Seminary for 35 years.   Terminated 10 months prior to retirement for the "harm" he did to the Seminary in writing a personal letter to SBC President Tom Elliff.   The letter advised Elliff that he erred in proclaiming that before the takeover Fundamentalists were not invited to speak at the Seminary Chapel.   Debusman wrote: "Chapel as I remembered it from the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s was a time when we heard everyone.    There was a deliberate strategy to bring in different points of view.    That is no longer true."

 

Jimmy Draper

Another former pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, OK. President of the SBC in 1982 and 1983.   Became president of the Baptist Sunday School Board in 1991.  Under his helm the Board has changed its name to LifeWay Christian Resources and is aggressively producing and promoting Women’s Enrichment Ministry resources that are displacing the literature the Women’s Missionary Union produces to support its ministry.   LifeWay is also aggressively producing and promoting resources for Home School advocates.

Dellana O'Brien

Executive Director of the Women’s Missionary Union.   She fought to keep the auxiliary free of SBC control when the SBC Executive Committee and Restructuring Committee wanted to "hardwire" it to the Convention.   The organization has been experiencing revenue shortfalls as sales of WMU literature and promotional materials decline.  Dellanna is recovering from a mild stroke and will soon retire.

Sam Pace

Former Director of Missions for Commanche-Cotton Association in Oklahoma, now retired.   He was Chairman of the SBC Executive Committee (1989-91) when the editors of Baptist Press were fired.   He justified the terminations and demonstrated disdain for independent journalism by saying "No one would expect Ronald Reagan to keep Jimmy Carter’s Press Secretary."

Al Shackelford

Dan Martin

Editors of Baptist Press who were fired in June 1990 for a brief delay in reporting that John Bisagno, Joel Gregory and other professedly "neutral" pastors had endorsed the Fundamentalist candidate for president in 1990.

Several years after his termination, Shackelford became the editor of Mature Living Magazine.

Martin is now a news writer for the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

John Bisagno

Another former pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Del City, OK.  Currently pastor of First Baptist in Houston, TX — the church in which Paul Pressler (chief architect of the takeover) is a member.  He maintained that he was neutral in the controversy until the pivotal election of 1990.  Many believe that his endorsement of Morris Chapman in the last few weeks before the New Orleans Convention secured a Fundamentalist coup d’état. He recently announced his retirement.

This sad little girl represents all the young girls and women who have been called by God to serve him as deacons or ministers and are being oppressed and excluded by SBC Fundamentalists. 

See Joel 2:28-29 and Acts 2:14-21

Mark Brister

Chaired the committee that restructured SBC agencies and institutions. His committee reduced the percentage of the budget for missions and increased the percentage going to the Executive Committee and the Ethics Commission. The Committee also eliminated the Historical Commission of the SBC. Brister became President of Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) last fall.

Historical Commission of the SBC

The preservation of historical documents recording changes in polity, practice, and doctrine threatens Fundamentalists.  When they eliminated the Historical Commission the Baptist Historical Society (independent of the SBC) took on its work.  Until this summer the Society’s office was at OBU. Now it is in Nashville.

John Yeats

The SBC’s Recording Secretary. He served on Executive Committee of the SBC when they refused to accept money from CBF.  As editor of the Indiana Baptist newspaper, he produced newspapers for the Fundamentalists who recently broke away from the Texas Baptist Convention and formed a competing state convention.   He has been Editor of Oklahoma’s Baptist Messenger since the fall of 1997.   A frequent critic of Texas Baptists and Mainstream Baptists, he defends Fundamentalist takeover tactics and champions the Christian Coalition’s party line.

Lavonn Brown

Gene Garrison

In the 1970’s Brown and Garrison were respected members of SBC and BGCO boards and frequent conference speakers. In the mid-1980’s they, like other Mainstream Baptists, were blacklisted by the Fundamentalists. Garrison pastored First Baptist in Oklahoma City 1973-96. In 1983 Bailey Smith condemned First Oklahoma City for ordaining women deacons and set off a controversy that led Capital Association to refuse to seat messengers from the church. Brown pastored First Baptist in Norman 1970-99 — a church that also ordains women deacons. In 1989, when First Norman celebrated its 100th anniversary, BGCO leaders refused to allow the church to host the Convention‘s annual meeting.

Anthony Jordan

Executive Director-Treasurer of BGCO. After serving as President of BGCO he condemned former Executive Director Joe Ingram for writing a letter supporting CBF and set off a controversy that led BGCO to attempt to silence him.    He was also a member of the committee authorized to discipline Ingram.    Jordan served on the Executive Committee of the SBC when they refused to accept money from CBF.   He resigned as Chair of the Search Committee for BGCO’s Executive Director-Treasurer shortly before the committee selected him to fill the position.   He also chaired the committee that produced the amendment to the Baptist Faith and Message that requires wives to "submit" to their husbands.

Joe Ingram

Executive Director-Treasurer of BGCO for 25 years (1971-1986). In 1993 Fundamentalists led BGCO to authorize sending a committee to discipline him for writing a letter inviting pastors to attend a CBF meeting.

Gary Cook

Former Vice President for Church Programs and Services at the Sunday School Board.   Accepted pastorate of First Baptist Church in Lawton, OK shortly after trustees removed Lloyd Elder as President and replaced him with Jimmy Draper.   In 1993 Fundamentalists had Cook removed from BGCO’s Strategic Planning Committee because he had moderated a CBF discussion group and had introduced a CBF leader at a luncheon.

Dan Kent

Alan Brehm

Southwestern Seminary professors who lost their jobs when Seminary trustees demanded that they sign on to the SBC’s Family Amendment or resign.   Kent retired.  Brehm resigned.

Some adjunct professors may no longer teach at the Seminary’s extension on the OBU campus because they have not signed on to the Family Amendment.