By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

COLD SPRING - The Southern Baptist Convention can't and won't step in to quell controversy at First Baptist Church in Cold Spring.

"We're not legally able to step in. We would not, and we cannot get involved," said John Revell, an associate in convention relations for the group's executive committee.

The congregation fractured in mid-January after Kentucky State Police announced they were investigating First Baptist's finances. Former church Treasurer Darryl Neltner had written police on Jan. 23 to say money from accounts controlled by pastor Larry Davis had been spent on gambling. Neltner identified a total of $500,000 to $600,000 in questionable transfers from church accounts. No one has been charged with a crime.

Unlike Christian denominations including Roman Catholic and Episcopal, which are hierarchical, authority in the Southern Baptist denomination starts with the congregation.

Each is autonomous and controls its own future. Churches have the option of joining local Baptist associations, state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention itself, Revell said.

"We do sometimes get requests to act related to a pastor doing something wrong, but we don't," he said. "It is between the church and the Lord. Its members are ultimately responsible for those situations."

The state convention has a little more flexibility.

"If a congregation asks us for help, we're certainly always glad to be of help, but we don't inject ourselves into situations," said Robert Reeves, communications director for the Kentucky Baptist Convention. "But the control is in the congregation, it has to come from them, and even then it would be on a consulting basis and not binding."

First Baptist Church of Cold Spring has made no such request, Reeves said.

And at the local level, Rick Robbins, executive director of the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association, would not comment on whether that association had been asked for help.

"I think they're working very hard to work through it. I just hope and pray that there will be reconciliation," Robbins said.

The local association is a group of 66 churches, primarily in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties, serving 35,000 Southern Baptists.

"They control us, so we don't control them," Robbins said. "We attempt to do anything they ask us to do. Certainly, if Cold Spring - or any other church - asked us for assistance, we would provide what we could."

Revell said that level of congregational autonomy is the way early Christians practiced their faith.

"That stems from our belief that the scripture teaches us that Jesus Christ is the head of local churches," he said.

Revell cites Article IV of the denomination's constitution, "While independent and sovereign in its own sphere, the Convention does not claim and will never attempt to exercise authority over any other Baptist body, whether church, auxiliary organizations, associations or convention."