SBC resolutions address culture, ministry concerns

ST. LOUIS Messengers to the 2016 Southern Baptist Convention, in addition to repudiating the display of the Confederate battle flag, approved 11 other resolutions on a variety of culture and ministry concerns.

Messengers voted on the proposals over both days of the annual meeting, adopting resolutions that expressed compassion for those devastated by the Orlando mass shooting, urged consistent evangelism of unbelievers and encouraged care for refugees. They also passed measures that included calling for the federal government not to discriminate against people who support only the biblical, traditional view of marriage and opposing an effort to require women to register for the military draft.

For Resolutions Committee chairman Stephen Rummage, the call for Southern Baptists to evangelize was central to the 10-member panel’s deliberations in presenting the 12 measures to the messengers.

The resolution on evangelism “might just seem like a standard resolution for an evangelical body such as Southern Baptists to pass,” Rummage said at a news conference June 15, “but really that is at the heart of everything that we talked about, including what we had to say about the Confederate flag. Everything that we do should have as its end and as its goal reaching people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Echoing a comment made in support of the measure on the Confederate flag, Rummage said resolutions “build bridges and they tear down walls, but we’ve got to cross those bridges with the gospel and take Jesus to people because that’s what it’s all about and that’s the only hope for our world, for our nation and indeed for Southern Baptists.”

In addition to the Confederate flag measure, the other 11 resolutions:

1. affirmed Southern Baptists’ commitment to biblical sexuality and urged the protection of religious free exercise. Kelvin Cochran, who was fired as Atlanta’s fire chief after writing in a book that homosexual behavior is immoral, presented the resolution to the convention as a member of the committee.
2. called for prayer for and pledged support to those affected by the June 12 killings in Orlando.
3. encouraged faithful proclamation of the gospel by churches and intentional evangelism by individual Southern Baptists locally, nationally and globally.
4. declared “unrelenting opposition” to efforts by military leaders and the Obama administration “to increase the likelihood that women will be placed in harm’s way” along with voicing support for service members and their families.
5. called on the government to enact strict security in screening refugees and for Southern Baptists to compassionately minister to and share the gospel with them.
6. urged participation in voting and prayer for God to provide “spiritual, moral, ethical and cultural renewal.”
7. encouraged churches to consider increasing ministries to Alzheimer’s and dementia patients and their family caregivers.
8. called for pastors and SBC entities to support freedom of the press and journalists to practice that freedom responsibly.
9. affirmed “In God We Trust” as the national motto and encouraged its public display.
10. supported Israel’s right to exist as a free state and encouraged renewed prayer for peace in and salvation of Israel. 
11. expressed gratitude to God as well as Southern Baptists in the St. Louis area and all others who helped with this year’s meeting.

Messengers passed the first seven resolutions during the Tuesday afternoon session but were unable to vote on the remainder because time for their consideration expired. They approved the final five resolutions as a package Wednesday morning.