SBC Conservatives Tighten Hold on Beliefs, Practices

In the SBC tradition: No on women pastors; no on abortion, no on gays, yes on capital punishment & Jesus is the only way

BY: Adelle M. Banks

ORLANDO, Fla., June 15 (RNS)--The Southern Baptist Convention, with the conservative resurgence that wrested control of the denomination now more than two decades old, shored up its traditional reputation during its annual meeting this past week--and even took it a big step further.

As expected, Southern Baptists at the two-day gathering that ended Wednesday adopted a revised statement of faith that clearly delineates what drafters say most Southern Baptists already believe: women aren't qualified by Scripture to be pastors; homosexuality, abortion and pornography should be opposed; and Jesus Christ paves the only way to salvation.

But Baptists also took a stand on an issue rarely addressed at an annual meeting: capital punishment. In the 1960s, messengers, as delegates are known, at an annual meeting deleted paragraphs from a resolution condemning the death penalty. At this meeting, they overwhelmingly passed a resolution supporting capital punishment.

"Life is sacred," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. "God himself in Genesis 9 said if you take a human being's life you will forfeit your life."

In addition to adopting the revised Baptist Faith and Message, the core statement of Baptist beliefs, and passing a number of other resolutions--addressing such topics as evangelism, religious persecution and the Boy Scouts--Southern Baptists also elected a new president during their meeting at the Orange County Convention Center here.

James Merritt, a Snellville, Ga., pastor, describes himself as the first baby-boomer president of the nation's largest Protestant denomination, with 15.9-million members. Though he followed the call to ministry "kicking and screaming" because he had originally planned to become a lawyer, Merritt eventually rose through Southern Baptist ranks and is the immediate past chairman of the denomination's Executive Committee.

Merritt, 47, succeeds Paige Patterson, one of the architects of the conservative resurgence that transformed the evangelical church body beginning in 1979.

Merritt voiced support for the revised language in the statement of faith, which included racism among a list of social issues Baptists should oppose, along with homosexuality, adultery and pornography.

The new language regarding women pastors reads: "While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture."

The Baptist Faith and Message statement is not binding on individual churches but adherence to it is expected, and it could be used in the process of barring churches from local and state associations and conventions as well as the national meeting.

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