MAINSTREAM MESSENGER
Vol. 1, No. 1 April 1998
Hobbs Shares His Vision
What role does Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists expect to play in Oklahoma Baptist affairs? Some of our supporters already belong to the Cooperating Baptist Fellowship. Why do we need another organization?
The answer is simple: Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists is separate and apart from the CBFO. Some of our members belong to CBFO, and some do not.
Nor is Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists an alternative to the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Our members belong to churches in friendly cooperation with local associations and the state convention. We give liberally to support Oklahoma missions and programs. We want only to be allowed to work as loyal partners within the BGCO system.
Now the BGCO hierarchy has excluded us as full partners. Few, if any, of our members are on strategic committees or boards. We are not visible on programs or in pulpits under the aegis of the BGCO. We do not appear on convention program as leaders or headliners. In short, we are persona non grata. We are Baptist lepers.
Why are we seen as the enemy? Because we exercise our liberty as Baptists. Some of our churches send mission money to the CBF in Atlanta. Some belong to churches that have ordained women as deacons. Some belong to churches that refuse to use the words "inerrant and infallible" to characterize the Holy Scriptures. Some refuse to recognize the pastor as "the ruler" of the church.
Having been excluded as real partners in the Gospel, we wish only to be accepted as a loyal opposition within the circle that defines Oklahoma Baptist policy. So we have organized within, rather than outside, the BGCO framework. Our ultimate purpose is to come as Messengers to the annual convention and influence policy. We have no desire to become a majority. We only hope to protect minority voices that have been squelched in SBC life for the past twenty years.
Chairperson, Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists