Association invites seminary to make offer on disputed property

[FONT=&quot]Association invites seminary to make offer on disputed property[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By Ken Camp [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Tuesday, January 25, 2011[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]FORT WORTH, Texas (ABP) -- Tarrant Baptist Association’s executive board met Jan. 24 and unanimously approved a motion asking Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary either to purchase a disputed piece of property from the association at fair market value or submit the matter to arbitration.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Southwestern Seminary notified Tarrant Baptist Association before Christmas it had six months to vacate its offices on the edge of the seminary campus. The seminary asserted the association was in violation of its affiliation agreement -- in part because of perceived toleration of homosexuality by some member church or churches.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]But while Tarrant Association Moderator Al Meredith contends the seminary lacks authority to take unilateral action, he expressed hope the situation can be resolved -- either by the seminary purchasing the property from the association or by submitting the dispute to an arbitration panel.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Meredith, pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, repeatedly underscored his desire that the association’s longtime fraternal relationship with the seminary be maintained.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Southwestern Seminary officials did not respond to e-mail or phone calls requesting a response for this article.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The rest of the story is at http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/6068/53/[/FONT]