The Pathway

Official News Journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention

 

 

Dr. Charles Wade: Featured Speaker for New Convention

Dr. Charles Wade is the executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. He was also the featured speaker for the founding meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Missouri. The selection of Dr. Wade by the leaders of the new convention as the featured speaker reveals not only how anti-SBC and pro-CBF the new alternative convention will be, but how far these moderate leaders have moved from the mainstream of Missouri Baptist life.

Missouri Baptists overwhelmingly support the SBC, but Dr. Wade personifies the political efforts in Texas to sever all ties between the BGCT and the SBC.  Missouri Baptists have clearly said "no" to the CBF, but Dr. Wade has served on the national CBF Coordinating Council and has been among its chief advocates in Texas.  Missouri Baptists have clearly said "no" to the so-called "Mainstream" movement in Missouri, but Dr. Wade has served on the board and has been among the chief advocates of Texas Baptist Committed, the mother organization of the National Mainstream Network, whose executive director, Dr. David Currie, serves on both the national CBF Coordinating Council and on the board of one of the most radical religious-left, pro-homosexual groups in the United States (The Interfaith Alliance).  Missouri Baptists clearly said "no" to the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs because of the liberalism that permeates this heavily CBF-funded organization, but Dr. Wade now serves on the board of this group also.  Indeed, Dr. Wade was an honest choice for the leaders of the new "Baptist General Convention of Missouri," for he certainly represents their views, values and agenda.          

 

Who is Dr. Charles Wade? 

  • In 1990, Dr. Wade served on the CBF's Interim Steering Committee. 

  • From 1991 to 1994, Dr. Wade served on the national CBF Coordinating Council. 

  • In 1990, Dr. Wade served as chairman of Texas Baptists Committed, an anti-SBC political group led by Dr. David Currie. Dr. Currie has served on the national CBF Coordinating Council since 1996 and on the board of The Interfaith Alliance, a leading religious-left, pro-homosexual activist group, since 1997. 

  • From 1991 to 1995, Dr. Wade served on the Executive Committee of Texas Baptists Committed, the political arm of the CBF in Texas. 

  • In 1995, Dr. Wade was elected president of the BGCT where he served two one year terms. 

  • In April of 1998, Dr. Wade traveled throughout Texas "sharing the CBF vision" as part of the CBF's "Celebrate the Spirit: Learn the Truth" campaign in Texas. 

  • At the 1998 CBF General Assembly, Dr. Wade served as a "breakout" leader. 

  • At the 1999 CBF General Assembly, Dr. Wade served as a program leader.  

  • In September of 1999, Dr. Wade was elected as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT). 

  • After his election as executive director of the BGCT, Dr. Wade was the featured speaker at the February 2001 meeting of the National Mainstream Baptist Network, a coalition of anti-SBC / pro-CBF state organizations led by David Currie, coordinator of Texas Baptists Committed. 

  • After the 2001 CBF General Assembly, Wade “applauded” the CBF for “making what he called a clear statement against homosexuality.” Wade told Texas Baptists that the majority of those represented at the CBF General Assembly affirmed the position that Texas Baptists have held all along.” The CBF “value statement” regarding homosexuality, which passed on a 701 – 502 vote, only prevented “the purposeful hiring of a staff person or the sending of a missionary who is a practicing homosexual.” Churches that ordain or “marry” homosexual persons are still fully participating churches within the CBF. Homosexual persons, or CBF people supportive of homosexuality, are still elgible to serve on the CBF Coordinating Council. The four CBF “partnering” schools of theology that have pro-homosexual admissions policies, which was the original reason for the “value statement,” still receive CBF funding through scholarships and/or institutional support. The three CBF partnering schools of theology that allow same-sex ceremonies in their chapels are still in good standing with CBF and receive CBF funding. The CBF position on homosexuality and the position of the BGCT are indeed different. In 1998, the BGCT Executive Board voted to refuse financial contributions from University Baptist Church in Austin because the church ordained a practicing homosexual as a deacon. 

  • Dr. Wade, along with CBF coordinator Daniel Vestal, also serves on the board of the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. The BJCPA receives in excess of $250,000 annually from the CBF and about $63,000 from the BGCT. Among those serving on the board of the BJCPA with Wade is: David Currie, CBF Coordinating Council member and board member of the pro-homosexual Interfaith Alliance; Stan Hastey, formerly the associate director of the BJCPA and currently the executive director of the Alliance of Baptists, a group which openly supports the full acceptance of homosexuality; Charles Adams, who served as a featured speaker at the Progressive Religious Partnership (PRP), a joint effort by the strongly pro-homosexual People for the American Way and the Regas Institute to organize “progressive” religious voices to compete with conservative Christians in the public arena. According to the PRP founding conference: “…we boldly set forth our affirmation of gay marriage as part of God’s design which we will bless before the throne of God. And we do so as people committed to the Bible.” Interestingly, Carole Shields, co-chair of People for the American Way, is a recent past member of the BJCPA board. BJCPA executive director Brent Walker and BJCPA board member Cynthia Holmes (who serves on both the Missouri and national CBF Coordinating Councils) serve together on the trustee board of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a group which has been on the cutting edge of pro-homosexual / pro-abortion activism. For the BJCPA’s 2001 Religious Liberty Sunday Sermon, the group chose Dr. Rev.James C. Miller, pastor of First Baptist Church of America. Dr. Miller was recipient of The Interfaith Alliance’s 2000 Walter Cronkite Faith and Freedom Award. Dr. Miller received the award because he “served as an outspoken activist for tolerance by advocating for the inclusion of gays in Boy Scouting and by sponsoring a community forum to address the issue of gays and lesbians in political life.” 

  • Since his election as executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, Dr. Wade has led the moderate-controlled Texas state convention to completely de-fund the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; to virtually de-fund the SBC's six seminaries; and to virtually de-fund the SBC Executive Committee. The BGCT has "diverted" over $1 million from the SBC's North American Mission Board and most recently has launched an all-out assault against the SBC's International Mission Board.

  • As the BGCT continues its gradual severing of all ties with the SBC, it is increasingly clear that the moderate-controlled Texas state convention is moving rapidly toward the formation of its own “mission sending” agency. According to the May 13, 2002 issue of the Texas Baptist Standard, a subcommittee of the BGCT’s “Missions Review and Initiatives Committee,” chaired by former CBF Global Missions coordinator Keith Parks, will hold “listening sessions” across Texas to explore “new initiatives” in missions. A letter was sent to every BGCT-related church signed by Parks and Wade encouraging churches to “participate in the ongoing discussion.”