Southern Baptists weigh quitting allianc

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Registered: 03-23-2003
Southern Baptists weigh quitting allianc
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Mon, 06-14-2004 - 5:35pm

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Southern%20Baptists


Monday, June 14, 2004 · Last updated 12:30 p.m. PT


Southern Baptists weigh quitting alliance


By RICHARD N. OSTLING
AP RELIGION WRITER


INDIANAPOLIS -- At a meeting that marks the 25th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention's rightward shift, the effects of that swing may be felt Tuesday in a vote on pulling out of the Baptist World Alliance and the election of another conservative president.


The executive committee of the SBC - America's largest Protestant body, with 16.3 million members - voted in February to quit the world alliance. Thousands of voters at the annual gathering are likely to approve the move.


Based in Falls Church, Va., the alliance is a loose association representing 46 million Baptists in 211 denominations. SBC officials have complained that the organization is too theologically liberal, and that it has taken on an anti-American tone.


A pullout would mean the loss of the alliance's largest member body and a third of its income. The alliance was founded 99 years ago, with the SBC among its primary founders.


The next president of the denomination also will be elected Tuesday, with the Rev. Bobby Welch of Daytona Beach, Fla., the only announced candidate.


There was no such unity 25 years ago, when conservative Southern Baptists - gathered in Houston - won a critical presidential contest, electing the Rev. Adrian Rogers of Memphis, Tenn. Other conservative leaders followed, using their appointment powers to enforce strict policies at denominational agencies and schools.


Rogers was to preach at a pre-convention pastors' conference but stayed home due to heart trouble and delivered a video greeting.


Other leaders in what the winners call the "conservative resurgence" and their moderate opponents label the "fundamentalist takeover" were to speak at a 25th anniversary celebration Monday night.


The world alliance split has been simmering for months, and the SBC has denied the alliance exhibit space at this week's meeting.


A December report from an SBC task force complained that some alliance participants had questioned "the truthfulness of Holy Scripture," refused to affirm the necessity of conscious faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and promoted "women as preachers and pastors."(me:  GASP!!)


The report also said some groups had taken on "a decided anti-American tone," and had criticized the SBC and its foreign mission board.


The last straw came in 2003 when the alliance accepted as a member the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a rival group to the SBC formed by moderates.


When the SBC leadership decided to propose the pullout to the annual meeting, the moderate editor of the Texas convention newspaper charged that "fundamentalists must control. What they cannot control, they abandon and undermine."


However, officials of the alliance and the SBC conferred in April, and said if a pullout does occur, they'll continue regular talks to resolve issues so the SBC can rejoin "in the not too distant future."


Meanwhile, the SBC women's auxiliary plans to continue cooperating with the alliance, while the denomination explores alternative ties to evangelicals overseas. Another measure up for approval here would allow non-Baptist U.S. evangelicals to join the SBC's health, insurance and retirement plans.(me:  Is this a church or an insurance company??)


On Wednesday, the meeting will issue statements on various issues, with gay marriage and public schools dominating the pre-convention speculation on what the resolutions committee will propose.


One text, submitted to the committee by two prominent hard-liners, would encourage Southern Baptists to remove their children from "officially Godless" public schools in favor of Christian day schools or home schooling.


If the committee proposes a statement on education, observers expect it will water down that language.


Another issue that could arise is outgoing SBC President Jack Graham's call for another study on whether the denomination should drop its "Southern" name to underscore its national and international reach.


---


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Southern Baptist Convention: http://www.sbc.net

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 12:26pm

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Southern%20Baptists


Wednesday, June 16, 2004 · Last updated 9:05 a.m. PT


Southern Baptists reject school pullout


By RICHARD N. OSTLING
AP RELIGION WRITER


INDIANAPOLIS -- The Southern Baptist Convention voted down a controversial proposal Wednesday that would have asked parents to pull their children from public schools in favor of religious education.


On the final day of the denomination's annual meeting, some 8,500 church representatives also approved a call to amend the U.S. Constitution to bar gay marriage. The 16.3 million-member SBC is the nation's largest Protestant body.


Earlier this year, a statement denouncing "government schools" as "officially Godless" had been proposed by retired Air Force General T.C. Pinckney of Alexdandria, Va., and attorney Bruce Shortt of Spring, Texas.


The meeting's resolutions committee rejected that in favor of a broader and less pointed warning against "the cultural drift in our nation toward secularism."


Pinckney took the floor to move a briefer amendment encouraging parents to provide their children "a thoroughly Christian education" through private day schools or home schooling. That was defeated that by a show of hands after the most spirited debate of the meeting.


The Rev. Calvin Wittman of Wheat Ridge, Colo., who chaired the resolutions committee, said half its members are home schoolers but the panel opposed Pinckney's bid because parents must decide.


Baptists must be careful "not to usurp the authority that God has placed firmly in the home," he said, and there isn't enough consensus among church members to issue such a statement.


The gay marriage resolution passed without debate. It commended President Bush, who spoke to the meeting Tuesday, for supporting a proposed federal marriage amendment.


The text said "the union of one man and one woman is the only form of marriage prescribed in the Bible as God's perfect design" and "this traditional family is the fabric of all social order and the foundational institution that builds and maintains strong societies."


Other resolutions that were approved Wednesday without dissent by the staunchly conservative gathering:


-Urged all U.S. Christians to register and "vote in accordance with biblical values."


-Expressed "pride and strong support for our American military."


-Praised Ronald Reagan for his "strong belief in the Bible and its answers to life's problems" and pledged to "perpetuate the positive values" his life exemplified..


-Thanked those who led the "conservative resurgence" in the SBC beginning 25 years ago that "led us back to our historic biblical moorings."


---


On the Net:


Southern Baptist Convention: http://www.sbc.net

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 12:46pm

"Which is exactly WHY I became an "outsider". "
Your choice, which was right for you.
Ah...I see...you're being 'tolerant' of my beliefs!


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 2:37pm
"Yep, I do. And while I strongly believe you to be wrong, I also understand that this is something that only you can change. "

Could we be more different? :) No change is coming on this side.

"Yes, I do...because I don't believe in putting myself above others "

I don't myself above others, but I do believe my belief system is superior.

Christianity vs. Whatever

United States vs. Whatever

Conservatism vs. whatever

If I don't believe that my beliefs are superior than it would seem to me to be nearly impossible to be willing to fight and die for them. If a soldier doesn't believe in the superiority of his side and all sides are equal then why fight for it? Just join the other side.

I don't really have a dog in the fight about public schools. Frankly, removing all the other issues, the public school system is failing miserably at just educating our children. Now I think there are a number of reasons for this, too many to go into now. My children will not step foot in a public school. Besides being immoral I don't think they could teach a chicken to cluck and when they fail to do so they'll blame it on lack of funds.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 3:15pm

Could we be more different? :) No change is coming on this side.

Honestly, I wasn't holding my breath.

"Yes, I do...because I don't believe in putting myself above others "
I


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 3:28pm
"One can believe something is not superior and yet still be willing to fight for it."

I doubt it. If I didn't think my cause was superior I wouldn't die for it. Wouldn't make much sense.

"The world is not just black and white after all."

Moral Relativism vs. Absolute Morality

Guess which side I fall on.



Oh and give my congrats to your DD on her graduation. Tell her there is some wacko righty that her mom argues with on the net that says congradulations. One question.

Can she cluck like a chicken?

:)

Jim

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 4:01pm

I doubt it. If I didn't think my cause was superior I wouldn't die for it. Wouldn't make much sense.


But you'd be willing to change sides then?


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 4:23pm
"But you'd be willing to change sides then? "

Huh?

"Moral Relativism vs. Absolute Morality

Guess which side I fall on.

I'm sorry."

lol, don't be.



"Yes, as well as...."

You should be. I'm sure it has more to do with the parental involvement than the school itself.

Jim

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2003
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 4:41pm
<
Guess which side I fall on.>>

the RIGHT side

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 4:48pm
am I that transparent?

:)

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 06-16-2004 - 5:45pm

"But you'd be willing to change sides then? "
Huh?


Your comment...if it's not 'superior' then why not just changes sides?