Baptist news services reported that the Falls Church, Va.-based alliance learned of the decision in a letter from the convention manager of the meeting that will take place June 15-16 in Indianapolis.
"Because of the controversy surrounding this issue and the pending recommendation of the Executive Committee to the Southern Baptist Convention, it would be inappropriate to exhibit under these circumstances," wrote Jack Wilkerson in the Feb. 25 letter to the alliance.
"Should, perhaps, some resolution be reached on the issue, the exhibit space would again possibly be available."
The decision comes in the wake of a Feb. 17 vote by the denomination's Executive Committee to recommend to messengers, or delegates, that the Southern Baptist Convention cease its membership and funding of the alliance.
Southern Baptist officials have accused the alliance of a "leftward drift" and some of them were upset when the organization accepted the moderate Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as one of its more than 200 member bodies in 2003.
Denton Lotz, leader of the alliance, which has been affiliated with Southern Baptists for 99 years, called the February decision "a schism against love."
Alan Stanford, the alliance official to whom Wilkerson's letter was sent, told Baptist Press that the decision to exclude the alliance from the exhibit area seemed "premature" and would prevent meeting attendees from asking questions of alliance representatives before taking a vote on the recommended action.
"We are surprised and disappointed at the decision," Stanford said in a statement. "Our assumption was that we would be allowed to exhibit until the SBC voted to discontinue funding the BWA."
Wilkerson told Associated Baptist Press, an independent news service, that he chose to deny the space in part because of the alliance's responses to the recommendation by the Executive Committee.
"Let me just say that the comments that have been voiced by the BWA in the press articles and in person--in fact, just the press releases that have been released by the BWA--certainly are not supportive of the Southern Baptist Convention position," Wilkerson said.
