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Mission president's resignation baffles local Baptists
(The Decatur Daily (AL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 22--Local Southern Baptists were raising eyebrows but not fretting over Monday's resignation of the president of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board.
The Rev. Donnell Brown, director of missions for Morgan Baptist Association, said he expects to hear from fellow Southern Baptists about the upheaval.
"Anytime there's a collapse at the top, people wonder," he said.
Baptists contacted said they aren't worried about the future of the suburban Atlanta agency, which supports more than 5,000 mission workers and oversees extensive relief work.
"The strength of the (mission) board lies with the 45,000 Southern Baptist churches,"said the Rev. Buddy Champion, pastor of Decatur First Baptist Church.
Bob Reccord's resignation was effective immediately. NAMB's board of trustees put Reccord under a set of "controls" a month ago after a probe, in part citing poor management and a seeming conflict of interest.
The Georgia Baptist Christian Index newspaper printed a February expose of Reccord and some NAMB practices. Reccord announced his resignation to employees four days after seeking advice from several prominent SBC pastors, Associated Baptist Press reported
The Rev. Barry Holcomb of Andalusia, president of the board, said after an eight-hour trustee meeting March 23, Southern Baptists could "trust what we're doing here at NAMB."
Champion said NAMB will likely remain strong, although "it concerns me any time someone needs to resign because of questionable leadership." He said trustees will continue to follow up on concerns raised and will find new leadership.
First Baptist has collected more than $20,000 so far this spring for an annual offering for North American missions. That money goes to support missionaries. The church also has budgeted $210,000 for Baptist mission causes this year, part of which goes to Cooperative Program support for NAMB.
'Most effective'
Brown said he had never met Reccord but has associated with people who had high praise for him. Brown said it's disturbing that a man of Reccord's reputation and influence would face downfall.
James Petty of Decatur, who has done volunteer work in many places for NAMB over 31 years, said he's sorry about Reccord's departure. He said he had never met Reccord but had frequent contact with people who reported directly to him.
The president was mission-minded and seemed unafraid to try new ways and take risks to help people, he said.
"Bob Reccord, in my opinion, has been the most effective (president) of them all," Petty said. He called him a decision maker.
"Maybe that fueled some resentment from trustees," he said.
Also, trustees are mostly older adults, and Reccord had been seeking ideas from younger people, Petty said.
Petty said he appreciated that Reccord required all NAMB employees to go on at least one mission trip a year. The agency apparently had some employees lacking hands-on mission experience, he said. Petty said he worked with NAMB employees recently while coordinating relief work on the Alabama coast after Hurricane Katrina.
Any concerns about the board's future are tied to "who we get in there," Petty said.
ABP reported that the investigation found fault with Reccord for "poor management, autocratic decision-making, extravagant spending on failed ministry projects, apparent conflicts of interest in no-bid contracts for a friend and creating 'a culture of fear' that prevented staffers from questioning the abuses."
Trustees criticized Reccord for frequent absences and speaking engagements unrelated to the board's work and for traveling to a London premiere of "The Chronicles of Narnia," which cost NAMB $3,800.
Some unidentified trustees complained to ABP that Reccord wanted a national media spotlight and did not involve trustees in decisions involving millions of dollars.
Reccord, an Indiana native, was pastor of a large church in Norfolk, Va., when elected president of the newly created NAMB nine years ago.
The convention formed the expanded agency to incorporate its Home Mission Board, Brotherhood department and other organizations.
Holcomb said following Reccord's resignation that the trustees' investigation and an audit found no evidence that Reccord had done anything unethical in his role as president.
'No one's fault'
"Dr. Reccord has aptly noted that in Convention life, entrepreneurial leadership and denominational requirements may be at odds with one another. This is no one's fault -- it is simply a reality. There is no question that God has some special things in store for the next chapter of this 'out-of-the-box' thinker," Holcomb said in a statement to NAMB employees.
He said that Reccord will serve as a liaison between NAMB and Promise Keepers through October to fulfill an earlier arrangement. Reccord told employees he doesn't know what he will do next but has had several contacts about ministry.
NAMB's chief financial officer, Carlos Ferrer, is now acting executive. He joined the former Home Mission Board in 1992 as controller.
The board will consider naming an interim president at its May 2 meeting, as well as start the process for finding a new president, Holcomb stated.
The other current trustee from Alabama, Ellie Ficken of Montgomery, served on a task force to investigate the allegations against Reccord and to recommend the board's response.
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