In another thread, a BB member seemed to question the investments of the SBC Annuity Board. Now, I am willing to claim ignorance over any controversy here, but as a SBC Pastor, I would like to know what is being implied.
I did a quick Google search and the only controversial thing I could find was a question over whether or not the Annuity Board should divest of its holdings in Carnival Cruise lines over "G*y Days" back in 2004. Apparently the AB held that Carnival in no way promoted this, nor could they legally prevent it, thus they felt that it would not be reasonable to divest in a company being used by a third party outside of its control.
The Pres. of the Annuity Board, O.S. Hawkins, reiterated their policy as follows:
"The Annuity Board is very much in sympathy with those who have concerns related to investing in certain companies. We have a strong investment policy which states, 'Investments are prohibited in any company that is publicly recognized as determined by the Annuity Board as being in the liquor, tobacco, gambling, pornography or abortion industries, or any company whose products, services, or activities are publicly recognized as being incompatible with the moral and ethical posture of the Annuity Board.'" (from Baptist Press)
Is this the controversy referred to in the other thread? Is there something I am missing beyond this? It would seem to me that the implication was a pretty serious charge, thus I hope those who made it would be willing to respond.
SBC Annuity Board Investments Controversial?
Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Crucified in Christ, Mar 10, 2011.
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preachinjesus Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
The accusations of Guidestone (what used to be called the Annuity Board) are over-inflated. The organization goes to great lengths to reconcile their investments with the principled stands of the denomination and churches they serve.
I'd go so far to say that the onus is on the accuser(s) to show any erroneous investments over the past several years that have been part of the Guidestone portfolio. It's a good organization dealing prudently with a touchy issue. :) -
The thread was about an Executive Committee decision concerning an organization that openly accepts homosexuals. This organization claims certain SBC churches as being aligned with them. The said churches evidently don't affirm that alliance. In essence, this was slam job on the SBC. GB, a known SBC basher, tried to derail the thread by making supposedly unfounded accusation against GuideStone. I'd love to see his proof that they are making morally questionable investments.
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From the 2004 SBC:
http://www.abpnews.com/content/view/2105/117/
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Update:
According to Guidestone(Annuity Board)'s June 2010 semiannual report, holdings included 16,593 shares of Carnival Corporation worth half a million dollars.
Six months later, the Dec. 2010 annual report shows 15,421 Carnival shares worth more than seven hundred thousand dollars.
Woohoo! Quite a jump in value!
Seems like the denominational bureaucrats know what's best. -
Talk about gullible.
UPI: Carnival rejects 'cougar' cruise