November 29, 2007 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Should a charity board member write a blog? That question is being raised after the trustees of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board suspended one of its members for writing critical comments about the organization on his personal blog.
The Richmond, Va., group, which oversees the Southern Baptist Convention’s missionary and relief work abroad, temporarily suspended a trustee, Wade Burleson, pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church, in Enid, Okla., for violating the trustees’ code of conduct.
Since 2005 Mr. Burleson has written critiques of the International Mission Board on his blog, Grace and Truth to You.
The censure motion said Mr. Burleson failed to follow rules that trustees “refrain from public criticism of board-approved actions” and “scrupulously avoid either the fact or the appearance” of having disclosed information or private conversations from board meetings.
“Wade Burleson has shared private conversations with fellow trustees on his blog and with others who are not trustees,” John Floyd, chairman of the board of trustees, said in a written statement. “He has spoken in disparaging terms of his fellow trustees and has persisted in public criticism of board policies for missionary qualifications, adopted by the board in 2005 and reaffirmed by the board in 2007, instead of supporting our policies or, if he has nothing good to say about them, simply remaining silent on the issue.”
In a posting written after the trustees voted, Mr. Burleson said he continues to support the organization and its leadership, but questions the reasoning behind the suspension.
“I will always speak, and have always spoken, in positive and supportive terms of the mission and people of the IMB, both missionaries and trustees,” he wrote. “I do agree that I have sometimes, not often, spoken critically about actions of our board, but I have a hard time understanding how a trustee can be supportive of board actions that he does not personally support.”
The full text of the censure motion is available on the International Mission Board’s Web site.
Mr. Burleson’s response to the motion is available on his blog.
