by Sandy » Sun Aug 12, 2012 8:27 am
When the fracture with the SBTC occurred, conservatives departing the BGCT cited its intention to partner closely with CBF, and to devote large amounts of budget receipts to the partnership projects. BGCT leadership was accused of actually planning to appropriate budget receipts from the churches to CBF apart from what it was already passing along through one of its budget giving plans. I'm pretty sure that was part of the plan, but at the time, churches were going over to the SBTC in droves, and that was a motivating factor. Eventually, the plan they put in place simply allowed churches to determine what percentage of their CP gifts would go to whatever national Baptist body they chose, CBF or SBC, or to keep it all in Texas if they wanted. Over 4,000 remaining BGCT churches have chosen an option which uniquely aligns them with the SBC, at percentages which average almost half of their total CP giving. Last time I read anything about it, there were about a hundred churches that were BGCT only, and about 70 that were CBF only, with about 200 churches splitting their giving between CBF and the SBC.
The SBTC is financially healthy, and it is very close to becoming the largest of the two state Baptist conventions in Texas. The last year I was in the state, more than 200 BGCT congregations switched affiliation, and more than 300 dropped their dual affiliation with the BGCT and aligned uniquely with the SBTC. The possibility of a closer relationship between the BGCT and CBF is a major factor in all of that. There are a number of BGCT leaders who have initiated an approach to bring the BGCT back closer to the SBC. That probably has a lot to do with the CBF state organization in Texas keeping a low profile.