{"id":1387,"date":"2010-12-17T05:00:45","date_gmt":"2010-12-17T12:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=1387"},"modified":"2010-12-17T05:00:45","modified_gmt":"2010-12-17T12:00:45","slug":"toward-transparency-disclose-sbc-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=1387","title":{"rendered":"Toward Transparency: Disclose SBC Pay!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Containing revisions made by the author, this post was originally\u00a0published at SBC Voices <\/a>on December 16, 2010.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of \u00a0openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and\u00a0establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.\u00a0Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and\u00a0effectiveness in Government.\u00a0 President Barack Obama<\/strong><\/p>\n

Component Two: Making Our Values Transparent: We must also work toward the creation of a new and healthy culture within the Southern Baptist Convention. If we are to grow together and work together in faithfulness to the command of Christ, we must establish a culture of trust, transparency, and truth among all Southern Baptists. . . .\u00a0 (G<\/strong>CR\u00a0Final Report and Recommendations)<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Talk is cheap!\u00a0 Does anyone, other than his most\u00a0blindly loyal supporters, still believe that President Obama has shown leadership in\u00a0creating an “unprecedented level of openness in Government?”\u00a0 <\/em>That’s what I thought.\u00a0 Obama, like his predecessors,\u00a0spoke eloquently\u00a0of the lofty principles of transparency and openness in Government before assuming the reigns of power.\u00a0 However, once in office, Obama’s\u00a0leadership on this issue, like so many others, has simply\u00a0not matched his\u00a0soaring rhetoric.<\/p>\n

Six months\u00a0following the passage of the GCR Task Force’s Final Report,\u00a0which included\u00a0“Component Two: Making Our Values Transparent,”<\/em> how are we doing in establishing “a culture of trust, transparency, and truth among all Southern Baptists?”<\/em>\u00a0That’s what I thought too.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If the leadership within the SBC\u00a0— including the GCRTF — wanted to “work toward the creation of a new and healthy culture within the Southern Baptist Convention,” <\/em>their very first action would not have been\u00a0to put the “patient” on life support!\u00a0 Even if the Task Force and its supporters misread their mandate coming out of Orlando<\/a>, I’m\u00a0convinced\u00a0that they have been surprised by the breadth and depth of the pushback against\u00a0the GCR\u00a0recommendations.\u00a0 However, what should one expect when there\u00a0was a lack of transparency and openness (which was promised) in the GCR process followed by\u00a0the unbelievable\u00a0lack of transparency\u00a0and openness when the Task Force unilaterally sealed their records for 15 years.<\/a><\/p>\n

If we are to create the “transparent and open” culture that the GCR Task Force wrote so eloquently about (and which all Southern Baptists deserve), we must begin to take bold steps.\u00a0 Those in leadership positions within the Convention, particularly those who serve at the executive level in our entities, must be willing to lead by taking\u00a0the first steps toward true transparency.\u00a0 If they fail to move, then grassroots Southern Baptists will have no choice but to demand new leaders who understand they are accountability to the churches of our Convention.<\/p>\n

The first step on the road to a more transparent and open culture is always the hardest to take, but take it we must if we are to have any hope of continuing to cooperate together for the sake of missions and ministry.\u00a0 In the long\u00a0and\u00a0difficult journey that lies ahead of us as Southern Baptists, there are several positive steps that could be\u00a0taken to restore trust and establish transparency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I respectfully\u00a0suggest one such step\u00a0for serious consideration.\u00a0 Others before me have called for this step to be taken.\u00a0 I have no illusions that our current leaders will take this step.\u00a0 In fact, if past is prologue, I do not believe that many within the leadership class of the SBC will rush to be the first to step up and step\u00a0out.<\/p>\n

What step am I and others calling our leaders to take?\u00a0\u00a0To voluntarily disclose the compensation\/benefits packages for all executive level employees (Presidents and Vice-Presidents) at all SBC entitites!\u00a0 <\/strong>Why do the trustee boards of the various SBC agencies, boards and seminaries refuse to release the compensation and benefits packages of their top executives?\u00a0 I am well aware that churches and conventions of churches, like the SBC, are exempt from\u00a0the IRS’s mandatory disclosure requirements.\u00a0 However, just because the\u00a0Federal Government\u00a0gives churches and religious organizations certain exemptions does not mean that we\u00a0should use the First Amendment as a shield\u00a0against doing what is right!\u00a0<\/p>\n

As to objections to even voluntary disclosure, we continue to hear the same worn-out arguments sounded from the offices in Nashville, Richmond, and Alpharetta:\u00a0 \u201cWhat? Don\u2019t you trust us? You voted for the trustees. Let them do their job of oversight and just trust them. If you really trusted leadership, you should not have to know what everyone makes?\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not a matter of lack of trust on the part of the membership of the SBC. It\u2019s a matter of our trustees and those in positions of leadership, who are supposed to serve the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention, taking the necessary steps that will ensure that we are fiduciarily sound and above reproach. And, for the record, I do not know whether or not any of the high-level executives at any of our entities are “fairly” compensated or “excessively” compensated.\u00a0 I would certainly hope the former and not the latter.<\/p>\n

The call that I and others have made regarding transparency, including in the compensation and benefits packages (and even retirement packages<\/a>), is a call to create more \u201ctrust, transparency, and truth among ALL Southern Baptists.\u201d <\/em>When people from all walks of life \u2013 most of whom would not be considered \u201cwealthy\u201d \u2014 continue to give sacrificially to the mission and ministry of the Southern Baptist Convention, then I believe we have an obligation to ensure that their (i.e., God\u2019s) money is being wisely spent. Our moral and fiduciary obligations begin at the local church level. When our members and others invest their financial resources to support the local church, there should be a high level of accountablility and transparency in our church finances.<\/p>\n

I would not call for this kind of disclosure on the national level if I were not a proponent of it on the local level. That\u2019s why every member of my congregation not only knows what my compensation\/benefits package is, but actually votes to approve it.\u00a0 No hidden jet leases to defend. Everything\u2019s out in the open. I know that\u2019s a novel concept to some of the larger churches in the SBC, but to most grassroots churches that still practice some form of congregational polity, this is just a common sense (and transparent) way of doing church.<\/p>\n

I suppose that some (many) leaders within the Southern Baptist Convention will continue to ignore calls for transparency and openness in the area of compensation\/benefits disclosure.\u00a0 The demand for more transparency and openness \u2014 including a demand for OUR trustee boards to voluntarily disclose compensation\/benefits packages for OUR Presidents and Vice-Presidents who serve OUR entities \u2014 will only continue to grow.<\/p>\n

We need leaders in our\u00a0SBC entities\u00a0who will lead their trustee boards to implement voluntary\u00a0disclosure of executive level compensation\/benefits packages\u00a0immediately!\u00a0 And, we need trustees who will serve the best interests of the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention by standing up for what is right, even if it won’t get them appointed to another trustee position.\u00a0 Remember, it only takes one to get a fire going!<\/p>\n

After all, if the Boy Scouts (here<\/a>), American Red Cross (here<\/a>), and even the dreaded ACLU (here<\/a>) are required to disclose executive level pay, shouldn\u2019t we expect much more from the SBC?\u00a0 Which leader will take that first step? Will it come from one of our seminary Presidents? Perhaps from Dr. Frank Page, President of the Executive Committee? Maybe a dark horse that no one expects (I can think of a few)?\u00a0 If our leaders don’t begin to take steps\u00a0to implement the vision of\u00a0true transparency, the grassroots will continue to speak out with their voices and eventually with their money!\u00a0 I hear that some churches in the past\u00a0actually lowered their giving when they didn’t agree with the\u00a0leadership and\u00a0vision\u00a0of our entities.\u00a0 It could happen again.\u00a0 Go figure!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Containing revisions made by the author, this post was originally\u00a0published at SBC Voices on December 16, 2010. \u201cMy Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of \u00a0openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and\u00a0establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration.\u00a0Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[24,35,37,40],"tags":[129,312,361,362,403,433,458,3392,3393,996],"class_list":["post-1387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-great-commission-resurgence","category-religion","category-southern-baptist-convention","category-transparency-2","tag-barack-obama","tag-disclosure-of-compensation","tag-executive-committee-of-the-southern-baptist-convention","tag-executive-compensation","tag-frank-page","tag-gcr","tag-great-commission-resurgence-task-force","tag-religion","tag-southern-baptist-convention","tag-transparency"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LP7G-mn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}