Peace Committee mediator approved

By Allen Palmeri

Associate Editor

JEFFERSON CITY—The Peace Committee of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) is proceeding with a third-party mediator and two Executive Board-approved, non-voting, ex-officio members following board action Feb. 3.

In a special called meeting which was mainly for the purpose of calling MBC Executive Director David Tolliver to the position of leading the convention staff, board members voted to approve Johnny Johnson, a Peacemaker Ministries consultant, as an independent contractor for future Peace Committee meetings. This is “in compliance with the spirit” of the mandate of the committee, which is “to work things out in Missouri Baptist life.” The motion passed with opposition.

Also approved was a request by the Peace Committee that Tolliver and Roy Dameron, a retired minister from Concord Baptist Church here, be allowed to sit in on the meetings. Dameron is chairman of the Executive Board’s Administrative Committee.

Board members questioned Peace Committee Chairman Jeff Purvis, pastor, First Baptist Church, Herculaneum-Pevely, about the cost of bringing in Johnson. He said it would be “considerably less” than the original estimate of $10,000 for Peacemaker’s services. He also said that Steve Tanner, director of missions, Grand Crossings Baptist Association, Mexico, would be helping Johnson with the consulting work.

Due to the nature of the special called meeting, MBC President Bruce McCoy, pastor, Canaan Baptist Church, ruled a motion to disband the Peace Committee to be out of order. He then indicated that in his judgment, the same motion could be made at the April 14 board meeting. McCoy is one of six members serving on the Peace Committee.

The Peace Committee emerged in April 2008 as a way to address political posturing and repeated accusations of divisiveness over the last couple of years in Missouri Baptist life. Two groups of conservatives have been opposing each other, with the Peace Committee consisting of a 3-3 blend, according to many observers both within and outside the committee. As chairman, Purvis has worked to achieve consensus whenever possible, and committee members have tried to rise above the political labels that each of them wear as they seek to be balanced, fair, and truthful in their deliberations. Now they are heading into the mediation phase.

“That Peace Committee came from lots of prayer, lots of thought,” said Jody Shelenhamer, a layman from First Baptist Church, Bolivar, who was the board member who made the motion to form the Peace Committee. “God put that plan together, I felt like, and I still don’t feel like we should end it at this point.

“I look forward to the day when everybody comes together. We’re a lot further than we were last April. We’re just going to continue to work. It’s never a bad idea to have a third party. I’m all for it.”

Some board members are saying that “it’s time to move on,” and that grace and love and forgiveness are all that the current situation requires. Purvis understands their point of view, but he also states that repentance means more than simply saying “I’m sorry.” Purvis said it always involves a time of one believer going to another in an attempt to biblically reconcile their differences.

“Everybody wants to get to the truth of the matter, and there’s been a lot of talk about what was truth and what was not,” Purvis said. “Hopefully we’re going to lay all the facts out—things that we know that we can verify with two people or more. We’re going to try to get down to the root of who said what, when and where.”

Separate medical procedures and recuperation time involving Johnson and McCoy will prevent the committee from meeting in February, but Purvis hopes to pull the committee together sometime in March, with another meeting hopefully before the April board meeting

The group has already met together for a total of 37 hours.

“Time heals most problems,” Shelenhamer said. “We’re starting to see some healing.”