Belmont University Subpoenas and Tennessee Baptist Paperwork

Let's go over it one. more. time: Jim Porch, Executive Director of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, is sticking with the convention story that Belmont University is the bad guy because they refuse to acknowledge the validity of a 1951 document that includes a reversion clause. Belmont University's Board of Trustees Chairman, Marty Dickens, is sticking with Belmont's story that the 1951 document was modified at least twice by actions of the convention and that this whole mess is about control and money. Neither side appears to have budged from those positions. There are certainly other issues, but a judge may ultimately weigh the evidence supporting these two core issues...and then it is over.

Meanwhile...

Here's a bit of irony. The TBC couldn't come up with it's copy of the 1951 document, but according to this report, they have managed to come up with over 30,000 pages (that's 60 reams) of documents that allegedly relate to the case. Wouldn't you just love to know how much that cost in legal fees, staff time, and supplies? Thank goodness for our Cooperative Program dollars!

Belmont, who had a copy of the 1951 document, evidently couldn't match the TBC's 30,000 pages (again, that's 60 reams of paper) so they have subpoenaed 100 churches and mailed a letter to the rest. Not to be outdone, the TBC mailed a four page subpoena response letter to churches in the TBC, basically stating the two sentences in my opening paragraph.

...a final word on Paperwork

If Royal Ambassadors (a Baptist version of Boy Scouts) were still settling matters by spitball battles, wouldn't they have a great time with the reams of paper already stockpiled in this legal case. Not unlike RA's of old, no one is talking/thinking about the messy clean-up that will follow the aftermath of the conflict between these two institutions.

Maybe I need to crank up some copies of a Refugee Baptist application form. Paperwork is evidently the new Baptist 'ministry'.