NEWS STORY: Baptist Faith Statement Gets Mixed Reviews Among States

c. 2000 Religion News Service (UNDATED) The new statement of faith approved by the Southern Baptist Convention has drawn mixed reviews from Baptists across the country as its merits were debated on the floors of this fall’s state conventions. Nearly two dozen state conventions addressed the statement, which has drawn controversy and praise for its […]

c. 2000 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The new statement of faith approved by the Southern Baptist Convention has drawn mixed reviews from Baptists across the country as its merits were debated on the floors of this fall’s state conventions.

Nearly two dozen state conventions addressed the statement, which has drawn controversy and praise for its enunciation of the denomination’s basic beliefs held since the nation’s largest Protestant church body became dominated two decades ago by conservative leaders.


Of that number, 10 affirmed the Baptist Faith and Message, eight discussed it but did not affirm it and four have decided to take up the matter next year. At least 10 of the other state conventions _ there are 39 in all _ did not take any action on the matter.

One of the most lively discussions on the statement of faith came from a convention that didn’t even consider it for affirmation. The moderate-led Baptist General Convention of Texas voted in October to reduce its giving to Southern Baptist seminaries and other entities by more than $5 million. Officials encouraged the move in part because they believe the faith statement is now a creed _ a charge Southern Baptist leaders deny _ because seminary employees are required to sign it to retain their employment.

But for many of the conservative-dominated state conventions, passage of the document, which was approved at the SBC annual meeting in June, was more of a foregone conclusion.

“The debate was very brief,” said Anthony Jordan, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. “There were some people on both sides of the issue, but it overwhelmingly was adopted.”

Jordan said the statement will not serve as an employment requirement for convention employees and the state organization will continue to work with its autonomous churches whether they choose to accept the new faith statement or not.

In Alabama, a focus on unity led to the passage of a resolution that affirmed all the versions of the faith statement, which first was adopted in 1925. It was rewritten in 1963, amended in 1998 and revised again in 2000.

“We simply want to be inclusive rather than exclusive of the various viewpoints on confessions of faith to maintain harmony and unity in our convention,” said James Bruton, who served as chairman of the resolutions committee at this year’s Alabama Baptist State Convention.


By a vote of 879-747, messengers, or delegates, to the Kentucky Baptist Convention decided to appoint a committee to study the matter for a year before they made a decision.

“I think Kentucky Baptists simply felt like this was significant enough that it was something that we wanted to step back and take a close look at,” said Robert Reeves, spokesman for the state convention based in Louisville.

He said the yearlong study period will allow Baptists in the state to hear viewpoints “across the spectrum” from affiliated churches in the state.

In another close vote, a move to include the new statement in the articles of incorporation of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention failed to receive the required two-thirds majority.

Both moderate-led and conservative-led state conventions also chose not to address the matter at all.

“A year ago, we affirmed the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message, so there was no comment about or consideration of the 2000 statement,” said Bob Dale, assistant executive director of the moderate-led Baptist General Association of Virginia. Dale characterized the action as a “pre-emptive strike” and described the 1963 statement as “a good, basic middle-of-the-road statement of what Baptists have thought and done for several centuries.”


Many moderate Baptists have opposed the changes made since 1963, which include the 1998 addition of an article on the family that calls for wives to “graciously … submit” to their husbands. Former President Jimmy Carter said in October that that new article was one of the reasons he no longer considered himself a Southern Baptist.

New, conservative-led alternative state conventions in Texas and Virginia affirmed the new faith statement.

(OPTIONAL TRIM FOLLOWS)

Overall, the varying viewpoints on the Baptist Faith and Message across the state conventions reflect previous votes on the document, said Bill Merrell, spokesman for the SBC Executive Committee.

“When the ’25 confession of faith was adopted, there were churches, associations and state conventions that affirmed it,” he said. “Some looked at it and argued about it and said `We’re not going to do that’ and others basically kind of ignored it for a year or two.”

Sometimes, it takes four to five years before all who decide to affirm the statement have done so.

“Almost all Baptists hold now that confessions of faith are appropriate but they’re not required anywhere,” Merrell said.

Moderate Baptist leaders believe the latest version of that faith statement, especially its reference to “doctrinal authority” is evidence of conservative control in the denomination.


“This is what all the changes in the last 20 years resulted in,” said David Currie, coordinator of Texas Baptists Committed, a moderate group that has opposed the statement. “This is how far the Southern Baptist Convention has moved away from what it means to be Baptist.”

Merrell, on the other hand, believes most Southern Baptists support the document and said the affirmations across the country are proof that many are not persuaded by the view of moderate Texas leaders.

“There’s nothing to fear in this document,” he said. “It’s a consensus document.”

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