Historic SBC in New Orleans

by   T. C. Pinckney                                                                                                                                     Vol. IX, No. 6, June/July 1996

The Southern Baptist Convention met in New Orleans Tuesday-Thursday, 11-13 June, 1996 with truly historic results: historic in missionary appointments, in tenor, in the presidential election, in motions approved, and in resolutions passed. The following paragraphs will address each of these areas in turn. (There were also a number of outstanding sermons at the Pastors' Conference and the convention itself. Following Banner issues will bring you several of these, but time did not allow me to present one in this issue.)

Missionary Appointments: On Wednesday evening the Home Mission and Foreign Mission Boards gave their presentations, always touching the hearts of Southern Baptists. This year some 50 new foreign missionaries were appointed on Wednesday evening bringing the total Southern Baptist foreign missionary force to over 4,200 for the first time. We rejoice in the new fields which can he reached, the additional souls which will he won to Christ's kingdom.

Tenor: Those whose memories of SBC meetings center on the contentious conventions following 1979, the first great contest of the conservative resurgence, find it hard to conceive the sweet spirit, the biblical focus, the harmony which prevailed in New Orleans. Messengers voiced their opinions and moved changes in accord with the SBC constitution and bylaws, and according to Roberts Rules, but the rancor which so characterized many past conventions was absent. And not all messengers got their way. indeed, I myself called into question a ruling of the chair (which was based on the advice of parliamentarians) and was overruled. But on both sides the discussion, while forceful, was conducted with grace and at times humor. (I still think I was right, but that is not the point.)

The New President: Tom Elliff, pastor of Del City Baptist Church in Oklahoma, was elected president for the coming year. (Presidents are elected for a one-year term and usually re-elected the next June for a second year. Presidents may not serve more than two consecutive one-year terms.) Elliff is an outstanding pastor with an humble, Christian spirit who stands firmly upon God's inerrant Word. Moreover, he is sharp. My wife and I attended his press conference after the election and were very pleased with his response to the media representatives many of whom were trying to trip him up. For the first time since 1942 when a new president had to be chosen, there was only one nominee. We can confidently expect from Tom Elliff solid, biblically based leadership and the appointment of men and women to the Committee on Committees who will knowledgeably continue the conservative resurgence.

Motions: Every year certain convention business must be accomplished, for example, a budget must be approved for the following year. This year in addition there were a number of vitally important motions from the Implementation Task Force through the Executive Committee to the messengers for approval so that the reorganization or restructuring of the SBC (voted last year) can proceed. (For those unaware of the restructuring, in brief it is designed to focus on mission rather than organization, effectiveness rather than programs, and to reduce the number of SBC agencies from 19 to 12.) When engaged in any such enormous undertaking, one can reasonably expect objections or alternative proposals, but though Dr. Bob Reccord, pastor of First Church, Norfolk, and the Task Force chairman, and we other members anticipated such motions, none were offered. Dr. Reccord gave an outstanding presentation on the implementation, and the needed motions were approved with near unanimity.

Various messengers offered 28 motions which were, in accord with the SBC Bylaw 28, referred to the affected agencies for report at next year's convention. [Note: Under Bylaw 28 convention messengers may by a two-thirds vote instruct the Committee on Order of Business to schedule the matter for action at a later meeting of the same convention. You may want to remember this if you attend and offer a motion that you strongly believe should be dealt with this year.] One or two of the motions were ruled out of order because they sought to bind future SBC conventions or were inappropriate because they criticized an individual by name.

Resolutions: Continuing the pattern of strong, positive results, fourteen resolutions were offered and approved. It would take twelve Banner pages to reprint them in their entirety, so below are presented just a brief description and in some cases one or two of the most informative clauses. The last resolution was the usual one of appreciation for New Orleans and others who worked to make the SBC meeting a success.

1. On Arson of African-American Churches: “WHEREAS, in the past 18 months there have been at least 31 arson-blamed fires at African-American churches, ... BE IT RESOLVED That we the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention ... do hereby deplore these despicable and abominable acts of lawlessness and racism, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we pledge to pray for, support, encourage, stand with, and assist our sister churches and fellow believers in the African-American community who have been victims of these criminal acts ...” From where I sat it appeared that this resolution passed unanimously. We also took an offering for these churches with something over $250,000 being collected.

2. On Disney Company Policy: "WHEREAS, In recent years we have watched the world’s largest family entertainment company with growing disappointment as Disney Company's moral leadership has been eroded by a variety of corporate decisions, which have included but are not limited to: (1) Establishing an employee policy which accepts and embraces homosexual relationships for the purposes of insurance benefits; (2) Hosting of homosexual and lesbian theme nights; (3) Choosing of a convicted child molester to direct the Disney movie Powder through its subsidiary Miramax Productions; (4) Publishing of a book aimed at teenage homosexuals entitled Growing Up Gay: From Left Out to Coming Out through its subsidiary Hyperion, connecting Disney to the promotion of the homosexual agenda; (5) Producing, through its subsidiary corporations, objectionable material such as the film Priest which disparages Christian values and depicts Christian leaders as morally defective; ... BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we encourage Southern Baptists to give serious and prayerful reconsideration to their purchase and support of Disney productions, and to boycott the Disney company and theme parks if they continue this anti-Christian and anti-family trend;"

3. On the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, in a genuine spirit of love do admonish and encourage President Clinton, himself a Southern Baptist, to reverse his shameful decision to veto this legislation and sign it into law; or in the alternative of such failure to reverse his action, we call upon every member of Congress to vote to override the President's veto ..."

4. On Christian Persecution. "WHEREAS, The West is increasingly indifferent to the denial of religious freedom to millions of Christians worldwide; ... BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we urge President Clinton, the State Department, and both houses of the United States Congress to uphold the fundamental freedom of religious liberty in the conduct of foreign policy by the United States of America ..."

5. Requesting All Political Parties to Include a Pro-Life Platform. Self-explanatory.

6. On Homosexual Marriage. WHEREAS, Under the "full faith and credit" clause of the Constitution of the United States, any [homosexual) marriage performed in the state of Hawaii will, apart from the enactment of state-by-state exceptions or the enactment of a new and comprehensive federal law, have to be legalIy recognized in every other state; and ... WHEREAS, God makes it clear in Scripture that even desire to engage in a homosexual sexual relationship is always sinful, impure, degrading, shameful, unnatural, indecent, and perverted (Rom. 1:2427), so any effort to extend the meaning of marriage in order to sanction the satisfaction of such desire must also be in every case sinful, impure, degrading, shameful, unnatural, indecent, and perverted; ... BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we affirm the Bible's teaching that promotion of homosexual conduct and relationships by any society, including action by the governments to sanction and legitimize homosexual relationships by the legalization of homosexual marriages, is an abominable sin calling for God's swift judgment upon any such society (Lev. 18:22,28; Isa. 3:9 ); and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we commit ourselves to pray faithfully against the legalization of homosexual marriages in American law; and to preach and teach the truth concerning what the Bible says about homosexuality, homosexual conduct and the institution of marriage, and against the foolishness, danger and moral wickedness of any government action to accept, sanction, approve, protect, or promote homosexual marriage; and ... BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That because any law, or any policy or regulation supporting a law, that legalizes homosexual marriage is and must be completely and thoroughly wicked according to God's standards revealed in the Bible, we do most solemnly pledge our decision never to recognize the moral legitimacy of any such law, policy or regulation; and we affirm that, whatever the stakes (Dan. 3:17-18), we will never conform to or obey (Acts 4:19) anything required by any governing body to implement, impose, or act upon any such law. So help us God. [Note: This latter bold print is not in the original. I added it to call to each reader's attention the very strong stand the SBC messengers took. In fact, I do not know how it could be phrased any more strongly. TCP]

7. On Assisted Suicide. WHEREAS, A University of Pennsylvania survey recently found that 20 percent of nurses polled had performed euthanasia or assisted in the suicide of a patient; ... BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That we vigorously denounce assisted suicide as an appropriate means of treating suffering; and BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, That we call upon federal, state, and local governments to prosecute under the law physicians or others who practice assisted suicide.

8. Supporting a National Commission on the Effects of Gambling. Self-explanatory.

9. On Parental Choice in Education. Encourages legislators at all levels of government to "develop the means and methods of returning educational and funding choices to parents."

10. On Jewish Evangelism. Encourages prayer for and proclaiming the gospel to Jewish people.

11. On the Need to Support Hunger and Relief Ministries. Self-explanatory.

12. On National Prayer Watch. Calls upon all God's people in America to pray and fast for forty clays, September 27, 1996, to November 5, 1996, in regard to the election of our serving officials and the future of our country; and to join other believers in observing Election Day, November 5, as a National Day of Prayer.

13. On Southern Baptists and Ecumenism. "Ecumenism" is cooperation with those of other faiths, some Christian, some not, to achieve certain agreed goals. Cooperation is often beneficial, but a danger lurks in ecumenism, the danger of forgetting that Jesus is the only way and watering down the faith to the lowest common denominator. Consequently the resolution concludes, "BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That such efforts not commit Southern Baptists to any organizational or long-term relationship which would risk possible compromise of historic distinctives or the unique witness of Southern Baptists to the world ..."

Conclusion: It is safe to say that a very few years ago most of these resolutions would not even have been considered, much less reported out of committee and approved overwhelmingly by the convention. Praise God for the changes He has brought about in the SBC!

Ever, Southern Baptist should attend at least one SBC convention. There you can learn things about the SBC you will never understand otherwise. You can he part of the process. You will experience personally that the SBC is not simply a big organization but rather devout people doing their best to make God-pleasing decisions.