c. 2006 Religion News Service

GREENSBORO, N.C. _ Southern Baptists overwhelmingly passed a resolution Thursday (June 14) that calls on churches to exert “godly influence” upon the nation’s public schools, sidestepping a proposal that called for an “exit strategy” from the schools.

“We realized that we simply cannot abandon the public schools,” Tommy French, chairman of the resolutions committee and pastor of Jefferson Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, La., said at a news conference after the resolution was adopted.

He cited single mothers who cannot afford private schools and homes with two working parents who cannot home-school their children.

“We cannot withdraw from the world, so we encourage people not to withdraw but rather to engage the schools,” he said.

Delegates, or messengers, from the 16.2 million-member denomination ended their two-day meeting on Wednesday.

The adopted resolution affirmed the “hundreds of thousands of Christian men and women who teach in our public schools” and urged Southern Baptist churches to encourage members to run for local school boards. It also stated that “public schools continue to adopt and implement curricula and policies teaching that the homosexual lifestyle is acceptable.”

Southern Baptists also adopted a resolution that called on school boards to accommodate parents who want their children to attend off-campus biblical education during the school day.

In recent years, proposed resolutions with stronger, more critical language about public schools failed to gain traction at previous conventions. A proposal introduced this year encouraged Southern Baptist agencies to “assist churches in the development of exit strategies from the government schools” but was sidestepped by delegates. A pastoral letter developed by the Baptist Center for Ethics countered that proposal by urging “a halt to the demonization of public schools.”

Bruce Shortt, a Texas attorney and home-schooling father who co-authored this year’s proposed resolution, said he doesn’t think joining school boards are the answer.

“Running for the school board would have been a really effective thing to do in 1906, but it’s irrelevant in 2006,” he said. “School boards have very little power anymore.”

He found the resolution on off-campus biblical instruction more positive and “a partial-exit strategy.

“They’re calling on school districts to accommodate churches and parents in removing their children from school during school hours to give them Bible training,” he said.

But he said his proposal, co-authored by SBC Executive Committee member Roger Moran of Missouri, never had the intent of encouraging the removal of Christian teachers from public schools.

“We think we should be sending our adults in, but we need to get our kids out,” he said.

Other action during the two-day convention, which concluded Wednesday, included:

_ The unveiling Wednesday night of a statue of Southern Baptist evangelist Billy Graham, in the shadow of a cross, with arms outstretched and a Bible in his left hand. President Bush, in a prerecorded video message played the previous day, noted the honoring of Graham, saying: “Over his long ministry, Billy Graham has touched many lives, including my own.” The larger-than-life sculpture will be located near Southern Baptist Convention executive offices in Nashville, Tenn.

_ A final challenge by outgoing SBC President Bobby Welch to continue to work toward his goal of 1 million baptisms by the end of September. “Who is going to come out of turn four and go for the finish line?” asked the retiring pastor of First Baptist Church in Daytona Beach, Fla.

_ A speech by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, affirming the need for increased religious freedom around the globe.

_ The election of Frank Page, pastor of First Baptist Church of Taylors, S.C., who gained a slight majority of the votes and defeated two other candidates in an unusual contested race.

_ A vote seeking a report at the 2007 meeting by the International Mission Board about controversies within the agency that have been highlighted by blogger and trustee Wade Burleson of Oklahoma.

_ The adoption of recommendations of an ad hoc committee to encourage Southern Baptist churches to increase the percentage of their income given to the central funding program of the denomination.

_ The rejection of a proposal to invite the Woman’s Missionary Union to become an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention, which means it remains an auxiliary.

KRE/JL END BANKS

Editors: To obtain a photo of Frank Page, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

Shortt in 9th graf is CQ.

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