November (Web-only) 2002

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Shorter College leaves Georgia Baptist Convention
As expected, a dispute between Shorter College and the Georgia Baptist Convention over the school's board of trustees has led to a divorce between the two institutions.

"I'm relieved that the uncertainty is over, but I continue to be sad that two Christian groups have not been able to settle their issues without going to extremes," said Shorter President Ed Schrader.

Georgia Baptist Convention executive director, J. Robert White, also expressed regret. "We are very saddened by the decision made by the board of trustees of Shorter College," he said in a statement. "The Georgia Baptist Convention has contributed more than $26 million to Shorter College over the last 43 years. It is the continuing desire of the convention to share the relationship that the Georgia Baptist Convention and Shorter College have enjoyed."

The convention wanted to nominate candidates for the school's board of trustees to ensure that "only committed Baptists" filled the openings, but the school argued such an arrangement would damage its independence and risk its accreditation.

Some Baptist leaders say the convention needs to clamp down on its higher learning centers. "Instead of our Baptist kids coming home from college stronger in their faith, they come home with their faith totally destroyed," Georgia Baptist Convention leader Frank Cox, pastor of the North Metro Baptist Church in Lawrenceville, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Schrader says that separating from the convention doesn't mean the school isn't Baptist anymore. "I am well aware that there are schools who have distanced themselves from their home denominations and have become very secular," he said. "Shorter has a strong commitment from ...