Keeping Their Faith & Message Sharp
The Southern Baptists Revise Their Statement of Faith
by Dee Reju
Meeting in Orlando, Florida, on June 13–14, 2000, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) approved an extensive revision of the denomination’s statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message. Eleven thousand attendees, or “messengers,” representing 15.8 million Southern Baptists throughout the world, came together to appoint members to boards and committees; to elect a president, the denomination’s chief spokesman; to hear reports from the institutions that the convention supports; and to vote on resolutions. But by far the most controversial action was the addition of one sentence to the statement of faith: “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”
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