The topic of alcohol continues to be discussed at the state conventions related to the Southern Baptist Convention, with the Florida Baptist State Convention among those taking prominent action this fall. At their annual meeting last week, Florida Baptists approved a bylaws revision requiring only teetotalers to serve on the state convention’s boards.

Last month, the Missouri Baptist Convention passed a nonbinding resolution that states that no one elected to a board or committee in that state convention should be a “user of alcoholic beverages.” That one passed after a resolutions committee initially declined to report it for a vote.

Earlier this month, attendees at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, approved a bylaws change that declared alcohol use as an unacceptable practice for staffers and board members.

The topic was also addressed on the floor of the Greensboro, N.C. meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006, when those in attendance overwhelming passed a resolution-after some spirited debate-that declared their “total opposition” to alcohol use.