The Missouri Baptist Convention voted at the 2003 Convention in St. Louis to establish MoBARF "to help defray costs incurred in a continuing legal battle with five MBC institutions."
According to Pathway, Word
& Way, and the St.
Louis Post-Dispatch, "the convention's legal expenses have been piling up since
it went to court about two years ago to exert authority to approve boards of trustees for
five Baptist groups."
The Convention set up MoBARF with a promise that its one-million-dollar goal will not
detract from the Cooperative Program giving of MBC churches nor dwarf the Rheubin South
state missions offering. The Baptist Building in Jefferson City will be used as
collateral.
"That [MoBARF] will allow the largest churches to step up to the plate and continue to support the (court) effort and will allow those churches who oppose going to court not to pay," said Roger Moran, "research director" of the six-member Missouri Baptist Layman's Association and leader of Project 1000.
The Convention has already more than depleted its Strategic Initiatives Fund currently with a estimated deficit of ($2,818,267.98). which was used to cover legal expenses conservatively estimated to be $3,560,767.98.. MoBARF is designed to cover the increasing costs of the Convention's lawsuits.
MissouriBaptists.org offers a compiled list of all "the largest churches" that are stepping "up to the plate" to fund MoBARF in 2004. As of June 16, contributing churches to reach the $1,000,000 include:
To add your church to this list, please contact us at missouri@mail.missouribaptists.org.
For additional insights: