June 11, 2001

MOTIONS:
Three attempts to amend the 2000
Baptist Faith & Message statement fail
___By Charlie Warren
___Highlighting the 28 motions made during the 2001 Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans June 12-13 were three attempts to amend the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message statement. All three attempts failed overwhelmingly.
___Six motions focused on homosexuality. Other motions dealt with

A FAMILY from Texas registers for the SBC annual meeting.

everything from bivocational ministry to President George W. Bush’s faith-based initiatives to combining two SBC seminaries.
___Tony Waddle of Pulaski Heights Baptist Church, Little Rock, Ark., moved to reinsert the words " the criterion by which Scripture is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ" back into the BF&M.
___"If we do not recognize that Jesus is Lord over Scripture, we fail to realize He is Lord over all," Woodall said. "Jesus Christ must be the criteria by which we evaluate Scripture."
___Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and a member of the BF&M taskforce, spoke against the amendment "because this phrase is virtually the same that was soundly defeated by messengers last year." Land noted the phrase was not in the 1925 statement but was added in 1963.
___"It has been used to set up a false dichotomy between Christ and Scripture," Land said. "There is no dycotomy between Jesus and Scripture."
___Charles Wade, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and a messenger from First Baptist Church of Arlington, Texas, agreed there is no dichotomy between Jesus and Scripture, but "those of us who wish it (the criteria statement) to be left in do believe in the full authority of Scripture." Wade added that Jesus, who "inspired the thoughts of those who wrote Scripture down for us, is the One who should interpret Scripture for us."
___Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, said one of the editors of the Baptist Standard, news journal for Texas Baptists, wrote that Paul contradicted himself, therefore, Jesus must be the criterion to help us interpret Paul’s writings. "Southern Baptists have always believed the whole Bible is the Word of God," Kelley said, adding that there is no contradiction in Scripture and the Holy Spirit helps us understand Scripture.
___The amendment failed overwhelmingly.
___Fred Malone of First Baptist Church, Clinton, La., made a motion to amend Article 14 of the 2000 BF&M by adding the words, "informed by Holy Scripture" to the statement’s comments on the Lord’s Day.
___Malone said there was a significant change in the wording from both the 1925 and 1963 statements. "My concern is that this emphasizes personal conscience" rather than scriptural directive. "We are losing the sanctity of the Lords Day. It belongs to the Lord and not to us."
___ Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a BF&M taskforce member, spoke against motion. "Every part (of the 2000 statement) is informed by Holy Scripture. We should not be in the business of continually debating the BF&M on floor of convention. … On these truths we take our stand and we will not give an inch."
___ Adrian Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church of Cordova, Tenn., and a taskforce member, also spoke against the amendment, saying, "God does not lay down specific rules for the Lord’s Day. Any revision is superfluous."
___One messenger raised a point of order, noting that when all those speaking against amendments (all members of the BF&M taskforce) speak from the platform, it leaves the impression that the chair itself opposes the amendment. James Merritt, SBC president, assured messengers that the chair takes no position, strives for fairness and that the only reason the men were speaking from the platform was that the 2000 BF&M taskforce was present to assist the discussion.
___The amendment failed overwhelmingly.
___Steve Barrett of First Baptist Church, Waseca, Minn., moved that because "God’s Word provides sufficient instruction for both life and godliness" and "all opinions and not merely religious opinions" are ruled by Scripture, that the word "religious" be stricken from Article 1 of the BF&M.
___Barrett said the Bible provides instruction "seven days a week not just on Sunday morning." He said the word "religious" implies that the Bible speaks only to religious opinion. "We are saying God lied to us when we limit the bible to religious opinion."
___Mohler, speaking against the amendment, said, "We agree with the sentiment and conviction of Mr. Barrett. However, if we felt the word religious limited Scripture, we would have deleted it last year." He noted that the word was included in the 1925 statement and in no way limits Scripture.
___Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., also spoke against the amendment, saying, "Don’t pick black specks out of a black pebble."
___The amendment failed overwhelmingly.
___Terri Brown of Cedar Crest Baptist Church, West Monroe, La., who identified herself as the mother of a gay son, moved to ask "the appropriate entity of the SBC to develop ministry resources for those of us who for so long have suffered silently." Brown’s motion was referred to the North American Mission Board.
___Tim Wilkins of Richland Creek Community Church, Wake Forest, N.C., moved to request SBC seminaries to "explore and implement methods to train students in reaching the homosexual for Christ and discipling them." His motion was referred to the seminaries.
___Randy Thomas of South Lake, Texas, moved that "the appropriate entity of the convention" invite a former homosexual to give a testimony at next annual meeting. His motion was ruled out of order.
___Wiley Drake of First Southern Baptist church, Buena Park, Calif., moved to direct the SBC president to send a letter to President Bush, commending him for not continuing the presidential proclaimation proclaiming June as gay pride month and asking him to issue a presidential proclamation proclaiming June as heterosexual family pride month. His motion was referred to the resolutions committee, which did not act on the request.
___Robert Stith of Carroll Baptist Church, South Lake, Texas, made a motion that the SBC form a homosexuality task force to "inform, educate and encourage our people to be proactive and redemptive in reaching out to those who struggle with unwanted same-sex attractions." His motion was referred to Lifeway Christian Resources.
___Gary Rucker of Keenie Terrace Baptist Church, Largo, Fla., moved that since homosexuality is "a sinful decision," that all SBC agencies "no longer refer to them as homosexuals as if they were so created, but as those who are living a homosexual lifestyle." His motion was ruled out of order.
___Loren Hutchinson of First Baptist Church, Lee’s Summitt, Mo., moved to ask the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission to oppose President Bush’s faith-based initiatives. His motion was referred to the ERLC, but he later made a second motion to overturn the decision by the Committee on Order of Business to refer his motion.
___"This is not brought to embarrass the president," Hutchinson said. "I would like the entire convention to speak to this issue. … Christ said we should render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. We need to tell Caesar we don’t need his money."
___Jerry Johnson, chairman of the Committee on Order of Business, said the SBC Bylaws make clear provisions for referring motions dealing with internal operations of agencies. "It is standard operating procedure," he said. "Faith-based initiatives is a complex subject. The best person trained to give focus to our voice is Richard land and the ERLC."
___Hutchinson’s motion to overturn the committee’s decision failed.
___Wiley Drake moved to ask the SBC president to appoint a study committee to bring a report on faith-based initiatives. His motion was referred to the ERLC and NAMB.
___Richard Boswell of Decatur Ave. Baptist Church, Ft. Worth, Texas, requested appointment of a committee, including bi-vocational ministers, to explore programs to give assistance to bi-vocational ministers and to create a website to take suggestions from bivocational ministers. The motion was referred to NAMB.
___Also referred to NAMB were motions by William Blosch of Dunedin, Fla., asking NAMB to stop endorsing women as chaplains and from Keith Hynds of Birmingham, Ala., urging development of a program similar to Acteens for young men.
___Referred to NAMB and the International Mission Board was a motion from Rick Dominic of Fort Towson, Okla., asking those agencies to change their missionary appointment policies regarding divorce and remarriage to include those who were divorced for biblical reasons and remarried.
___Also referred to the appropriate agencies were the following:
___Tim Rogers of West Columbia, S.C., asked the Annuity Board to allow smaller churches to participate in the group insurance plan.
___Kevin Smith of Chattanooga, Tenn., requested financial aid for PhD studies for African Americans seeking careers in Southern Baptist life.
___Calvin Wittman of Wheat Ridge, Co., asked the convention to "study the feasibility of combining" Golden Gate and Midwestern seminaries.
___Ron Wilson of Thousand Oaks, Calif., requested that trustees of the IMB reconsider their decision regarding the 2000 BF&M and consider asking all current missionaries and staff to sign the statement.
___Paul Blizzard of Beckley, W. Va., asked Lifeway "to produce a video or video series on the history of the SBC with emphasis on the conservative resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention," which he called "one of the most significant events in modern evangelical Christianity."
___ Richard Powell of Ft. Meyers, Fla., asked the Executive Committee to "document the history of each cooperating state convention’s distribution of CP dollars year by year."
___Bill Tweeddale of Melbourne, Fla., requested that any college receiving endorsement from any entity of the convention "have a statement of inerrancy that will be signed by staff and trustees."
___Other motions ruled out of order were:
___Bill Miller of Laplata, Md., asked the Committee on Order of Business to include platform personalities to include people from the northeast U.S.
___Jeff Johnson of Portland, Ore., asked that only messengers to the convention be eligible for election to serve as a trustee or on an SBC committee.
___Roy Davis of Shreveport, La., moved to commend Tommy French for leading the Louisiana Baptist Convention in celebrating the Cooperative Program.
___Chris Hughes of Toomsboro, Ga., moved to give power and support to Baptist associations "to use correctional measures" against churches that "deliberately and willfully disregard" the BF&M and the Holy Word of God.



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