Religion Journal: With Texas Group's Proposal, Struggle Among Baptists Enters a New Phase A week ago, former President Jimmy Carter made the unexpected announcement that he was severing his lifelong ties to the Southern Baptist Convention. He would remain active in his church in Plains, Ga., he said, but he would no longer consider himself a member of the denomination itself, which he said had become "increasingly rigid" theologically under a conservative leadership. Mr. Carter made news nationwide, but another decision, to be made next week, could have a greater impact on the denomination, which has nearly 16 million members. On Monday afternoon, as many as 7,000 Texas Baptists will gather in Corpus Christi for their statewide annual meeting, where they will decide whether to take a step toward financial separation from the denomination. The question before the Texas group, which tends to be more moderate than the denomination over all, will be whether to redirect $5.4 million in contributions from the Southern Baptists' national budget and give it instead to Baptist causes in Texas. Previously, most of that money was channeled to six Southern Baptist seminaries. But if a proposal by a special committee is approved at the meeting, the amount given to those seminaries would be cut sharply and the balance used to help three other seminaries in Texas, all run by Baptists, but none under the control of the denomination. There is another proposal, too, to redirect $1.1 million away from two of the denomination's agencies and use it to finance Spanish- language churches and other causes in Texas. On the surface, this may seem an in-house matter, but it signals a new stage in one of the most remarkable developments in recent religious history: the fight among Southern Baptists for control of their denomination, the largest Protestant body in the nation. In 1979, a deeply conservative group won control of the denomination and began shifting seminaries, missionary boards and other agencies toward the right — where the new leaders said most Baptists had always been. The leaders hold that Scripture is "inerrant," literally true in all respects, and that the Bible forbids women to serve as pastors. For several years, a more theologically moderate faction struggled to reverse the tide, saying Baptist tradition did not permit anyone to tell another how to interpret Scripture or whom a congregation may hire as pastor. In annual meetings, the conservatives prevailed. But moderates never lost control of a few state conventions, as Baptist organizations are called, most notably the biggest one, the General Baptist Convention of Texas. In June, the rift between the two sides has deepened. Then, Southern Baptists, following their leaders' request, revised the denomination's statement of faith to include provisions supporting inerrancy and arguing against women as pastors. The document is important because seminary professors and Southern Baptist agency employees are expected to affirm it. Since then, some moderate congregations have left the denomination. Mr. Carter, in a letter announcing his decision, denounced the revised statement as a "creed" — a word anathema to Baptists, who have prided themselves on not having a specific formula of faith. Given how long the division has existed, the proposals in Texas have generated sharply conflicting responses. The current issue of The Baptist Standard, the Texas Baptist newspaper, carries differing advertisements on facing pages, one appealing to Texas Baptists to continue giving money to denominational seminaries, the other supporting the proposal to redirect the money to the three seminaries in Texas. The Southern Baptist Convention's Internet site, in a section called "Baptist2Baptist," carries an essay by R. Albert Mohler, a seminary president, denouncing the proposal on the seminaries as a "propaganda effort" to split Texas from the denomination. But David Currie, a rancher who is coordinator of Texas Baptist Committed, a group that supports the proposals, said they would help support new seminaries in Texas. But Mr. Currie also said, "Obviously, there's been a dramatic change in 20 years in Baptist life. Many of us in Texas feel there's been a dramatic move away from traditional Baptist theology, far to the right."
What is the Ultimate Source of Revelation? Is Jesus Christ, or the Bible, the ultimate source of revelation? The Southern Baptist Convention debated that theological question this week in Orlando. The country's largest Protestant denomination voted to drop language in its statement of faith, called the Baptist Faith and Message, that said Christian truth must be "continually interpreted and related to the needs of each generation." In their place, the document emphasizes the inerrancy of the Bible. The 1963 version of the Baptist Faith and Message, which called the Bible "the record of God's revelation of Himself to man," was changed to say the Bible "is God's revelation of Himself to man." "Pray tell, what do we know of Jesus apart from Scriptures?" said Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, who supported the changes, according to Associated Baptist Press. "The Bible is not merely a record. It is the revelation of God. It is always a triumphant moment when this convention states clearly its belief that the Bible is the inerrant and infallible word of God." "We love Jesus Christ passionately and devotedly," pastor Adrian Rogers said, according to Baptist Press. "But the Jesus we love is the Jesus of the Bible -- not the Jesus of imagination, subjectivity, or personal revelation." Moderates say the SBC has elevated the Bible above Christ, as an object of worship, Associated Baptist Press reported. "I believe the Bible is God's word, and I strive to obey the standards it prescribes. The Bible is a book we can trust," Anthony Sizemore of Floydada, Texas, said. "That being said, the Bible is still just a book. Christians are supposed to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, not a book." "They're setting up themselves as the sole authorities on what Scripture means," Bill Wilson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Waynesboro, Va., told The Washington Post. "We're giving up our birthright." The SBC has no hierarchy, and Baptists historically maintain fierce independence in their state conventions and local churches.
Church Says Men to Lead" Expanding a tradition of male dominance in the Southern Baptist Convention, delegates at the church's annual conference in Orlando Wednesday defined a woman's place in the church as a helper, not behind the pulpit as pastor. Delegates of the nation's largest Protestant denomination also defined homosexuality as ``sexual immorality.'' Church leaders say the long-held sentiment about women's roles, culled from the Bible, is not a mandate. Women will still be ordained, and congregations may choose women as pastors. The vote, they said, was simply an advisement of the mother church to its flock. Yet it's an advisement that means fewer opportunities for ambitious Baptist women. ``I'm very sad,'' said the Rev. Martha Phillips, interim pastor at Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Arlington, Va., where Vice President Al Gore is a member. ``Women ministers are not going to have a place in Southern Baptist life anymore.'' Some other Baptist women said they could accept that. ``I stand behind [the convention] 100 percent,'' said Naomi Michaelis, 23, who is working toward a master of divinity degree at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., the ``flagship'' of the Southern Baptist Convention's higher-education system. ``I believe in the authority given to man to be pastor. Women can be involved in missions. We teach Sunday school. Women should be teaching, but men have the responsibility and authority over the flock, for their souls.'' Wednesday's vote on the Statement of Faith, a list of beliefs, was approved by a show of hands Among supporters was the Rev. Elroy Barber, pastor of Westside Baptist Church of Hollywood and immediate past president of the state conference. Although women rise to the executive levels of major corporations, the church ``is not a Fortune 500 company,'' he said. ``We are talking about the spiritual arena that mandates using the Bible. We have to have someone who will lead, and someone who will follow.'' Until 1964, no Southern Baptist woman had been ordained since the Civil War. Since 1964, about 1,600 Southern Baptist women have been ordained. About 100 women are pastors and about 100 are associate pastors in Southern Baptist congregations. The rest work on the sidelines as chaplains, ministers of music and education, or as assistant pastors of larger congregations. Outside the convention, 100 or so protesters, mostly gays and lesbians, marched with signs that said ``Stop Spiritual Violence'' blocking an entrance to the meeting hall. More than two dozen were arrested, accused of illegal ssembly. Richard Murphy, a member of Metropolitan Community Church in Miami Beach, wore a T-shirt that read ``Father forgive them'' for the denomination's views on gays. These are some of the other controversial positions taken by the Southern Baptist Convention during the last few years: June 1996: A resolution targeting Jews for evangelism and conversion. June 1997: A vote to boycott all things Disney -- including ABC television -- condemning as immoral everything from the company's same-sex employee benefits to TV's Ellen sitcom. June 1998: A declaration that a woman should ``submit herself graciously'' to her husband's leadership and a husband should provide for, protect and lead his family.'' September 1999: An announcement that Southern Baptists would pray for the conversion of Jews during Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. November 1999: Publication of a ``Hindu Prayer Guide'' to encourage the world's 800 million Hindus to accept Christianity. Similar prayer guides were prepared for Muslims and Buddhists.
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