c. 2007 Religion News Service

SAN ANTONIO _ The Baptist Faith and Message is a statement of belief that is supposed to tie Baptists together. And while Baptists generally agree with what it does include, they differ on how to deal with matters it does not.

That disagreement loomed large at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention here this week (June 12-13), and even after a vote that was meant to clarify the issue, Southern Baptists now differ on whether the vote clarified anything at all.

Rick Garner, a pastor from Liberty Township, Ohio, urged his fellow Baptists on Tuesday to affirm a statement from church leaders that the Baptist Faith and Message is “sufficient in its current form” to guide trustees at Baptist institutions in setting appropriate policies and practices.

Garner and many others said the vote was really a referendum on the ability of Baptist officials to make decisions on issues that fall outside the statement’s parameters.

“An affirmative vote is a vote for its sufficiency,” Garner argued before thousands of Baptists “messengers,” or delegates. “A negative vote is a vote for its insufficiency, and will effectively render the Baptist Faith and Message … anemic.”

After SBC President Frank Page called for a vote with paper ballots, the vote was 58 percent in favor and 42 percent against. But what it means depends on which Southern Baptist you ask.

Before the vote, Page said the debate reflects differences among the denomination’s theological conservatives about “secondary” issues _ not a rehash of old battles from the 1980s and ’90s between moderates and conservatives over what many consider the primary issues of biblical inerrancy and interpretation.

Still, in recent years, some have questioned whether Southern Baptist agencies _ a mission board and a seminary, for example _ have too narrowly defined what it means to be a Baptist by addressing issues not covered by the faith statement.

“I do think that what is happening is an attempt by many people _ and I do not know if it’s a majority _ to say that the pendulum has swung far enough,” said Page, who was re-elected to a second one-year term.

At issue are the boundaries of the faith statement: Is it a minimum consensus statement that expresses the bare essentials of Baptist belief, or is it a maximum statement that encompasses everything needed for Baptist life and belief?

Richard Land, president of the denomination’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said divorce is a key example.

“Those that are arguing that it’s a maximum statement are saying that the boards could not have a policy on the divorces of their personnel,” said Land. “I don’t think most Southern Baptists agree with that. … I argue that it’s the minimum. The trustees who are elected by the convention are free to set policies which would go beyond the Baptist Faith and Message, and divorce is a classic example.”

In the last decade, the statement of faith has been changed to say women should “graciously” submit to their husbands and the office of pastor was reserved for men. As revisions have occurred over the years, some Baptists are quick to note that the faith statement doesn’t address every issue of concern to members of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

One of them _ and the subject of recent controversy _ is speaking in tongues.

The Baptist Faith and Message does not specifically address the charismatic practice, yet the denomination’s International Mission Board has said missionaries who use a “private prayer language” should not be hired.

Asked if trustee boards should be able to make such a ruling, Page said he agrees with others who say speaking in a private prayer language is just that _ private _ and none of anyone else’s business.

“I would urge trustees not to make doctrinal statements that go beyond the Baptist Faith and Message,” he said.

Some of the more nontraditional leaders in the denomination, including younger leaders and bloggers, welcomed the faith statement vote. “If we weren’t Southern Baptists, we’d break out the champagne,” said Wade Burleson, a pastor in Enid, Okla., who has challenged some decisions by the International Mission Board.

Benjamin Cole, a blogger and pastor of an Arlington, Texas, church, said he hopes the vote that the faith statement is “sufficient” will lead to further discussion but fewer firings.

“This convention does not expect its SBC agencies, nor do we desire them, to impose alternate doctrinal prerequisites on their employees,” he said.

Yet after the vote, two seminary presidents took time during their reports to the convention to signal that they would do just that. R. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said he must ensure that potential faculty are “without error.”

“This denomination has adopted a trustee system because it is impossible for this convention, sitting in a plenary session like this, to interview a seminary professor,” Mohler said.

R. Philip Roberts, the president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo., cited a topic not addressed in the Baptist Faith and Message _ cross-dressing _ as to why decisions need to be made at the local level.

“Let me just say to you as president of Midwestern Baptist Seminary, any morning that one of our Steves shows up dressed like an Eve, that will be the last day they will work on our campus,” he said, drawing applause.

KRE/LFEND BANKS925 words

File photos of Frank Page are available via https://religionnews.com